Kalpana Rao is an experienced educator and school leader serving public schools, education non-profits and leadership coaching for the last 25 years. She started as an elementary school teacher, working in bilingual classrooms and turnaround schools. Her passion for leading change led her to school leadership, where she worked tirelessly to improve life outcomes for students in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Boston, Massachusetts; and Denver, Colorado.  

Kalpana’s work then took her overseas where she supported public school leaders across Australia and South Africa. She trained them on instructional and change leadership, as well as coached participants to maximize results for their school communities. She returned to the principalship in an international school in Tokyo, Japan, leading grades K-9 through the pandemic. Besides these roles, Kalpana has helped lead key projects such as teacher evaluation, school improvement toolkits at the district and state levels, as well as taught culturally responsive education courses to preservice teachers. She leverages all of these roles as she consults and coaches for individuals and organizations worldwide.

Kalpana brings extensive experience and knowledge in student-centered approaches, student support systems, instructional leadership, leadership development, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), coaching, and adult learning. She holds two Masters in school leadership (University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard Graduate School of Education), a doctorate in curriculum and instruction (University of Wisconsin), as well as a Masters in Spanish Linguistics (University of Texas). She is a fluent Spanish speaker, and can manage in Japanese and Portuguese, too.