Nancy Septa Hanks

Nancy Septa Hanks believes potential is evenly distributed. Opportunity and access are not. Closing that gap has been the through-line of her work.

After growing up on Chicago’s West Side, in the Austin and Lawndale communities, she spent more than two decades in public education as a teacher, as a principal in Chicago, and as Chief of Schools for in the Madison Metropolitan School District, where her work centered on principal leadership development and the school support systems that make strong leadership possible.

She is now a Senior Partner at The Management Center, where she leads the national education sector strategy and coaches and trains superintendents, nonprofit CEOs, and federal officials, knowing that adults do their best work when the support around them is real.

Nancy has been recognized on The Root 100 for her honest storytelling about the school-to-prison pipeline and on Madison365’s Power 100. She holds a bachelor’s in elementary education from Southern Illinois University and a master’s in school leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a Pahara-Aspen fellow and Chair of Teach for America’s national board for alumni of color, and a devoted daughter, sister, aunt & friend.