M. Keli Swearingen, PhD, is a highly effective Senior Director of Network and an expert in K-12 instructional leadership, curriculum development, and data-driven instructional (DDI) protocols. With over two decades of experience, including a PhD in Educational Psychology, Keli specializes in coaching school principals and instructional leaders to amplify student and teacher performance through strategic planning and professional development. Keli's work has repeatedly led to significant achievement gains in urban education, including improving one school's APY total score by nearly two letters in one year.

Keli is an accomplished educational strategist, administrator, and researcher with an action-oriented approach to her work. Keli’s academic background is complemented by over a decade of practical experience in high-impact national education organizations, focusing on the intersection of teacher quality, data analysis, and effective school leadership and policy.

Keli's professional work is centered on building systems and capacity for effective instruction, having held leadership roles such as Managing Director of Teaching and Learning for TEAM Schools (KIPP New Jersey) and Director of Assessment and Data-Driven Instruction at the KIPP Foundation. Roles where Keli was responsible for developing instructional coaching protocols and leadership development systems. Keli's research interests include variations in novice teacher and leader training, teacher and leader retention, and the effects of teacher and leader preparation and cultural sensitivity on academic performance in urban and rural education. Keli has presented this research at national conferences, including the American Educational Research Association, National Reading Conference, KIPP School Leader Programming, and Council of Great City Schools.

Michelle is a lifelong teacher. She leads professional learning design, systems strategy, and coaching support for educators in Detroit.

Before joining Leading Educators, Michelle was the Vice Principal of Academics at the New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School, the same school where she learned that teaching is the best career in the world. She was previously a teacher educator at Southeastern Louisiana University and the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP). She began her career in education as a high school English and reading teacher in New Orleans.

Michelle holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. Her graduate work focused on classroom observation and effective literacy practices in secondary ELA classrooms. She earned a B.A. from New College of Florida where she pursued a dual concentration in Literature and Hispanic Language and Literature.