Scott Bess
EdLead
Scott Bess is an education entrepreneur who has founded two innovative school models and serves now as a consultant and advisor to multiple education organizations through his EdLead consulting company and will launch the Indiana Charter Innovation Center in August, 2024. Before EdLead, he led the creation of Purdue Polytechnic High Schools, designed to increase the pipeline of underrepresented minority students to Purdue University. Scott and his team redesigned the high school model, creating space for students to have voice and choice in their work while also bringing rigor and equity into the student experience. The schools launched with one location in Indianapolis in 2017 followed by a second location in Indianapolis in 2019 and a third in South Bend in 2020. This fall PPHS opened a micro-school to allow even more flexibility for students. With just three graduating classes, PPHS has more than quadrupled the number of underrepresented minority students matriculating to Purdue University from Indianapolis. Prior to coming to Purdue, Scott was President of Goodwill Education Initiatives (GEI), a subsidiary of Goodwill Industries of Central and Southern Indiana. While at GEI, Scott led the development of the Excel Center, a high school designed for adults who had previously dropped out of high school. Under Scott’s leadership, GEI grew from a single, small high school to a network of schools serving over 7,000 students across Indiana and the United States. Graduates of the Excel Centers have been able to reduce their dependence on public assistance, increase their employment opportunities and have increased their yearly earnings by over $10,000 just two years after graduating. Before assuming this role in 2004, he was CIO for Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana and served in similar technology roles in the private sector. Scott began his career as a teacher and coach and also served four terms as a member of his local school board. Scott received a bachelor’s degree in math education from Purdue and a master’s degree in teaching from Marian University, where he was a part of the Turnaround School Leadership program. Scott is on the board of Indiana Youth Institute, the board of the Washington DC Excel Center, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers board and was recently reappointed to the Indiana State Board of Education. He is also a graduate of the Pahara-Aspen fellowship program. Scott lives in Danville, Indiana with his wife Robin and enjoys hanging out with his four grown children and five grandchildren.