Dottie Smith Joins Transcend as Partner
Transcend is excited to welcome Dottie Smith to our organization. Dottie joins Transcend as a Partner and will work to fuel a focused effort across the state of Texas to incubate, codify, and scale innovation. In this role, she’ll connect with leaders across the state to support more school communities to begin a design journey that leads to equitable learning experiences and outcomes for students.
Dottie shares the following about her decision to join Transcend,“My prior experiences working to improve K-12 systems have shaped new thinking for me on how to build the future our kids deserve, especially students who are chronically underserved and oppressed. We need parallel efforts in education: ways to improve the system children attend today, as well as urgent, intentional action to radically rethink schooling experiences to better align to the unique needs of students and the demands of a modern workforce. I am thrilled to contribute to this effort at Transcend.”
Dottie comes to Transcend after serving as the President of the Commit Partnership, a nonprofit focused on creating an inclusive and prosperous Dallas County. While at Commit, she led the team’s growth and strategy, which included the launch of the Internet for All Coalition, bringing internet connectivity to over 75,000 students during the pandemic. Her team was also responsible for efforts to support learning outcomes for students across the region.
Dottie began her career teaching elementary school in Compton, California where she quickly grew a love for her students, community, and teaching literacy. From there, she became a Program Director with Teach For America – Los Angeles where she coached the region’s secondary teachers. This experience deepened her appreciation for adult learning and development and led to work designing coaching models and managing instructional programming for the region. After several years, Dottie decided to return to schools and became an Assistant Principal at a bilingual school in Downtown LA and eventually a Principal for a High School in Las Vegas Later, Dottie served as a Vice President at TNTP before joining Commit as the Managing Director of the Best in Class Coalition, and later President.
Dottie received her master degree in school administration from UCLA and also holds a master degree in education from Loyola Marymount University and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from American University. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Chris, and two children, Ashby and Lucas.
Dottie’s immense experience will further Transcend’s efforts to ensure all students thrive in and transform the world. Please join us in welcoming her.
