Phyllis Lockett

Phyllis Lockett is a serial social entrepreneur who has led transformative efforts in the education, government and civic arenas. She is currently the founder and CEO of LEAP Innovations, an organization headquartered in Chicago that connects innovation and education to transform how students learn. LEAP works directly with educators and innovators across the country to pilot, research and scale personalized learning technologies and innovative practices across classrooms and outside learning environments.
Before starting LEAP, Phyllis was a driving force behind Chicago’s charter movement. As founding president and CEO of New Schools for Chicago, she helped raise more than $70 million to support opening 80 new public schools. Her work more than tripled the number of charter schools and drove Chicago’s first magnet school replication. She previously served as executive director of the Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA), a pro bono consulting firm for government agencies.