Margaret Crespo, an alumnus of the Chiefs for Change Future Chiefs leadership development program, has been selected to lead Laramie County School District 1 in Wyoming. With more than 14,000 students and nearly 40 schools, the district is the largest and most diverse school system in the state. Crespo is the first person of color and the first woman of color to lead the district.
“I am so grateful to be selected to lead Laramie County School District 1,” Crespo said. “I look forward to working with all stakeholders to continue the legacy and traditions while forging ahead to meet the ever-changing needs of the community and students.”
Crespo is currently area superintendent in the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, where she oversees curriculum, instruction, assessment, student support, and professional development for 27 schools. In Boulder, she has helped boost student achievement, turn around underperforming schools, and improve the high school graduation rate. She also facilitated a transformational system shift that has prioritized workforce readiness by creating opportunities for students to enroll concurrently in high school and college and to take rigorous career and technical education classes. Over the past year, Crespo helped lead the district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Margaret has been invaluable as we navigated uncharted territory,” said Boulder Valley School District Superintendent Rob Anderson, a member of Chiefs for Change and a fellow alumnus of the network’s Future Chiefs program. “She led the development and implementation of our phased blended learning and worked to ensure we protect the health of our students and staff, provide engaging learning opportunities, and meet the social and emotional needs of everyone in our school community. Though we are sad to see Margaret leave Boulder, we know she will be an outstanding leader in Laramie County.”
Prior to Boulder, Crespo was chief academic officer for Colorado’s Thompson School District. She has also been a principal, assistant principal, counselor, and classroom teacher. Crespo earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Montclair State University and her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Arizona State University.
“Margaret is an effective and equity-focused leader with a thorough understanding of students’ and families’ needs in the Mountain West,” said Chiefs for Change CEO Mike Magee. “Her strong instructional and business acumen, and nearly three decades of experience in education, will serve her well as she assumes the superintendency in Laramie County, which is seeing significant growth and is, like many other districts, grappling with an extremely challenging fiscal environment.”
Crespo was part of the fifth cohort of the Chiefs for Change Future Chiefs program in 2020. The program identifies talented, diverse emerging leaders and integrates them into a community of practice where they receive coaching and mentorship from members of Chiefs for Change and participate in a variety of other learning opportunities. For more on the Future Chiefs program, click here.
To learn more about Crespo and what inspires her, see this video.
About Chiefs for Change
Chiefs for Change is a nonprofit, bipartisan network of diverse state and district education chiefs dedicated to preparing all students for today’s world and tomorrow’s through deeply committed leadership. Chiefs for Change advocates for policies and practices that are making a difference today for students, and builds a pipeline of talented, diverse Future Chiefs ready to lead major school systems.
