Todd Dickson is founder and chief executive officer of Valor Collegiate Academies, a small charter management organization in Nashville, TN. Since its inception, Valor has been the top performing academic charter network in Tennessee. Valor has also developed a nationally recognized comprehensive human development approach, Compass, which is a key driver of the organization’s success. Valor is currently scaling Compass to over 300 schools around the country. Before starting Valor, Todd spent 7 years at Summit Public Schools in the Bay Area of California, first as a physics teacher and then as a principal. Under his leadership, Summit Prep was named one of the “Top 10 Transformational Schools” in the country by Newsweek. Todd has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Denver University and Cornell University, respectively, and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University. He was also was an All-American lacrosse player and team captain. When not thinking about how to transform public education, Todd enjoys spending time with his wife and their three children, all three who attend Valor in 5th, 8th, and 10th grade! He also enjoys guitar/singing, yoga, Crossfit, and watching all things Colorado sports.