As a National Designer & Facilitator and the Lead for System Leadership, Nicole Cathey draws on her nearly 30 years of education experience to design and facilitate professional learning and coaching for school, district, and system leaders nationwide. Her work helps education leaders cultivate the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to create transformative student-centered change. She also leads design of the content, tools, and resources that shape the organization’s work at the system leadership level and leads the organization’s Transformative Principal Supervision national cohort program.
Since joining The Leadership Academy in 2022, Nicole has coached more than 125 system-level leaders in California, Kentucky, and Massachusetts among other states, and she’s led complex multi-year initiatives focused on everything from strengthening superintendent pipelines to increasing the use of data-driven practices.
She’s served as system-level leader, nonprofit education leader, and teacher. She was previously the managing director of schools for Southwest ISD in San Antonio, Texas, where she managed principal supervisors, oversaw development for aspiring system leaders, and led implementation of instructional initiatives. She’s also directed leadership pipeline operations for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina and was a program director at The Holdsworth Center, developing the nonprofit’s inaugural leadership program for Texas-based educators. She began her career in education as an elementary and middle school teacher in Maryland, where she also served as a reading and instructional technology specialist before becoming a principal in residence and staff developer.
Nicole holds a Master of Education in Education Administration and Supervision from Trinity Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Individual Family Studies & Gerontology from Kent State University. She also holds multiple education certifications. She is based in San Antonio, Texas.
