Dr. Nancy Gutierrez is an esteemed K-12 educator and leadership development expert with over two decades of experience in the field. Gutierrez has worked as a K-8 teacher, middle school principal, and system-level leader in the San Francisco Bay Area and the New York City Department of Education. Throughout her career, Gutierrez has focused on equity-focused leadership development, instructional design, and pedagogy, building collaborative relationships and teams, school design and transformation, strategic thinking, and turnaround leadership.

Gutierrez's passion for empowering under-resourced communities is rooted in her experience as a Latinx student and witnessing low expectations set for disenfranchised children in her neighborhood. She returned to her neighborhood after college to teach, founded a school, and began the turnaround process for the lowest performing school in the district.

Gutierrez holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a CA Teaching Credential in Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development from the University of California, Davis, a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from San Jose State University, and a Doctor of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Gutierrez has participated in a range of leadership development programs, including the Harvard Graduate School of Education's School Leadership Program, the Data Wise Improvement Process, the School Turnaround Leaders Institute, Urban School Leaders, Race, Equity, Access, and Leadership Institute, Harvard Kennedy School's Latino Leadership Initiative, and Achievement First's Residency Program for School Leadership. Gutierrez has also served as an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and on the board of Education Leaders of Color.