Linda Nathan

Linda Nathan, EdD is a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Cambridge College, Puerto Rico where she teaches courses on school design, school observation and organizational change. As an experienced leader in education, Dr. Nathan actively mentors teachers and principals, and consults nationally and internationally on a wide range of topics, such as: leadership, creativity, pedagogy, differentiated instruction, curriculum design, family engagement, developing mission, vision and values, board development and fundraising, as well as strategic planning with an equity focus, and how to develop and evaluate a new or existing schools or nonprofits. Her international consulting includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, South Africa.

Dr. Nathan was the co-founder and co-director of the Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership (PSi), a year-long graduate certificate program that develops innovative leaders who integrate education, artistic, and community-based resources to transform the lives of youth and families.

Dr. Nathan’s widely praised book, The Hardest Questions Aren’t on the Test, about teaching and leadership in urban schools, was published in 2009 in both English and Spanish. Her second book, When Grit Isn’t Enough, was released by Beacon Press in 2017. She blogs at www.lindanathan.com.

Dr. Nathan previously served as Faculty Director of the Creative Educational Leadership Institute at Boston University School of Education. Her prior positions also include Special Advisor to the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Arts in Education. Dr. Nathan was also the Founding Headmaster of the Boston Arts Academy, Boston’s first public high school for the visual and performing arts, and the Co- Director of Fenway High School, one of the first pilot schools in the Boston Public Schools. Dr. Nathan also founded three nonprofit organizations: El Pueblo Nuevo, which focused on arts and youth development, the Center for Collaborative Education, which works on issues of school reform, and the Center for Artistry and Scholarship, which develops and supports innovative and tenacious leaders in education to build more equitable, collaborative and creative communities. She began her teaching career in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then came to Boston to work as a bilingual middle school teacher.

Dr. Nathan holds a Doctor of Education degree from Harvard University, Master’s degrees from Emerson College and Antioch University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.