Tresha Ward, M.A., B.A. 
Chief Executive Officer, Prospect Schools 

Building a Brighter Future Award

Tresha Ward has been the Chief Executive Officer of Prospect Schools since 2021. In this role she oversees a K-12 network of seven charter schools serving 2600+ students, 400+ faculty and staff, and a $+70M budget. She brings to the work, more than two decades of experience in education and a career underscored by an unwavering commitment to educational equity. A native of the Bronx, Tresha began her career as a Teach For America corps member in the Houston Independent School District. In 2010, she opened KIPP Legacy Preparatory School - an elementary school with an International Baccalaureate focus - and grew the school to serve 900 children. Tresha then served as the School Leader Development Director for the KIPP Foundation. In this role, she provided support to more than 200 of KIPP's school leaders across the country, through the creation of leadership development programming, as an instructor for instructional leadership, and direct coaching.

After her time with the KIPP Foundation, Tresha returned to schools as Managing Director of Schools for KIPP NYC, where she focused on principal management and school turnaround. Most recently, Tresha served as Partner at Bellwether Education Partners, where she founded and led the academic and program strategy team. This team worked with over 100 charter and district clients on developing and implementing strategic plans focused on school start up, CMO replication and/or instructional improvement. Tresha's work also involved building the capacity of school and executive-level network leaders through executive coaching. She has a particular passion for supporting leaders of color to sustain in their roles. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, B.A. and Stanford University, M.A.