Derek Mitchell

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Derek Mitchell has been the CEO of Partners in School Innovation since 2009. During his tenure over the last 17 years, the organization has scaled improvement work nationwide, supporting 70 school districts across eight states: California, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania. Under Derek’s leadership, Partners has been honored with several awards, including the Partner in Educational Excellence award by the Association of California School Administrators and the Director’s Excellence Award from the Center for Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy. Additionally, Derek was named a 2022 Jefferson Award winner for community service by San Francisco’s CBS affiliate. Derek and Partners also received the Gratitude Network Award, which recognizes “outstanding leadership, potential for scale and innovation in solving humanity’s greatest problems.”  

Dr. Mitchell's work with Partners has been featured in several education journals and blogs, including Phi Delta Kappan, EdSource, and Leadership magazine, where he has published reflections on their initiatives. He also led the release of Partners’ book, Change Agents: Transforming Schools from the Ground Up. This book details Partners' work, combining real-life educator stories with practical guidance on transforming schools through equity-focused continuous improvement. In addition to his leadership role, Derek is a fellow of the Pahara Institute and serves on the board of trustees for both the California Academy of Sciences and Pitzer College. 

Dr. Mitchell is a nationally respected data evangelist and data technologist, having designed and built one of the first school-based data technologies, called the Quality School Portfolio (QSP) system in 1998, and is often called upon to advise on data technologies that empower improvement. Most recently, Dr. Mitchell was asked to join a think tank sponsored by the National Academy of Education to develop a framework for the use of Artificial Intelligence in academic assessments. 

Before joining Partners, Dr. Mitchell earned a Ph.D. in educational psychology from UCLA, where he served as a 1988 Fellow and a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA ACCORD, recognized for his outstanding research on using data to improve academic outcomes for the most challenged populations. After UCLA, he served as the director of technology and student achievement for the Oakland Unified School District, supported district-wide reform across the country through the Stupski Foundation, and was the executive director of the Opportunity Zone in Prince George’s County, Maryland.