Skip to content

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt · Executive Advisor · Board Director · Keynote Speaker

Still We Build.

We build leaders.
We build businesses.
We build schools.
We build communities.
We build history.
We build hope.
We build futures.

Because institutions do not change history. People who build them do.

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt partners with visionary leaders, organizations, and communities to transform complex challenges into lasting opportunity. Across education, healthcare, workforce, and civic leadership, she helps people build institutions worthy of the futures they are creating.

Elected school board member. Former superintendent. Hospital board director. Executive advisor to CEOs, boards, and public leaders nationwide.

Explore the Work Work With Dr. Pruitt

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt

Work With Dr. Cheryl Pruitt

Organizations don't hire Dr. Cheryl Pruitt simply to solve today's problem. They engage her to build institutions that continue to thrive long after the crisis has passed.

When organizations face their most important moments, they bring in leadership capable of moving institutions forward.

Organizations partner with Dr. Pruitt to:

Lead executive strategy retreats
Guide institutional transformation
Facilitate board governance
Deliver keynote addresses
Design workforce and education strategies
Advise healthcare and community initiatives

Schedule a Conversation

For those ready to build something that outlives them.

A Clarion Call

A Capstone Project Like No Other

Not another assignment. Not another research paper.

Build something that changes lives.

Build a school.
Build a nonprofit.
Build a business.
Build a movement.
Build a community initiative.
Build policy.
Build the future.

0

Across science, education, healthcare, and community leadership

0

Hospital governance and community-health leadership, Methodist Hospitals of Northern Indiana

$0

In spending reductions while stabilizing a district's finances

Multi-State

Education, workforce, and community-impact initiatives

As Featured In

TEDx Talks

Society of Innovators Award

Forbes 50 Over 50

Quentin P. Smith Education Award

Consulting & Speaking

Ways to Engage

Six ways organizations bring her in — from a single conversation to a multi-year advisory relationship.

01

Executive Advisory

Ongoing strategic counsel for CEOs, superintendents, and boards navigating complex transformation, governance risk, or organizational turnaround.

Request a Proposal →

Now Booking 2027

02

Keynote Speaking

For healthcare conferences, foundations, corporate leadership summits, universities, and national associations — built around authentic, accountable leadership.

Request a Proposal →

03

Board Advisory

Experienced board-level counsel in governance, healthcare, education, nonprofit strategy, and organizational transformation for boards seeking a seasoned voice.

Request a Proposal →

04

Institutional Transformation Assessment

A structured engagement — stakeholder interviews, findings, an executive briefing, and a roadmap — for organizations that need clarity before they commit to a plan.

Request a Proposal →

05

Leadership Retreats

"Leading Through Complexity" — a one- or two-day executive retreat for leadership teams facing high-stakes decisions and organizational change.

Request a Proposal →

06

Executive Coaching

Direct, ongoing coaching for CEOs, presidents, superintendents, and executive teams — not general leadership coaching, but counsel from someone who has led at that level.

Request a Proposal →

Watch & Listen

See her on stage. Hear her tell it straight.

Her TEDx talk on authenticity, and a recent podcast conversation on crisis leadership — in her own words.

"How Authenticity Makes You a Better Leader"

Dr. Pruitt doesn't sanitize her own story to make a point about leadership — she uses it.

0views and counting

▶ Watch on YouTube

Podcast Appearance

Crisis Leadership & Authenticity

Dr. Pruitt joins the conversation to talk crisis leadership, authenticity, and what it really takes to lead through public scrutiny.

▶ Watch on YouTube

From Scientific Research to Systems Leadership

Three arcs, one career

Scientific rigor. System-level educational leadership. National advisory and board leadership. From research at St. Jude to leading a major public school system through a complex financial and academic turnaround, she now applies that experience to the interconnected challenges facing schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and communities.

Tap a stage below to read more.

Credentials & Governance

SUPERINTENDENT LICENSURELewis University

EARLY CAREERScience, research, teaching, and school leadership — IL, IN, TN

CURRENTVP, Pathways to College

BOARDMethodist Hospitals of Northern Indiana

SCHOOL BOARDElected, Kankakee School District 111, Illinois

FOUNDERVOICESpeaks LLC · Co-Founder, NAALI

EXPERTISEMicroschool development & implementation — New Schools, New High School Movement

HONORQuentin P. Smith Education Award (awarded once per decade)

Scientific Foundation

Cancer research, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Peer-reviewed publications — Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Clinical Investigation
Scientific methodology & data analysis
Laboratory science background applied to organizational diagnosis

Independent Coverage

Her leadership, documented by others

During her tenure leading the Gary Community School Corporation through fiscal restructuring, her work was the subject of independent reporting and state-level review — not just her own account of it.

"Dr. Cheryl Pruitt stands out for many Gary residents — even among the city's famous children and benefactors, including Oprah Winfrey, the Jackson 5, and Magic Johnson."
— Rachel Morello, StateImpact Indiana, Community of Opportunity

"The word 'busy' doesn't even begin to describe Pruitt's schedule."
— Rachel Morello, StateImpact Indiana, Community of Opportunity

"She made a way out of no way. Everybody thought it would be over — they thought Gary Community School Corp was about to shut down. It's still standing."
— Ellen Young, Gary parent of 19 years, quoted in Community of Opportunity

StateImpact Indiana

"Community of Opportunity" — an in-depth profile of her administration and the Gary Community School Corporation.

Read the coverage → GreatNews.Life

Independent profile of her career, from scientific research to district leadership.

Read the profile → Indiana State Board of Education

Official state record of district turnaround presentations during her tenure.

View the record →

Her leadership has also been tested publicly — a chapter she speaks about directly in her TEDx talk.

In Her Own Words

"

When I reflect on my lived experiences and the work of my life, one truth keeps surfacing — the same truth at the heart of stories like Michael Lewis's The Blind Side, of Malcolm Gladwell's writing on opportunity and success, and of everything I have tried to build around equity and human dignity:

"The measure of leadership is not how effectively we need systems, it is how courageously we transform them so every person is seen, valued, and given the opportunity to realize their fullest potential."

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt

— Cheryl

Education & Health

Education is a driver of health

Quality healthcare begins long before a patient enters a hospital. Literacy, education, workforce access, housing, and economic mobility all shape whether people can understand health information, obtain preventive care, and advocate for themselves and their families.

Education builds futures. Futures build nations.

Scale of Leadership

A career spent leading at scale

Career-wide estimates across the districts, schools, and programs she has led — approximate totals, not a single-year or single-organization count.

0

Students Reached

Approximate career-wide total across Gary Community School Corporation, Proviso Township High Schools District 209, Pathways to College, and affiliated programs — not a single-year figure.

0

Staff Members Led

Approximate total teachers, administrators, and support staff directed across the districts and organizations she has led.

Both figures are approximate, self-reported estimates pending final source documentation.

Client Outcomes

Organizations Engage Dr. Pruitt To:

Executives don't buy inspiration. They buy outcomes — here's the record behind hers.

✓
Recover systems in crisis
Gary Community School Corporation turnaround, 2012–2018
✓
Improve graduation and academic outcomes
Graduation 51.4% → 85.7%; Algebra proficiency 4% → 56% in one year
✓
Stabilize institutional finances
$85M in spending restructured amid a district financial crisis
✓
Lead through public scrutiny and crisis
The subject of her TEDx talk and IGI Global book chapter, "Leadership Under Siege"
✓
Launch and accredit new schools
Scholar's Compass Leadership Academy — Gary's newest provisionally accredited high school
✓
Build workforce and literacy pipelines
NAALI, 100 Families Strong, The Workforce & Leadership Continuum
✓
Govern safety-net healthcare systems
Board Director, Methodist Hospitals of Northern Indiana
✓
Design AI-ready education strategy
AI Toolkit for K-12 Educators, built for the Anniston City Schools engagement

National & International Footprint

Work spanning eight U.S. states, one territory, and international partnerships

Tap a code to see the engagement.

Dr. Cheryl Pruitt receiving flowers from students in China

Dr. Pruitt receiving flowers from students in China, during the cross-cultural educational exchange connecting Indiana schools with international partners.

In the Field

Ballfields, classrooms, and international exchanges.

First pitch — bringing the same energy to the ballfield as the boardroom.

First pitch — bringing the same energy to the ballfield as the boardroom.

On stage, mid-address.

On stage, mid-address.

Story time — literacy has always been personal, not just policy.

Story time — literacy has always been personal, not just policy.

At the podium.

At the podium.

With students representing partner nations around the world.

With students representing partner nations around the world.

With participants of Girls on the Run, celebrating a finish-line medal.

With participants of Girls on the Run, celebrating a finish-line medal.

In the classroom, one student at a time.

In the classroom, one student at a time.

With students in a culinary and hospitality program.

With students in a culinary and hospitality program.

At an international cultural and arts event.

At an international cultural and arts event.

Students who wanted a photo together, simply because they believed in her.

Students who wanted a photo together, simply because they believed in her.

Doctoral regalia at commencement.

Doctoral regalia at commencement.

Carrying the words that carried her — Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Carrying the words that carried her — Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Preparing outreach bags at a community health and wellness event, Gary Public Transportation Corp.

Preparing outreach bags at a community health and wellness event, Gary Public Transportation Corp.

Receiving the Quentin P. Smith Education Award, 2025.

Receiving the Quentin P. Smith Education Award, 2025.

Honored at the 2025 Gary Alumni Honors.

Honored at the 2025 Gary Alumni Honors.

Presenting UNSHAKEN to a live audience.

Presenting UNSHAKEN to a live audience.

First pitch — bringing the same energy to the ballfield as the boardroom.

First pitch — bringing the same energy to the ballfield as the boardroom.

On stage, mid-address.

On stage, mid-address.

Story time — literacy has always been personal, not just policy.

Story time — literacy has always been personal, not just policy.

At the podium.

At the podium.

With students representing partner nations around the world.

With students representing partner nations around the world.