Heather McManus

Heather is a nationally-recognized people leader. As the Chief People Officer of NewSchools Venture Fund, Heather led the establishment of a People Team and supported the growth and spin out of NewSchools' subsidiary, AERDF. Under her leadership, NewSchools and AERDF hired and onboarded over 70 people in 24 months. As CPO, she led the redesign of hiring processes, performance management processes, total rewards approaches, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. As a result of Heather's work and leadership, NewSchools has maintained an NPS between 70-90 since 2020, has a 90% belonging score, and 100% of employees believe that NewSchools is a great organization for their development and growth. 

Prior to working at NewSchools, Heather was the Chief Learning Officer at a network of PreK-12 charter schools serving the greater MacArthur Park Neighborhood of Los Angeles. In this role, Heather oversaw student and adult learning in the organization. She worked to redesign the professional development approaches, ensuring equitable student learning across the organization, and increase student achievement. As a result of the work Heather's teams led, each school saw 10-12% growth in both ELA and Math at each grade level in the 2019 school year. Heather spent 10 years as a school leader before assuming the CLO role and has expertise across school and district operation and instructional functional areas. The school Heather led won multiple awards under leadership including the EPIC Gold award for student achievement growth, Title I Academic Achievement Award, California Distinguished School Award, and the GOAL Award for excellent inclusive approaches for students with disabilities.  

Heather has a doctorate in leadership. In her research, she studied the challenges and opportunities female leaders face in traditionally masculinized roles, such as the principalship or CEO's office. She is an expert coach and manager, with a strong track record of providing impactful career and life coaching to individuals across the education and other sectors.  Heather lives in Los Angeles with her dog Loki. She loves to take cross-country road trips and spends time in Boise, Idaho  and Grand Haven, Michigan with her niece and nephew each year. She is a proud Michigan Wolverine and loves indoor cycling and yoga.