Sonn Sam

Dr. Sonn Sam is the proud son of genocide survivors. Through their unconditional love, guidance, and inspiration, Sonn has become an accomplished education leader whose work and commitment have impacted the lives of thousands of young people across the United States and the world. For over 21 years, he served as teacher/advisor, assistant principal, principal, Chief Innovation Officer, Regional Director, and National Director of Partnerships. His work advanced systemic transformation in education by moving from a compliance-driven system to a learner-driven system. A system that fundamentally recognizes that ALL young people are brilliant and it is our collective responsibility to build systems and structures to cultivate that brilliance. From a policy to a practitioner level, he is actively building learner-driven systems and structures centered on every young person being known well, able to explore their interests, able to connect with local experts who share that interest, able to engage meaningful learning that has impact and able to credit interest driven anywhere, anytime learning. Sonn is a graduate of the Univerity of Rhode Island (undergraduate), Cambridge College (master’s), and Johnson and Wales University (doctorate’s). As the National Director of Partnerships, Sonn partners with education leaders to build sustainable and transformative learner-driven systems pushing for more equitable outcomes.