Introductory Profile - Thomas Dean Gay
Dr. Thomas Dean Gay’s recent leadership roles include Education Advisor to The Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of the Supreme Education Council, Doha, Qatar. Additionally, he recently served as Consultant to the President of Qatar University, the national university system for the country of Qatar, Doha, Qatar, which is the country’s national and major institution of higher education under the direction of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar. Immediate previous leadership includes Principal Administrator for a highly accredited independent school in Broward County, Florida. Additionally, he serves as Founder of The Quality Schools Group and Education Consultant to Faircloth & Forsythe, a national consulting firm with the primary mission to provide quality services to public schools, charter schools, university systems, school conversions and private schools; assisting them to become more effective, efficient and self-reliant.
Dr. Gay has been a public servant for many years beginning his educational career as a sixth grade classroom teacher, then as an elementary, middle school, and high school principal. He continued his tenure in public school administration as Director of Secondary Curriculum and Communication in a suburban Columbus, Ohio school district and has passionately worked to provide leadership as a Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and corporate Vice President, working with public community school education in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Arizona.
Dr. Gay received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Findlay, Findlay, Ohio. His master’s degree in educational administration and supervision as well as an earned Ph.D. degree in educational leadership was granted by the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Gay also served as an adjunct graduate school instructor at The University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Bowling Green State University. Areas of instructional concentration include: school budgeting, finance and administrative management of fiscal resources; family/school/community collaboration; community education programming and public relations/marketing.
In 2007, Dr. Gay assumed a leadership position with The Leona Group L.L.C., one of the largest charter school management companies in America, as corporate Vice President for Operations and Academic Support, Consultant for all Florida Operations, and Quality Schools Initiative, serving numerous schools in Midwest America. During 2008-2009, he was appointed Corporate Consultant for all Florida School Operations, working with district personnel and various stakeholders in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Jefferson counties. Additional public charter school executive experience includes the position of Corporate Regional Vice-President for Curriculum, Instruction, and Operations with Mosaica Education, Inc., an international public community school management company. In 2005, Dr. Gay returned to Ohio after serving seven years as a Michigan school district superintendent and assumed this leadership position with Mosaica. In accepting this leadership role, Dr. Gay was able to provide value added leadership to public community schools in diverse urban environments.
Dr. Gay has extensively researched the topic of effective leadership and the skills essential to the success of chief executive officers and has presented his findings to various state, national, and international leadership organizations. On a national level, Dr. Gay has served an appointment to the American Association of School Administrator’s (AASA) Leadership Advisory Committee, served as a presenter at the National Conference on Education (2001 & 2003), and was actively involved as a national legislative corps liaison for AASA for several years. Dr. Gay has also presented to attendees at the National Mosaica Leadership Institute and various leadership groups with The Leona Group, L.LC.
In July 2002, Dr. Gay joined 35 other select educational leaders from around the globe to present his research at the prestigious Oxford International Round Table at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, England. The Round Table format allowed for presentation of thoughtful, global issues encouraging input from leaders representing the United States and United Kingdom. Dr. Gay was selected to address Round Table participants regarding international issues such as the policy maker’s role in meeting the challenges of educational delivery for a global society.
As a result of his passionate commitment to education, Dr. Gay’s leadership as President of the Ohio Community Education Association (OCEA) earned him special recognition by Lake County, Ohio Board of Commissioners as well as the 118thGeneral Assembly of The Ohio House of Representatives who named him “an outstanding Ohio citizen.”
During his OCEA leadership role, the association experienced a significant membership increase due to regionalized grass roots efforts and an effective membership recruitment plan. Organizational fiscal stability was achieved as a result of increased development efforts and aggressive donor prospecting. Collaborative efforts with the National Community Education Association and the Mott Foundation were also enhanced and advancement of the Association’s advocacy agenda was successfully implemented.
While serving as superintendent of Lapeer Community Schools, Dr. Gay championed a community-based process resulting in the first Long Range Facility Master Plan. During his tenure at Lapeer Community Schools, Dr. Gay was also instrumental in efforts to raise student achievement throughout the district as plans were implemented to focus on continuous improvement strategies. A community led collaborative process was also implemented to effectuate the district’s strategic planning effort. Superintendent Gay also led the effort to pass several successful school funding issues in school districts under his leadership in Ohio and Michigan. During his tenure as superintendent, Lapeer Community Schools passed a 2.25 mill, five-year “sinking fund” which was the first physical facility issue to pass at the election polls in over 30 years. A bond issue quickly followed.
On April 21, 2005, Superintendent Gay presented the first “State of the Schools Address” to members of the Economic Club of Lapeer County and the Lapeer Development Corporation. This Corporation is a community based non-profit economic development organization whose purpose is to lead and coordinate economic development and to provide a link between Federal, State, and Local governments and businesses interested in locating to or expanding in Lapeer County. This was the first time in the history of the Corporation that a local area citizen was asked to address members of
this prestigious organization. Dr. Gay also worked closely with county judges, the Lapeer County Administrator and
Controller, the Chief Executive Officer of Lapeer Regional Medical Center, and other valued stakeholders on various community based initiatives. Creating a forum which engages various stakeholders and constituents in high quality dialogue with a focus on goal attainability is a strength of this education and community advocate.
Dr. Gay has formed collaborative partnerships and effective working relationships with numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the design and implementation of safe school interagency teams and he is recognized as an
accomplished speaker and researcher regarding comprehensive school safety leadership initiatives. With funding secured from the United States Department of Justice, under the direction of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Dr. Gay accepted an invitation to participate in the Chief Executive Officer Safe School Forum training at the Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center, Alexandria, Virginia. Throughout his involvement in various safe school initiatives, Dr. Gay has worked in partnership with numerous schools and organizations to create comprehensive
interagency strategies designed to assist communities in focusing leadership and resources on the issues related to creating and maintaining a safe school environment. For his efforts, Dr. Gay received recognition from the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners as well as Michigan Governor John Engler and The Ninety-First Legislature, whom presented him with a “Special Tribute,” recognizing his implementation of a safe and drug-free collaborative educational outreach effort.
Dr. Gay served as a Michigan superintendent of schools and is especially proud that his district was one of only eight school districts in the state granted the “Lighthouse Recognition Award” by the Michigan Quality Council in November 2001. This recognition was a result of the district’s implementation of the Baldrige National Quality Program.
District staff effectively utilized the Baldrige Criteria as they engaged in a comprehensive self-assessment process creating effective strategies in the identification of numerous areas targeted to increase student achievement and
academic performance. He has also served as a NCA/AdvancEd Quality Assurance Review (QAR) visiting team
member.
In 2008, during his tenure as Vice President of Operations and Academic Support, Dr. Gay was asked to serve as Florida Corporate Consultant for fourteen public charter schools, located in six counties, managed by The Leona Group L.L.C. During 2008-2009, Dr. Gay worked diligently to move these public charter schools to higher levels of academic achievement and fiscal viability, working with various board members, district/state personnel and other stakeholders. After his service to Florida, Dr. Gay returned to the Michigan corporate office and provided educational support to corporate managed schools while accepting additional leadership roles and responsibilities within the organization.
In 2005, Dr. Gay joined the international public community school management team at Mosaica Education, Inc., serving as
the Corporate Regional Vice President of Curriculum, Instruction, and Operations. Dr. Gay has led numerous educational initiatives which guided the schools under his leadership to achieve higher academic achievement for students in a more fiscally and operationally responsible environment. Dr. Gay has been an influential contributor to the metropolitan Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio regions and is recognized as a national educational leader for the innovative programs implemented during his administrative tenure. Dr. Gay has worked cooperatively with other Educational Management Organizations, various authorizing agencies, other community and non-public schools, traditional public school administrators, State Departments of Education, Offices of Community Schools, current and former state legislators, community and business stakeholders, and various media during his administrative tenure.
Additionally, Dr. Gay was invited by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Council of Community Schools to serve as one of fifty community school leaders in the state to receive specialized training from the staff at Battelle for Kids. As a District Value Added Specialist, Dr. Gay was trained in statewide value-added analysis and implementation which, by the passage of Ohio House Bill 3, became the official metric in Ohio's accountability system appearing on
the state report card.
Dr. Gay has been extremely active in numerous civic and service organizations as well as Chamber of Commerce activities throughout communities he has served. He served on inter-agency collaborative committees to develop the Geographic Information System (GIS), which promotes Hillsdale and Lapeer Counties in Michigan. The implemented GIS formats provide a wealth of information regarding the assets of those counties to area residents and are utilized for long-range
planning efforts. Dr. Gay was also elected to serve as a member of the Hillsdale County Chamber of Commerce Board
of Directors and appointed to serve as a member of the Hillsdale Junior Achievement Board of Directors. Dr. Gay also served Lapeer County, Michigan as a member of the Lapeer Emergency Management Advisory Council, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Visiting Nurses Council and the area chapter of the American Red Cross. He has been a member of Rotary International and the Columbus and Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
As a veteran public servant and child/community activist, Dr. Gay has consistently devoted his time and energy to promote strong partnerships and collaborative efforts necessary to positively guide the communities he has served.
Dr. Gay has been a public servant for many years beginning his educational career as a sixth grade classroom teacher, then as an elementary, middle school, and high school principal. He continued his tenure in public school administration as Director of Secondary Curriculum and Communication in a suburban Columbus, Ohio school district and has passionately worked to provide leadership as a Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and corporate Vice President, working with public community school education in Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Arizona.
Dr. Gay received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Findlay, Findlay, Ohio. His master’s degree in educational administration and supervision as well as an earned Ph.D. degree in educational leadership was granted by the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Gay also served as an adjunct graduate school instructor at The University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Bowling Green State University. Areas of instructional concentration include: school budgeting, finance and administrative management of fiscal resources; family/school/community collaboration; community education programming and public relations/marketing.
In 2007, Dr. Gay assumed a leadership position with The Leona Group L.L.C., one of the largest charter school management companies in America, as corporate Vice President for Operations and Academic Support, Consultant for all Florida Operations, and Quality Schools Initiative, serving numerous schools in Midwest America. During 2008-2009, he was appointed Corporate Consultant for all Florida School Operations, working with district personnel and various stakeholders in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Jefferson counties. Additional public charter school executive experience includes the position of Corporate Regional Vice-President for Curriculum, Instruction, and Operations with Mosaica Education, Inc., an international public community school management company. In 2005, Dr. Gay returned to Ohio after serving seven years as a Michigan school district superintendent and assumed this leadership position with Mosaica. In accepting this leadership role, Dr. Gay was able to provide value added leadership to public community schools in diverse urban environments.
Dr. Gay has extensively researched the topic of effective leadership and the skills essential to the success of chief executive officers and has presented his findings to various state, national, and international leadership organizations. On a national level, Dr. Gay has served an appointment to the American Association of School Administrator’s (AASA) Leadership Advisory Committee, served as a presenter at the National Conference on Education (2001 & 2003), and was actively involved as a national legislative corps liaison for AASA for several years. Dr. Gay has also presented to attendees at the National Mosaica Leadership Institute and various leadership groups with The Leona Group, L.LC.
In July 2002, Dr. Gay joined 35 other select educational leaders from around the globe to present his research at the prestigious Oxford International Round Table at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, England. The Round Table format allowed for presentation of thoughtful, global issues encouraging input from leaders representing the United States and United Kingdom. Dr. Gay was selected to address Round Table participants regarding international issues such as the policy maker’s role in meeting the challenges of educational delivery for a global society.
As a result of his passionate commitment to education, Dr. Gay’s leadership as President of the Ohio Community Education Association (OCEA) earned him special recognition by Lake County, Ohio Board of Commissioners as well as the 118thGeneral Assembly of The Ohio House of Representatives who named him “an outstanding Ohio citizen.”
During his OCEA leadership role, the association experienced a significant membership increase due to regionalized grass roots efforts and an effective membership recruitment plan. Organizational fiscal stability was achieved as a result of increased development efforts and aggressive donor prospecting. Collaborative efforts with the National Community Education Association and the Mott Foundation were also enhanced and advancement of the Association’s advocacy agenda was successfully implemented.
While serving as superintendent of Lapeer Community Schools, Dr. Gay championed a community-based process resulting in the first Long Range Facility Master Plan. During his tenure at Lapeer Community Schools, Dr. Gay was also instrumental in efforts to raise student achievement throughout the district as plans were implemented to focus on continuous improvement strategies. A community led collaborative process was also implemented to effectuate the district’s strategic planning effort. Superintendent Gay also led the effort to pass several successful school funding issues in school districts under his leadership in Ohio and Michigan. During his tenure as superintendent, Lapeer Community Schools passed a 2.25 mill, five-year “sinking fund” which was the first physical facility issue to pass at the election polls in over 30 years. A bond issue quickly followed.
On April 21, 2005, Superintendent Gay presented the first “State of the Schools Address” to members of the Economic Club of Lapeer County and the Lapeer Development Corporation. This Corporation is a community based non-profit economic development organization whose purpose is to lead and coordinate economic development and to provide a link between Federal, State, and Local governments and businesses interested in locating to or expanding in Lapeer County. This was the first time in the history of the Corporation that a local area citizen was asked to address members of
this prestigious organization. Dr. Gay also worked closely with county judges, the Lapeer County Administrator and
Controller, the Chief Executive Officer of Lapeer Regional Medical Center, and other valued stakeholders on various community based initiatives. Creating a forum which engages various stakeholders and constituents in high quality dialogue with a focus on goal attainability is a strength of this education and community advocate.
Dr. Gay has formed collaborative partnerships and effective working relationships with numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the design and implementation of safe school interagency teams and he is recognized as an
accomplished speaker and researcher regarding comprehensive school safety leadership initiatives. With funding secured from the United States Department of Justice, under the direction of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Dr. Gay accepted an invitation to participate in the Chief Executive Officer Safe School Forum training at the Jimmy Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center, Alexandria, Virginia. Throughout his involvement in various safe school initiatives, Dr. Gay has worked in partnership with numerous schools and organizations to create comprehensive
interagency strategies designed to assist communities in focusing leadership and resources on the issues related to creating and maintaining a safe school environment. For his efforts, Dr. Gay received recognition from the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners as well as Michigan Governor John Engler and The Ninety-First Legislature, whom presented him with a “Special Tribute,” recognizing his implementation of a safe and drug-free collaborative educational outreach effort.
Dr. Gay served as a Michigan superintendent of schools and is especially proud that his district was one of only eight school districts in the state granted the “Lighthouse Recognition Award” by the Michigan Quality Council in November 2001. This recognition was a result of the district’s implementation of the Baldrige National Quality Program.
District staff effectively utilized the Baldrige Criteria as they engaged in a comprehensive self-assessment process creating effective strategies in the identification of numerous areas targeted to increase student achievement and
academic performance. He has also served as a NCA/AdvancEd Quality Assurance Review (QAR) visiting team
member.
In 2008, during his tenure as Vice President of Operations and Academic Support, Dr. Gay was asked to serve as Florida Corporate Consultant for fourteen public charter schools, located in six counties, managed by The Leona Group L.L.C. During 2008-2009, Dr. Gay worked diligently to move these public charter schools to higher levels of academic achievement and fiscal viability, working with various board members, district/state personnel and other stakeholders. After his service to Florida, Dr. Gay returned to the Michigan corporate office and provided educational support to corporate managed schools while accepting additional leadership roles and responsibilities within the organization.
In 2005, Dr. Gay joined the international public community school management team at Mosaica Education, Inc., serving as
the Corporate Regional Vice President of Curriculum, Instruction, and Operations. Dr. Gay has led numerous educational initiatives which guided the schools under his leadership to achieve higher academic achievement for students in a more fiscally and operationally responsible environment. Dr. Gay has been an influential contributor to the metropolitan Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio regions and is recognized as a national educational leader for the innovative programs implemented during his administrative tenure. Dr. Gay has worked cooperatively with other Educational Management Organizations, various authorizing agencies, other community and non-public schools, traditional public school administrators, State Departments of Education, Offices of Community Schools, current and former state legislators, community and business stakeholders, and various media during his administrative tenure.
Additionally, Dr. Gay was invited by the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Council of Community Schools to serve as one of fifty community school leaders in the state to receive specialized training from the staff at Battelle for Kids. As a District Value Added Specialist, Dr. Gay was trained in statewide value-added analysis and implementation which, by the passage of Ohio House Bill 3, became the official metric in Ohio's accountability system appearing on
the state report card.
Dr. Gay has been extremely active in numerous civic and service organizations as well as Chamber of Commerce activities throughout communities he has served. He served on inter-agency collaborative committees to develop the Geographic Information System (GIS), which promotes Hillsdale and Lapeer Counties in Michigan. The implemented GIS formats provide a wealth of information regarding the assets of those counties to area residents and are utilized for long-range
planning efforts. Dr. Gay was also elected to serve as a member of the Hillsdale County Chamber of Commerce Board
of Directors and appointed to serve as a member of the Hillsdale Junior Achievement Board of Directors. Dr. Gay also served Lapeer County, Michigan as a member of the Lapeer Emergency Management Advisory Council, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Visiting Nurses Council and the area chapter of the American Red Cross. He has been a member of Rotary International and the Columbus and Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
As a veteran public servant and child/community activist, Dr. Gay has consistently devoted his time and energy to promote strong partnerships and collaborative efforts necessary to positively guide the communities he has served.