We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carlos Moreno. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carlos below.

Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

My most important lessons in school came not as a student, but as an educator. In 20o2, when I first entered the teaching profession, I became the advisor to a group of young people who changed my life in many ways. As a first year teacher, I had to own up to things that I did not know about myself and ask for help when I needed it. These young people were my motivation. We grew and evolved together. Over the course of four years, I watched them mature – getting to know their families and their cultures and, on a deeper level, their hearts and minds. Learning alongside them as they found their love for learning remains one of the most rewarding experiences of my career and my life. Many young people find school boring and irrelevant. But when you cocreate and codesign learning experiences with young people, schooling can come alive. We are born curious, and we are excited when we learn new things. When young people are partners in their own learning experiences, the lessons they learn carry over into their lives outside of the classroom.

Carlos, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I graduated from college with dual degrees in business management and marketing. I promised my father when I started college that I would have a job immediately after graduating, so I accepted the first offer I received immediately after graduating. Despite early professional success, I had this nagging feeling I had missed my calling. I had the good fortune of running into a college classmate who had become a teacher at an innovative high school in Providence. This friend – Danique – encouraged me to visit his school and, less subtly, shared that “we need more brothers in education.” Growing up, Black male teachers were few and far between. None of my high school or college professors had inspired me to want to pursue education as a possible career. But something about Danique’s school lit a spark in me. I wanted to work with young people in ways that were transformative rather than transactional. Before long, I was working at the school, impacting the lives of others, but forever changing my life as well. Danique’s school was (and is) part of a national network of similar innovative schools known as Big Picture Learning. Today, I’m the Co-Executive Director of the network, responsible for (among other things) growing the network and inspiring schools and educators across the world to reimagine a system that puts students’ interests and passions at the center of their learning.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Earlier I shared the story of how I learned about The Met School thanks to my college classmate Danique. Around the same time I became a first year teacher – leading an Advisory of 17 young people – across the hall from me another young professional was on a similar journey. That was Andrew Frishman, one of the brightest and most thoughtful leaders I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside. Big Picture Learning was co-founded by education pioneers Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor. But when it was time to establish a succession plan for the network, they – having observed the close personal and working relationship that Andrew and I had developed – asked us, when the time was right, to step into the Executive Director roles. Dennis and Elliot left a tremendous footprint and an impressive legacy. To be deemed their successor(s) was an honor, but an intimidating one, no doubt. Andrew and I shared a hallway at The Met, and now we were going to share leadership at an organization whose mission was a complete reimagining of education, famously “one student at a time.” Andrew and I have been Co-EDs for close to ten years now and I could not have imagined being on this journey with anyone else.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

In my role as a leader, I find it important to constantly be aware that there is much required and expected of me, but also that I must always learn and grow in my approach to leadership. Too often, male leaders reinforce inequalities by barreling through their work with unfounded machismo. Acknowledging one’s limitations and inexperience is central to vulnerable leadership. Leadership Soul takes a radical approach to leadership by embracing love, care and vulnerability as its central components. There’s a commonly held misperception that leaders who reveal their vulnerabilities are weak. However, in my experience the opposite has been true. Sharing vulnerability can serve to humanize leaders and create conditions for more distributed leadership and collaboration. Love creates a sense of belonging, helps foster positive relationships, and encourages team members to be more open and expressive. When these elements are present within a team, colleagues are more likely to develop a strong sense of self-worth and confidence in their own abilities to lead.

Contact Info:

• Website: leadershipsoul.org & bigpicture.org
• Instagram: @ColossalEducator & @bigpiclearning
• Facebook: @bigpicturelearning
• Linkedin: Carlos R. Moreno
• Twitter: @Carlos_Moreno06 & @bigpiclearning
• Youtube: @bplearning

Image Credits
“DSCF3798” – Credit Joshua Poyer “Carlos 1” – Credit Joshua Poyer “Carlos 2” – Credit Chris Jackson “Carlos 3” – Credit Chris Jackson “Carlos 4” – Credit Chris Jackson “Carlos 5” – Credit Laura Martinelli “Carlos 6”- Credit Joshua Poyer “Carlos 7” – Credit Joshua Poyer