Mark A. Mitrovich
President and CEO
Mark A. Mitrovich retired from public school leadership in 2012 after a 35-year career in education, including superintendent positions in Washington and Illinois. Currently, he is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer for Global Learning and Leadership (GL2), a not-for-profit consultancy dedicated to building capacity within school districts and communities in the areas of Aligned Leadership, Instructional Excellence, and Community Engagement all focused to increasing student achievement and success with a STEM emphasis.
He served as superintendent of the 9,500 student Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor, Washington and the 18,000 student Naperville (IL) School District. Between superintendent positions, Mark founded EdGate and developed the leading curriculum alignment application for which he holds a patent. In addition, he created Total Reader, the first online reading assessment tool for both students and adults.
Following his position in Naperville, Mark was chosen Chief Academic Officer for Pearson North America where he served as an internal consultant to multiple divisions, including professional development, research, new product development, and marketing. As an external consultant, he worked with districts across the US as well as local, state, and federal agencies and superintendent associations.
During his career, Mark has received numerous recognitions and awards including Washington Superintendent of the Year in 1998 and Washington Principal of the Year in 1990. In addition, he has served in leadership roles on many state and national commissions, including the Washington State Commission on School Reform and as President of the Washington Association of Secondary School Principals. In Illinois, he was a member of the State committee to determine a new student performance growth model. He has also served as an advisor and consultant to Apple, Microsoft, the New York City Board of Education, the Ministries of Education in New Zealand, the State of Victoria in Australia, and to Digital Harbor: The Commonwealth Technology Port for Australia.
Highly regarded and sought after both nationally and internationally, Mark is acknowledged for his success in leading school systems and their communities through fundamental change that resulted in improved student achievement and community engagement. Both the Peninsula School District and Naperville School Districts are recognized as national leaders in the areas of community involvement for school restructuring, innovative curricular systems, and technology integration. His turn-around of underperforming districts and schools has been recognized in major rebuilding success stories. He has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to organize and motivate people to achieve at high levels.
Mark has achieved wide recognition for his ability to initiate innovative new programs in curriculum and technology. As principal of Clarkston (WA) High School, he led the successful Schools for the 21st Century Project that created a fully integrated local and global network in the high school in 1987. He later initiated, in concert with Microsoft, the Anywhere, Anytime Learning Program of 1:1 laptop computer technology. Today, it is a national model involving schools and school districts across the United States and world-wide. These experiences led to his high interest in STEM education as a key element in both education and the economy.
A dynamic speaker who uses humor, as well as his vast experiences, to teach and motivate, Mark has addressed audiences of educators, parents, and leaders in every state, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ethiopia.