Leadership

Sehba AliChief Executive Officer

Sehba Ali is the former Superintendent of KIPP Houston Public Schools. In 2004, she founded KIPP Heartwood Academy middle school in San Jose, CA, which has consistently been rated one of the highest-performing middle schools in California. Prior to taking the helm at KIPP Houston, Sehba served as Chief Academic Officer for KIPP Bay Area Schools. She began her career as a middle school English teacher in Houston, Texas with Teach For America. Sehba earned her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her Masters from Stanford University. She was a Pahara-Aspen fellow and completed the Broad Academy for Superintendents. She currently mentors two KIPP EDs and serves on the Connect Community and The Post Oak School boards.

Vanessa BarryChief Operating Officer

Vanessa ​Segovia Barry believes every student deserves a high-quality education. Her dedication to educational equity starts with her own story: her mother became the first person in the family to attain a college degree, which changed her life and was a life-changer for her children and grandchildren as well. A Houston native, Vanessa was raised in the Rio Grande Valley and has lived in all four KIPP Texas regions. While running marketing, communications, creative services, enrollment, and events at IDEA Public Schools, she ​helped the network grow from 16 to 120 schools, while exceeding student enrollment goals and transforming its brand identity. She also founded a ​family-focused magazine reaching nearly 100,000 readers, commissioned a software platform to maximize enrollment, and produced large-scale events attended by thousands. Vanessa lives in the San Antonio area with her husband and their two children.

Larry GuilloryChief Administrative Officer

In direct support of the Chief Executive Officer, Larry serves a key role in building and managing the newly created KIPP Texas Public Schools while promoting the academic, character, and life success of KIPP students (KIPPsters). Larry is a founding member of the leadership team of KIPP Texas Public Schools and is helping to lead the first-ever integration of KIPP regional organizations (KIPP Austin, KIPP Dallas-Fort Worth, KIPP Houston, and KIPP San Antonio). This integration encompasses 50+ schools that are serving 25,000 students across Texas.

In the CPO role, Larry is instrumental in pioneering approaches to charter school integration, talent management, HR service delivery, professional development, and teacher recruitment at scale. Larry also is responsible for school and regional talent and human resources functions including benefits, payroll, school leader and teacher talent branding, hiring, training, development, retention, and remote workforce practices.

Sơn Nam Hàn Chief Financial Officer

Sơn was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in 2022. Son’s family immigrated to the United States in 1975 and are refugees from Viet Nam. He previously served as Controller for KIPP Houston for 4 years before leaving for South Sudan. When returning to the United States, KIPP Texas asked Sơn to return and soon served as Interim CFO for KIPP Houston at the nascent stages of the KIPP Texas merger. After the merger, Sơn served in the Deputy Chief of Finance role leading accounting, FP&A, compliance, and procurement. Sơn graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA and Master’s in Public Accountancy. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant. Read more about Sơn’s leadership story here.

Ann ScottChief Advancement Officer

Ann Scott joined KIPP in October 2019. In her role, she raises funds to support strategic initiatives. As an advocate of educational opportunity and equity for all students, Scott works to ensure all children can have access to an education that prepares them for success in life.

Upon graduating from Oakwood College, Ann joined Teach For America and taught at White Elementary School in the HISD for four years. Ann subsequently joined the staff of Teach For America and led the region to double its presence in Houston and improve teacher impact on student outcomes. She has also worked as the Chief Human Resources Officer for HISD. Striving to improve the teacher evaluation process, Ann led the district’s teacher effectiveness efforts including the design and implementation of an improved teacher appraisal and development system that would hold teachers accountable to student achievement as part of their evaluation. Ann had the privilege of returning to Teach For America to manage and develop alumni leadership initiatives. In this role, she pioneered the development of a fellowship for experienced alumni to transition into leadership roles in districts across the country.

Deedrah HarpInterim Chief Academic Officer

Deedrah Harp, PhD, joined then KIPP Houston in 2005 at an unforgettable time in history, right after hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and caused families to uproot to Texas to start anew swiftly. As a licensed psychologist, her role was to support students and staff in their recovery and in finding a new normalcy while healing from trauma. Currently the Interim Chief Academic Officer for KIPP Texas, she has been a Big KIPPster for 17 years. Additionally, Deedrah has served in 4 founding roles: Director of Psychological and Social Services at NOW College Prep, KIPP Houston Director of Student Support Services, KIPP Houston Chief Innovation Officer, and Deputy Chief of Student Support Services.

A native of North Carolina, Deedrah pursued her undergraduate in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master’s degree and doctorate in psychology from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has spent her career dedicated to the development of children and youth by following a single mission: to lead people and teams in believing that every child is beautifully made; to commit to leading a team that works to enhance the light that shines from within every KIPPster; to lead with authenticity and in partnership with schools to remove barriers that our students face in their learning; and to demonstrate faith that as a Team and a Family, we will either find a way or make one.

Cicely TaylorChief of Staff

As Chief of Staff for KIPP Texas, Cicely’s primary focus is paving a path towards organizational efficiency, engagement, and effectiveness in service to the CEO’s office, Executive staff, and all KIPPsters Big and Little. Cicely has over 25 years of experience in the education and non-profit space. Her educator’s heart is grounded in her experiences as a classroom teacher, starting with Teach For America and later in the field of early childhood education. She began her career as a Big KIPPster 15+ years ago and has served in many capacities. Cicely’s professional approach centers around being an organizational linchpin, driving cross-functional work towards the highest bar of excellence. Beyond that of a Big KIPPster, her greatest and most important role is mom to Steven and Summer.

Dan CaesarHouston Regional Superintendent

Dan Caesar has over 20 years of experience with KIPP; he began in 1997 as a sixth-grade math teacher at KIPP Academy Houston. Dan was a Fisher Fellow in 2000 and founded the second KIPP School in Houston, KIPP 3D Academy, in 2001. Dan led KIPP 3D to become one of the top-rated middle schools in the city. In 2010, Dan became Head of Schools for KIPP Houston, and has since overseen exponential growth. He holds a BA from Tufts University, an MBA from Rice University, and has been selected for the 2017-18 cohort of the Leverage Leadership Institute with the Relay Graduate School of Education.

Justin ScottAustin Regional Superintendent

Justin Scott is the Regional Superintendent for KIPP Texas – Austin. He is passionate about fostering brave and belonging spaces that ensure access and opportunity for all children. Mr. Scott comes to this work with more than 20 years as an early childhood teacher, a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan, a founding school leader for KIPP Austin Comunidad, and an executive, systems-level lead learner for KIPP. He is a proud Chicano leader and the first in his family to attend and graduate from college. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Santa Clara University, and a master’s degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin. Justin’s most important role is father to his two young children (Simone and Georgia) and partner to his wife, Kelly.

Eric ColemanDallas-Fort Worth Regional Superintendent

Allen SmithSan Antonio Regional Superintendent

Allen Smith comes to KIPP Texas Public Schools with more than 20 years as a leader in education. He is nationally recognized for his work improving chronically low-performing schools and has a track-record of successfully mentoring instructional leaders. Allen is a Denver native and former Denver Public Schools (DPS) principal who most recently led the Culture Equity and Leadership Team (CELT) at DPS since 2016. He also served for three years as executive director of the Denver Summit Schools Network. He then joined Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina as a community superintendent before heading to California to serve as Deputy Superintendent/Chief of Schools for Oakland Unified School District. Allen is a graduate of Harvard’s Urban Principal Institute, Public Education Leadership Program and Urban Superintendent Program.