Ely Ross

Chief Operating Officer @District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)

Washington, DC, US

Chief Operating Officer Oversee all operational processes for district-wide schools within $1.1B agency serving 50K students, 10K employees, and 117 schools. Manage $180M operational budget and $2.5B six-year capital improvement budget. Optimize the functioning of compliance, strategic operations, and school services divisions. Manage seven direct reports, 1K employees, and contractors. Designed new strategic plan. Broke down siloed operations by introducing Objective and Key Results methodology. Introduced operational transparency and accountability where none existed before. Led Agile transformation to improve coordinated service delivery across all business lines and accelerate decision-making and execution. All operational division leaders trained in Agile leadership. Standardized project management planning and delivery. All managers trained in project management and Scrum. Created Emergency Management Division to manage all emergency planning and response across all schools, resulting in 100% compliance with fire and emergency drills since inception, up from 60%. Member of the District’s Infrastructure Review Board. Review and recommend district-wide capital investment proposals to the City Administrator and Mayor. Manage $1.7B facility modernization program and leading the construction of Net-Zero facilities. Opened four modernized schools, and manage facility sustainability programs.

Hawaii Pacific University

Master of Arts (M.A.), Diplomacy and Military Studies, with distinction

Hawaii Pacific University

Bachelor of Arts (BA), International Relations, magna cum laude

Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law

Juris Doctor, Law