Dr. Marla M. Dean
Principal & Chief Learning & Innovation Officer, Dean’s List Consulting
Dr. Marla M. Dean is a nationally recognized leader and expert in K–12 education, early childhood education, health equity, homelessness, economic justice, whole-child approaches, and two-generation (2Gen) policies and practices. She is the speaker behind the TEDx Talk “2Gen Policy and Approaches: A Pathway Out of Poverty.”
During her tenure as CEO of Bright Beginnings, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that employs 2Gen strategies to support children and families experiencing homelessness and housing instability, Marla achieved transformational outcomes. She stewarded the construction of a 19,000-square-foot facility using New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), paid off the construction loan three years early, doubled the organization's annual revenue, increased staff salaries by more than 35%, added a fatherhood engagement program, and successfully led the organization through the most challenging periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through her firm, Dean’s List Consulting, Marla provides strategic leadership and advisement to a wide range of clients. She currently leads strategy for the Health Equity Fund, a $95 million initiative at the Greater Washington Community Foundation. The fund is focused on three catalytic opportunities:
• Developing an economic justice and health equity agenda
• Advancing policy, advocacy, and systems change to address the social and structural determinants of health
• Seeding disruptive, community-led projects that promote economic mobility, strategic participation, and community wealth building
Her additional clients include Ascend at the Aspen Institute, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Child Care for Every Family Network (CC4EFN), Bellwether Education Partners, New Hope Housing, GOODProjects’ Black Justice Institute – Black Leadership Fellowship, and AsylumWorks.
Marla is a skilled trainer and facilitator, providing confidential leadership forums and circles for nonprofit CEOs and early childhood directors. These settings allow leaders to enrich their skills, address real-world challenges, and receive mutual support.
She currently serves as:
o National Board Chair of the birdSEED Foundation, an organization committed to increasing Black and Brown homeownership in rapidly gentrifying cities
o Board Chair of Philanthropy DMV, the membership association for funders and foundations in the Greater Washington region
o Board Member of the District of Columbia Early Learning Collaborative (DCELC)
In addition, Marla has served on numerous nonprofit boards, city government councils, commissions, task forces, and mayoral transition committees including:
o Chair of the DC Mayor’s inaugural Commission on Poverty
o Chair of the Ward 7 Education Council
o Member of the DC Council’s Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Task Force
She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including:
o National Coalition of 100 Black Women Metropolitan Washington DC – 2025 She’s 100 Equity Award
o Washington Business Journal 2024 Nonprofit Health (Equity) Leader – Inaugural Class of Innovators in Health Care Awards
o 2023 Empowered Women Award from the East River Family Strengthening Collaborative.
Dr. Dean brings over 30 years of diverse leadership experience in teaching, coaching, school and district administration, nonprofit leadership, and executive strategy. She is a former English and government teacher, assistant principal, middle and high school principal, turnaround principal, and chief of schools across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia.
She also served as Eastern Region Program Manager for the Delta Research and Educational Foundation’s Delta Teacher Efficacy Campaign (DTEC) and was a member of the 2017–2020 DCPS Strategic Advisory Committee. She previously served on Mayor Bowser’s Thrive by Five Coordinating Council and on the Low Income Investment Fund’s (LIIF) New Markets Tax Credit Advisory Board.
Marla holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Teaching and Learning from The University of Michigan, an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Michigan State University, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Organizational Theory from the University of Pennsylvania.
She is a lifetime member of both tLeadership Greater Washington, Class of 2020, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.