Press Releases | March 29, 2016

The Mind Trust adds two education leaders to help launch and support innovative schools

Indianapolis – The Mind Trust today announced the addition of two local education leaders – Joe White and Kristin Hines – to its team as the nonprofit gears up to launch new, innovative schools to serve more students in Indianapolis.

The Mind Trust soon will have 11 schools in development with more on the horizon, and both new members will work with Brandon Brown, senior vice president for education innovation, to launch and support these new schools:

Joe White, a former executive director of The Excel Center, a network of nine charter schools across Indiana, will join The Mind Trust as Director of School Support.  In this new role, he willwork closely with schools and operators across the city to provide new schools with critical support, resources and coaching to help ensure they are high performing.

As executive director of The Excel Center, White oversaw nine campuses serving approximately 2,700 students across the state.  He previously launched The Excel Center’s campus in Anderson, Indiana and achieved some of the best academic results in the entire network.  He also has served as an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College, and he began his career as a teacher in Richmond, Indiana.

White is currently school director and campus pastor at itown church in Fishers, where he developed and launched a school that prepares students ages 18-30 for a successful transition into full-time ministry.  He was selected by the Indianapolis Business Journal for its “Forty under 40” class in 2015 and was a presenter at Richmond’s African-American Male Summit, which educates students about educational opportunities within the community.  White holds a bachelor’s degree, as well as a master’s degree in teaching, from Earlham College.

“Joe will bring his years of experience launching, leading and supporting schools to The Mind Trust to help us support the many new, innovative schools that will open in Indianapolis in the future,” said David Harris, founder & CEO of The Mind Trust.  “We are extremely excited to add him to our team as we focus on launching and supporting high-quality schools so they can serve even more students in our city.”

Kristin Hines, the City of Indianapolis’ former charter schools director, will join The Mind Trust asDirector of School Incubation.  In this new role, she will help oversee The Mind Trust’s efforts to incubate and launch new schools in Indianapolis over the next several years to give more students access to a high-quality school.

“Kristin is a nationally respected leader in charter school authorizing and oversaw the opening of more than a dozen new charter schools during her tenure at the Mayor’s Office,” Harris said.  “Her leadership of the city’s charter movement gives her the experience to help us continue to launch great schools in Indianapolis.”

As charter schools director, Hines worked for Mayor Greg Ballard and continued her service in the Mayor’s Office under Mayor Joe Hogsett.  She oversaw 39 charter schools, serving about 13,000 students and was also the city’s liaison to the United Way for the Indianapolis Preschool Program.  Before joining the Mayor’s Office, she was a school improvement and turnaround specialist for the Indiana Department of Education, where she coached principals in 56 schools on effective school improvement planning and intervention.

She previously was a Teach For America corps member and was a Spanish ESL teacher in Dallas.  She graduated from Purdue University and earned teaching certifications from Southern Methodist University.

Hines is the third former Indianapolis charter schools director on The Mind Trust’s staff, joiningHarris, who served as Mayor Bart Peterson’s charter schools director, and Brown, who served in the same role for Mayor Ballard.

“Kristin’s institutional knowledge and professionalism will be missed,” said Ahmed Young, director of the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation.  “I’m excited about the opportunity to continue the relationship as she begins a new journey with The Mind Trust.”

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