Tointon Institute Director, Aisha Thomas
Dr. Aisha Thomas is the Director of the Tointon Institute for Educational Change at the University of Northern Colorado. As the Director, Aisha is responsible for creating, planning, and implementing a variety of leadership academies and educator professional development. She provides mentorship, coaching, and direct support for Colorado educators.
In addition to this role, Aisha serves schools across the US as an education consultant. With a professional mission to ensure high levels of learning for all, she coaches schools through system and culture redesign. She also presents at numerous educational conferences including PLC@Work Institute, All Means All Institute, and Leaders in a PLC Institute, and Teams Institute. Aisha is certified to coach schools and districts in the PLC@Work, RTI@Work, and Yes We Can! Inclusive Practices.
Formerly, Aisha was an elementary and secondary school administrator and worked for twenty years in the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, CO. She has demonstrated a dedicated commitment to student success in a changing world while leading two schools to become nationally recognized Model PLC@Work Schools and National Blue Ribbon Award winners. In 2018, she was awarded the Terrel H. Bell School Outstanding Leadership Award from the US Department of Education. With Aisha’s leadership, her elementary school moved from the CO state ranking of 89th to 2nd out of all K-12 public schools.
She is also an avid community volunteer serving both spiritual and secular organizations and was awarded the 2018 Special Friend Award for Colorado State University’s Black/African American Cultural Center.
She is a member of the International Women's Leadership Association and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in African-American History and a Master of Education; Human Resource Studies with a concentration in School Counseling from Colorado State University. She earned her Superintendent license from University of Northern Colorado and holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Capella University.
Aisha is also a mother to three children and as family they enjoy all things movies, adventure, card games, and travel!
