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Leading High-Poverty Schools: Strategies for Collaboration and Community Engagement With Washington Collado

Guest(s): Washington B. Collado
Date: 10/21/2024
Run time: 45:18
Season 8, Episode 6

In this episode of Leaders Coaching Leaders, Principal of the Year honoree Washington Collado shares his personal and professional leadership journey. He underscores the significance of leading with intention and creating a safe environment for open communication among students, staff, and families, discussing how to achieve the respect and trust that are foundational to effective leadership. Reflecting on his upbringing in the Dominican Republic and the loss of his mother at a young age, Collado shares how these experiences shaped his commitment to education and advocacy for underrepresented groups. He highlights the importance of integrating diverse histories into curricula, explaining how this is essential for equity in education. Additionally, he previews his upcoming book, The Four Pillars to Guide Visionary Educators, which focuses on strategies for supporting students in high-poverty schools through collaborative leadership and community engagement. Collado's insights underscore the transformative power of education and the necessity of intentional leadership in fostering inclusive learning environments.


Episode Audio

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Washington B. Collado Photo

Washington B. Collado

Dr. Washington “Nino” Collado was born in the Dominican Republic, in a small town called Jánico (Ha-Nee-Co). His mother, María Tejada, along with seven of his uncles and aunts, were all teachers. After his mother’s death, Dr. Collado and his three sisters moved to the United States to live with their father in New York City.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from Queens College, Dr. Collado taught Spanish and English as a Second Language in New York City Public Schools. He and his family then moved to Florida, where he taught in Miami-Dade Public Schools. He later joined Broward County Public Schools’ Multicultural Department to develop curricula and provide training for teachers and administrators on the contributions of Latinos, African Americans, and women throughout U.S. history. He became an assistant principal at Broward County Public Schools and later served as a principal. He has spent 17 years as a principal at the middle and high school levels and served as president of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association (BPAA). During this time, he earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University.

In February 2021, Dr. Nino Collado received the Principal of the Year award for Broward County Public Schools, the sixth-largest school district in the country. Dr. Collado is currently an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, where he teaches courses on educational leadership, and he serves as an associate at Creative Leadership Solutions.

Throughout his career, Dr. Nino Collado has dedicated a significant portion of his time to teaching and mentoring others. He has traveled to numerous countries and over 30 states as a motivational speaker on topics related to school leadership and family engagement. He has also appeared as a panelist on CNN Español, NPR (New York), Telemundo, Univision, and others. Additionally, he has written over 100 articles for newspapers and magazines, including the Miami Herald, and has authored or co-authored four books. He and his wife Carmen R. Collado are proud parents of four sons: Mario, Alejandro, Miguel, and Victor.

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Peter M. DeWitt Photo

Peter M. DeWitt

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective, and approaches everything with a learner's mindset. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For over 12 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books. 

DeWitt's professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy. His work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week with Michael Nelson and they host Corwin’s Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week's A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, research, trauma and many other educational topics.

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books and his articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages. 

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Michael Nelson Photo

Michael Nelson

There is no more noble profession than that of an educator was what Michael Nelson’s mom said almost every day while he was growing up. For almost 40 years, Michael has been an educator. His mom would be pleased.  

Even though Michael still considers “teacher” as his  primary title, he has served in roles of principal, district instructional leader, superintendent, assistant executive director developing professional development for the state of Washington, and currently as the Thought Partner for the Instructional Leadership Collective.


Michael has received many state and national awards during his time as a principal and superintendent. As principal, his school received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education. As a superintendent, he was named Washington state’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year. During his tenure as superintendent, Michael was elected President of the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) by his peers. 


Michael Nelson co-facilitates coaching, keynotes, and workshops with Peter DeWitt. Their first book “Leading with Intention” was released in May 2024.

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Related Titles

Featured Publication
Four Pillars to Guide Visionary Educators
Structuring Schools That Serve Students in Poverty

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