Bethany was born and raised in Australia but moved to the U.S. at age 11. Even at a young age, she was fascinated by the similarities and differences between the two countries’ education systems. Between her junior and senior years of college, Bethany lived in New York City for 18 months to engage in full-time community service. Filled with a deep sense of commitment to children attending underserved schools and learning English as an additional language, Bethany returned to complete her degree at Brigham Young University, joined Teach For America, and became a bilingual elementary teacher in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.
Deeply inspired by the idea that an entire K-12 school could collectively rally around a vision of preparing all children for success in college and beyond, Bethany joined IDEA Public Schools in 2005 at the flagship campus in Donna, TX. She then became the founding elementary principal of IDEA Mission and, after two years consulting and coaching Early College High School programs with Educate Texas, Bethany returned to IDEA in 2012 to design and launch their new Principals in Residence program. As Vice President of Leader Development, she led the coaching and development of over 100 aspiring and new principals across all of IDEA’s regions.
Beginning in 2018, Bethany served as the founding Executive Director of IDEA’s Permian Basin region in West Texas, where she led the launch of IDEA’s first Midland and Odessa schools. Bethany recently returned to the Rio Grande Valley, first as Vice President of College Partnerships, Persistence, and Completion and now as Chief College Officer. She’s thrilled to lead IDEA’s college and career work into the future and is committed to elevating the voices of students and families and empowering them to design choice-filled lives of meaning and purpose. She believes firmly that college remains the most likely path to achieving that goal.
Bethany and her husband, Sergio, have three children. They love traveling together, enjoying Sergio’s smoked brisket, or spending time with their extended family.
