Education Alum Starts Educational Consulting Business

A doctoral graduate of the Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has opened her own educational consulting business.

Kisha Bellande-Francis earned her Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership from NSU in 2018 and has worked in a number of educational roles. She initially began her career as a Speech Language Pathologist before working as a teacher, administrator, and instructional consultant.

“As an administrator, I thought, ‘Wow, I’m making an impact in the whole school. It’s so wonderful. But when I became a consultant, and I was able to travel to different districts in different states, I felt like ‘Oh my Goodness, now I am making a national impact!”

Bellande-Francis now leads her own consulting business, she helps schools and organizations evaluate instructional practices and recommends areas for improvement. She has been consulting since 2015, but started her own business in 2022 and expressed that the feeling of being on her own has been liberating.

“It’s just been a pleasure because I really get to bring my vision to my practice. I have closer relationships with district and school leaders, and nothing beats that.

Bellande-Francis said her degree from Nova helped prepare her for this role by extending her capabilities through using research as a meaningful way to help her clients.

“It’s opened my eyes to look at challenges in a way of questioning, investigating, and collecting data to leverage the results towards growth and impact.”

When it comes to the future, Bellande-Francis is open to a variety of possibilities, however, there is an ultimate goal that she does dream about: opening her own school, and she has even collaborated with FCE&SCJ Dean Kimberly Durham about it.

“I started the process and was on my way to establishing my own school in 2020 but when COVID hit everything halted. The dream is still in my heart and something that I hope to achieve one day. I have reimagined what schools can look like. I want to implement my vision of a competency-based school that removes “grade level” barriers and allows each individual student the opportunity to excel at their own pace and reach their absolute fullest potential, especially in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) aspects.  I want to apply my experience and talents in my own school and allow all of the best teaching practices to blossom in one place.”

Posted 05/08/23