Current Role: Founder, The Liber Institute
Fellowship Role: South Dakota Education Director, NACA Inspired Schools Network (Mission, SD)
Jonathan Santos Silva is the Founder of The Liber Institute, an organization focused on developing the leadership capacity of Indigenous students, families, and educators to transform schools and the communities they serve.
He is also the creator and host of The Bored of Ed, a podcast that amplifies the voices of inspiring BIPOC educators who are changing the face of education.
During the Fellowship, he served as the South Dakota Education Director for the NACA Inspired Schools Network. In this capacity, he oversaw turnaround work in four South Dakota schools serving indigenous students and families using the NACA turnaround model. Prior to joining the Fellowship, Jonathan served as the Project Manager for Fuse Architect at the Highlander Institute, where he was responsible for designing and implementing all aspects of a seven-school student-centered redesign project. Before joining the Highlander Institute, Jonathan was the Founding Head of School and High School Designer at Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy. BVP High School was a Rhode Island Commended School in 2014, a Demonstrating School for the Scaling Up Proficiency Based Graduation initiative in 2015, and the state’s first high school to fully implement restorative justice practices.
Jonathan holds an M.A. in Education Administration from the University of South Dakota and a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University.