Alliance for Catholic Education
Scott Morgan was presented with the 2017 Notre Dame Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Education by Fr. Tim Scully, C.S.C., the Hackett Family Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives and co-founder of the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), at a luncheon today on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Morgan is the founder and chief executive officer of Education Pioneers, an organization that identifies, trains, connects, and inspires leaders dedicated to transforming our nation's educational system so that all students receive a quality education. He was a member of the second cohort of ACE Teaching Fellows, teaching social studies at St. Jude High School in Montgomery, Alabama.
"Scott has lived his life according to the same mission that drives ACE: that every child, especially those living on the margins, deserves the opportunity for an excellent education," Fr. Scully said. "The Catholic belief that every child is a gift from God and deserves to reach his or her full potential is at the heart of Scott's work."
Morgan also gave a lecture titled "Reflections on Transformational Leadership" in Remick Commons in Visitation Hall on Notre Dame's campus.
"I'm deeply humbled and honored by this award, given the love that I have for Fr. Scully, for ACE, and for Notre Dame," Morgan said. "I am grateful that I found my people when I answered that call from Fr. Scully 22 years ago."
Morgan is the first ACE graduate to be given the award.
"When we started ACE, we hoped to create a movement of passionate and faith-filled women and men capable of transforming classrooms," Fr. Scully said. "It is profoundly gratifying to see the impact that Scott has had in drawing together the most talented minds to help our nation's schools."
After finishing his two years with ACE and graduating from Stanford Law School, Morgan served as the legal counsel for Aspire Public Schools, where he worked with the leadership team to build a network of high-performing public charter schools in California. After seeing the power of leaders with diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives working together to transform education, Morgan founded Education Pioneers in 2003 to develop a national network of entrepreneurial leaders focused on devising and implementing creative solutions to our nation's most pressing educational problems. Since then, Education Pioneers has selected and trained nearly 4,000 rising leaders to support more than 750 educational organizations across the nation. More than 70 percent of Education Pioneers alumni continue to drive impact through their work in education.
Morgan graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in government from the Notre Dame, received his Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Portland, and earned his law degree from Stanford Law School. He is a Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur, a founding board member of Beyond 12, Inc., and a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow, Class of 2010.
Fr. Scully and Fr. Sean McGraw, C.S.C., founded ACE in 1993 to respond to the growing need for high quality education options for poor, at-risk children in urban areas by improving the quality and accessibility of Catholic schools in communities across the country. Since that time ACE has become the nation's leading, fully-integrated catalyst for the renewal and transformation of Catholic Schools, serving hundreds of under-resourced communities both in the United States and beyond. It has succeeded in attracting and forming over 2,300 outstanding teachers and leaders for Catholic schools in over 116 (arch)dioceses.