Ethan Ashley got handcuffed at a police precinct at age six for stealing a pack of gum. He went on to finish high school at sixteen, earn a law degree from Howard by twenty-two, win an elected school board seat, and build a national organization that trains the people deciding what happens in your kid's classroom. His throughline: his story should have been the rule, not the exception.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Ethan, former school board member and CEO of School Board Partners, to talk about why elected school boards are one of the most powerful and least understood levers in American public education.
Ethan traces an unlikely arc: born in Lakewood, raised in Compton, sleeping on the couch of a Hispanic family in East LA so he could stay dual-enrolled in community college as a high school freshman. A college recruiter who paid attention to an eighth grader, and a mentor who picked up the phone to Howard the day before a missed deadline, are the kind of people he credits for everything that followed. He started his legal career representing kids sentenced to die in prison, working the Louisiana arm of Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative, before deciding he wanted to work at the front end of the school-to-prison pipeline instead.
Ethan and Mike get into why most school board members have no idea what they signed up for, what Brown v. Board actually turned on, and the three things leaders almost never say: I'm sorry, I don't know, and I need help.
Listen in for a conversation about opportunity, the people who open doors, and building systems so the next kid does not have to be the exception.
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00:53 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out
www.podcastsmatter.com🛫
01:32 Meet Ethan Ashley: from row 14F to leading school boards across the country
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02:07 Born in Lakewood, raised in Compton, and a grandmother who went west
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05:08 The recruiter and the mentor who opened the door to Howard
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07:10 The East LA family whose couch made dual enrollment possible
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15:09 A pack of gum, handcuffs at six, and why he chose the law
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19:00 What Brown v. Board actually turned on: the school board nobody names
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25:25 Good people get elected, then learn being an advocate is not the same as governing
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31:29 The three things leaders never say: I'm sorry, I don't know, and I need help
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34:24 Meeting the moment: ICE, school closures, and AI inside School Board Partners
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43:26 Advice to his younger self: stay curious and connect deeply
Connect with Ethan Ashley on LinkedIn or explore School Board Partners to learn more about how it supports elected school board members across the country to lead with courage, competence, and impact, including the Our Collective Power national conference.
Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc
Stay strong.
Episode 30