Charter school leader Scott Hindman went from minor league baseball to investment banking to building one of New Mexico's most impactful public education networks. The lesson he keeps coming back to: find great people, give them the runway to lead, and play the long game.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Scott, Executive Director of Excellent Schools New Mexico, to talk about a decade of building high-quality charter schools in a state that rarely gets the attention its education work deserves.
Scott traces the arc from Princeton pitcher to JPMorgan analyst to nonprofit founder and explains why the skills translate more than people think. Ten years in, he reflects on board leadership, long-term funding relationships, and why consistency and follow-through will outperform innovation almost every time.
They also get into why adult leadership is the real constraint on school quality, what the New Mexico funding landscape makes possible that other states cannot, and what it looks like when funders and operators stay aligned over the long term.
Tune in to hear why the most radical thing a leader can do in education right now might be to stop chasing the new and just do the work.
Chapters:
01:06 ⚾ Meet Scott Hindman: Princeton pitcher, JPMorgan analyst, education builder
02:55 🏙️ Growing up in Chicago and what good schools made possible
04:51 🎓 Drafted by the Reds, Princeton, and the lessons baseball taught him
15:02 💼 From JPMorgan to First Solar to education: why the skills translate
25:07 🤝 The board that has stayed for ten years and why that matters
26:24 📈 A decade of growth: 14,000 seats and 96% of kids learning faster
31:39 💰 Oil, gas, and the funding landscape that makes New Mexico unique
39:54 🧭 Consistency over innovation: the leadership habit that actually works
46:19 🙏 Gratitude, long game thinking, and closing reflections
Stay strong.
Episode 21