CANDICE SEARS
Interim Dean of Academics
Candice Sears is a values-driven, human-centered education leader with over 22 years of experience serving students, educators, families, and communities across Ohio and nationally. Known for her calm, collaborative leadership and systems-level thinking, Candice brings a rare balance of vision, strategic execution, and deep relational trust to complex educational challenges.
Currently serving as Founder and CEO of Think Beyond EDU, Candice partners with school districts, county educational service centers, state agencies, higher education institutions, and education partners to help communities design future-ready learning systems with humanity at the center. Her work focuses on aligning innovation with local values, ensuring emerging tools, including artificial intelligence, strengthen learning, equity, and belonging rather than creating additional barriers.
Prior to founding Think Beyond EDU, Candice spent 11 years at the Montgomery County Educational Service Center in Dayton, Ohio, most recently as Director of Instructional Services. In this countywide leadership role, she supported multiple districts and superintendents while leading large-scale initiatives that expanded access, personalization, and opportunity for students, particularly those with disabilities and those at risk of disengagement. Her signature work included launching a K–12 Remote Learning Center (Virtual School), founding the Future Self Center to support students facing expulsion or chronic disengagement, and establishing a K–12 International Learning Center serving students, educators, and families.
At the regional and state level, Candice is recognized for her collaborative leadership and stewardship of public trust. She spearheaded the Remote Learning Alliance, a statewide ESC partnership formed during the pandemic, and served as Director of the Western Ohio Service Collaborative, uniting five county educational service centers around shared professional learning and services. She was entrusted by the Ohio Department of Education to lead a statewide Science of Reading initiative, supporting districts in evidence-based literacy implementation, and played a central role in advancing statewide AI literacy efforts, identifying AI Champions and coordinating multiple statewide AI summits. For this work, she was honored with the OESCA Teamwork Award.
Earlier in her career, Candice served as an educator, reading specialist, gifted intervention specialist, middle school principal, and curriculum director, as well as Director of Educator Professional Development at the University of Cincinnati, where she coordinated the university’s online Gifted Endorsement Program. These experiences continue to ground her leadership in classroom realities and reinforce her belief that strong systems begin with supported educators and meaningful learning experiences for students.
A nationally recognized speaker and convener, Candice has delivered keynotes and presentations at AESA, AASA, ASU+GSV, ISTE, FETC, OESCA, IEI, DA LeadHERship Summit, and other regional and national forums. Across every role, her leadership is guided by a simple belief: education systems work best when they are built on relationships, driven by shared values, and designed to help every learner envision (and move toward) a hopeful future.
