Amy Cole Vreeland

Amy Cole Vreeland is a researcher, writer, and social entrepreneur who has spent her career working at the intersection of education, technology, and human development. She began her career improving retention and graduation rates for first-gen college students like herself. She then moved to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where she helped launch the city’s first International Baccalaureate high school and served as a founding math and dual-language immersion teacher.

After working in economic development in South Africa, Amy returned to New Orleans and founded TrueSchool, a social venture that builds the capacity of educators and education systems to apply human-centered design in classrooms and schools, driving grassroots innovation grounded in student needs. As CEO of TrueSchool, she has facilitated professional learning with educators across the U.S. and West Africa. She is also an Echoing Green Global Fellow and an Unreasonable Fellow.

Amy holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder, a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, and is completing her doctorate in Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her current research and entrepreneurial focus is AI and human development, specifically how this technology might enhance creativity, agency, and human potential. Outside of work, she loves live music, New Orleans food, learning languages, and spending time with her sweet dog, Frankie.