Organizational Leadership

Tresha Ward is the Chief Executive Officer of Prospect Schools.

Tresha comes to Prospect Schools with nearly two decades of experience in education and a career underscored by an unwavering commitment to educational equity. A native of the Bronx, Tresha began her career as a Teach For America corps member in the Houston Independent School District. In 2010, she opened KIPP Legacy Preparatory School — an elementary school with an International Baccalaureate focus — and grew the school to serve 900 children. Tresha then served as the School Leader Development Director for the KIPP Foundation. In this role, she provided support to more than 200 of KIPP’s school leaders across the country, through the creation of leadership development programming, as an instructor for instructional leadership, and direct coaching. 

After her time with the KIPP Foundation, Tresha returned to schools as Managing Director of Schools for KIPP NYC, where she focused on principal management and school turnaround. Most recently, Tresha served as Partner at Bellwether Education Partners, where she led the academic and program strategy team. In this role, Tresha’s work centered around building the capacity of school and executive-level network leaders through advising and executive coaching. She has a particular passion for supporting leaders of color to sustain in their roles.

Education:
Vanderbilt University, B.A.
Stanford University, M.A. in Education Policy, Organization & Leadership

Hillary Prince is the Chief Financial Officer of Prospect Schools.

Joining the Brooklyn Prospect team in 2009, Ms. Prince has been honored to serve as a member of the founding team of the original middle school, as well as the Prospect Schools CMO. Leading both finance and operations for many years, she developed scalable systems and established the school’s strong early operational reputation, built a foundation of strong fiscal health for the organization, and has led several building projects and new school launches. Since taking on the role of Chief Financial Officer in 2018, Hillary has narrowed her focus to finance and is now responsible for managing a budget which, under her stewardship, has grown from $2 million to greater than $35 million. Additional core responsibilities include business operations, real estate, and capital projects, and long-term strategic planning.

Prior to building a career in K-12 education, Ms. Prince developed leadership skills and gained operational experience through her work in event management with Madison Square Garden. Deciding to follow a long-held interest in education – and in particular, in school integration, herself attending an urban magnet high school – Hillary completed a yearlong graduate internship at a globally-focused International Baccalaureate magnet school in CT before moving to Brooklyn in 2006. She went on to hone and apply her operational skills to the educational space, holding several roles with The Princeton Review, including Regional Director of Operations, where responsibilities included leading the implementation and national expansion of federally funded afterschool programming.

Ms. Prince earned a B.A. in English-Literature from Skidmore College, and an M.S. in Language Arts Education from the University of New Haven, and is currently enrolled in a nonprofit leadership certificate program at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Hillary left NYC in 2016 to build a home in the Hudson Valley with her husband and two young children.

Education:
Skidmore College, B.A.
University of New Haven, M.S.

Elaine Perez is the Chief Operating Officer of Prospect Schools.

Prior to joining Prospect in Spring 2020, Elaine served as the Senior Director of Operations and Strategic Planning at Year Up in the New York/New Jersey market. There she oversaw an 8-person Operations team that focused on execution excellence in facilities management, budget management, organizational and people development, volunteer programs, event management, and other strategic projects. Elaine also sat on their Senior Leadership Team to oversee market performance and growth strategy. She began her journey at Year Up as the Director of Development helping to lead local fundraising efforts.

Prior to joining Year Up in 2016, Elaine was the Senior Partnerships Director at DonorsChoose.org where she worked for nearly 10 years. She developed and managed relationships with corporate and foundation partners through customer-focused cause marketing campaigns and employee giving initiatives. Prior to making the jump into the world of fundraising, she oversaw the donor experience process on the Operations team.

Elaine earned her BS in Information Systems with a minor in Business from Pace University and is a recent graduate of the Executive Master of Public of Administration program at Baruch College. In her free time, you can find her caring for her three children, enjoying a good laugh with friends, sipping on a good cup of Bustelo coffee, or working on her family foundation serving 75 children in the Dominican Republic.

Education:
Pace University, B.S.
Baruch College, EMPA