Aisha Crumbine

Aisha Crumbine believes the truest act of leadership is knowing and using our strengths to create spaces where others are comfortable and confident to do the same. In her twenty years of experience in education, she has been a teacher and/or administrator in every type of school including: a traditional ISD serving predominantly Black students, the original KIPP Academy charter serving LatinX/Black students, The Kinkaid School (her alma mater) which is an elite private school serving a wealthy/fairly homogenous student body, and back to a traditional public school that had a bit of all of the above. In every one of those places, kids, teachers, administrators and parents alike wanted one thing most of all: to be seen and valued. As a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, Aisha is committed to helping parents and educators lead with courage and create space for themselves and our children. Aisha will also add the full iPEC coach training to her repertoire.

Aisha is a Teach For America alumna and most recently served as the VP of Development for TFA Houston. She’s served on the board of Breakthrough Houston and Girls, Inc. She has a B.A. in English from Trinity University in San Antonio and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University, where she was a founding cohort member of the Summer Principals Academy (SPA) Program. She and her husband Dave love talking about parenting, personal leadership, baseball and action movies. Together they have two beautiful children whom they are raising to be daring leaders in their own right.

Aisha's service as a coach has made an amazing difference. The quote that comes to mind is, "Work is love made visible." Aisha embodies that sentiment with gentle strength and a warm spirit, while also keeping it real by sharing her vulnerability.

Aisha was intentional with the balance between asking questions and allowing the conversation to diverge along different pathways. At times I needed her to listen; other times, I needed her questions. There's something to be said about taking time to process your next move with somebody skilled enough to guide you on that journey.

Aisha not only listens attentively and carefully, but she's especially skilled at listening to what is NOT being said and picks up on the heart of the matter with amazing ease. With great skill, Aisha reflects back both my words and non-verbal expressions and challenges me to recognize that I've answered my own questions. I leave each coaching session with Aisha feeling like I've just had the most professionally and personally valuable hour of my week.