Dr. Chad Gestson is the Founder and Executive Director of the Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy and serves on Northern Arizona University’s Cabinet as the Special Advisor to the President on PK-12 Initiatives. He is also President of High Ground Leadership Group.

Gestson spent 22 years in K-12 education and served as Superintendent of Arizona’s largest high school district from 2015-2023. In the fall of 2022, Gestson was named Arizona’s 73rd Man of the Year. In 2021, he was named the Arizona Policymaker of the Year by the Arizona Health Association and the Arizona Superintendent of the Year by the Arizona Association for Public Relations. Previously, Gestson served the Phoenix education community as a leadership director, high school principal, middle school principal, elementary school assistant principal, and teacher.

Gestson is a fourth-generation carpenter by trade and is a first-generation college graduate. He holds four degrees - an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, a master’s degree from Arizona State University, and a master’s degree and a doctoral degree from Northern Arizona University, where he was named the Outstanding Doctoral Student of the Year in 2009.

Gestson is an alum of The Broad Academy, now at Yale’s School of Management, as well as Teach For America. He serves on several national and local boards and councils including Chiefs for Change in Washington DC, Accelerate in Nashville, TN, and Stanford University’s Hoover Education Success Initiative. Locally, Gestson is very proud to serve on the board of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center. As one of Phoenix’s most important treasures, he is passionate about Carver’s mission and even more passionate about protecting and preserving Carver for generations to come.

He and his wife, Megan, have two children and reside in Phoenix. They enjoy hiking, golfing, spending time with family, and serving at their local church.