Navigating COmplexity. Delivering Clarity.

Dr. Mike Raisor is widely recognized as an expert in the fields of educational leadership, operations, and finance.  In addition to being a highly successful practitioner, he has presented to educational leaders  across the country on Systems Thinking and Operational Excellence.  His innovative efforts have saved organizations tens of millions of dollars while significantly enhancing performance and effectiveness.  

Dr. Raisor holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Indiana State University, where his research focused on the characteristics of highly effective leaders during challenging times. He also holds a graduate business degree in Operational Excellence from The Ohio State University and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

In addition to his formal education, Dr. Raisor is an alumnus of several prestigious programs, including the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard Business School, the National Institute for Urban School Leaders at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the University of Virginia’s Turnaround Leadership Project, the Executive Program at Georgetown University, and Disney’s Approach to Leadership at the Disney Institute.

Prior to founding Maelstrom, most recently, Dr. Raisor served as the state-appointed Manager/Superintendent of Gary Community Schools in Gary, Indiana. Under his leadership, in fourteen short months,  the once-insolvent district successfully emerged from state takeover, more than doubling its operational cash reserves and eliminating over $1 million in recurring expenses through process improvements. He developed both five- and ten-year financial solvency plans, complete with actionable tactics to ensure the district's long-term financial health.

Prior to his role in Gary, Dr. Raisor led MGT Consulting’s Education Performance portfolio, solving operational and organizational challenges with some of the nation’s largest school districts and universities. His clients included Gwinnett County, Fairfax County, Fulton County, Atlanta, Metro Nashville, Fresno, Oakland, Indianapolis, Texas A&M, Georgia, and Tennessee. He also led a state-wide instructional continuity project for the Florida Department of Education during the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted an organizational performance review for the American School of Doha in Qatar.

Dr. Raisor spent nearly eight years as the Chief Operations Officer of Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest school districts in the United States, where he also oversaw Human Resources and Information Technology. During his tenure, he spearheaded numerous initiatives that generated millions of dollars in savings while improving services to schools and students. In 2019, Dr. Raisor was named Kentucky’s Labor Manager of the Year.

Before his time in Louisville, Dr. Raisor served as the Executive Director for Operational Excellence at Evansville Vanderburgh Schools in Evansville, Indiana. His two years in this role resulted in practices and initiatives that continue to save millions of dollars more than a dozen years after his departure.

Dr. Raisor began his career in education as a social studies teacher in Evansville and Lanesville, Indiana. He later became the Principal of Harwood Middle School in Evansville, where he led the school to continuous performance improvement each year and implemented “The Harwood Way,” a system designed to enhance academic, behavioral, and cultural outcomes.

Dr. Raisor is the author of the forthcoming book The Education Executive - A practical handbook applying the characteristics and tactics of the world‘s best leaders to educational leadership.