Mike PardeeAssociate Director
Associate Director Mike Pardee moved from Houston to help bring Lab Atlanta’s compelling vision to fruition. Lab Atlanta attracted Mike for many reasons. He loves its emphases on inquiry-based experiential learning, on civic engagement, innovation and design. He relishes the opportunity to continue to grow personally and professionally in Lab Atlanta’s dynamic learning community.
Immediately before coming to Lab Atlanta, Mike served as Associate Director for Community Engagement at the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, based at Rice University. Prior to that, he was the Boniuk Center’s Executive Director. He loves to embark on educational startup ventures with clear, distinctive missions. He was the first Director of Character Education at the Kinkaid School in Houston, and the first Executive Director of the Leadership Initiative at Suffield Academy. Pardee is also a founding faculty member of the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute (gcLi), and has coauthored and coedited books on character education and student leadership development published by the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE).
Pardee earned Masters degrees at Columbia University Teachers College (Educational Administration) and Boston University (American Studies, ABD). His A.B. degree is from Princeton (English), where he also played football and performed with the Triangle Club, a musical comedy troupe.
Learn more about Pardee’s professional background by clicking here.