Who Are We

Who is Blue Seats Consulting?

Blue Seats Consulting, LLC is a certified woman-owned business founded in 2013. Connie Casson and the Blue Seats Team have worked with education and nonprofit clients across the country to drive strategic and operational results.

  • Career Starts. Connie started her career in process and strategic consulting with Accenture, where she assisted corporate clients like AstraZeneca and JCPenney in making their operations run more efficiently.
  • Transition to Education. She transitioned into public education with Fort Wayne Community Schools.
  • District Leadership. Connie also worked at Denver Public Schools, where she led grant-funded performance management initiatives. For three years, she was the Executive Director of Accountability, Research, and Evaluation. She managed a team of 35 and a $4M budget.
  • The Preparation. Connie received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame. She received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She completed the Broad Residency in Urban Education.
  • Connection to Community. Connie works for change nationally, but serves locally. She is president of the Underwood Dollars for Scholars organization, serves on the West Pottawattamie County Extension Council, and serves on the board and Education Committee of the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation.

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Blue Seats Consulting Gets Results

For the clients we serve, achieving excellence can create measurable change for their students, their districts, and their communities.

We use a data-driven approach combined with discovery, listening and synthesizing to help organizations achieve their goals. For our clients, Blue Seats Consulting:

  • Led strategic planning and program management in a variety of educational and non-profit settings
  • Facilitated redesign of teacher recruiting & hiring process for 350 hires per year
  • Built entrepreneurship bootcamp, resulting in $65K in angel investments
  • Designed selection process for education leadership fellowship with 30% selection rate and 100% satisfaction rate
  • Supported teacher prep program improvement in a state’s largest program, resulting in full program accreditation
  • Mentored 20+ edupreneurs starting their own consultancies, software companies, and nonprofits
  • Guest lectured at Columbia Business School and Harvard Graduate School of Education in education innovation classes

What Does Blue Seats Mean?

Blue Seats Consulting gets its name from the school rating system used by Denver Public Schools. In this index, schools are measured on student growth, status, and post-secondary readiness. They receive an annual rating, rated blue at the highest level.

 

Excellence = Blue. Denver’s goal was to bring more schools up to a Blue rating, and to expand those schools for more students. The goal in helping education organizations is to have seats for more students in good schools. With more blue seats, students have a chance at a great education, and having the liberty to build a good living and a great life.

 

Happy Clients

Branch Alliance
Clark County School District
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Educate Texas
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Texas Education Agency
Chiefs for Change
Mississippi Department of Education
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Rocketship
Teach for America