A passionate edupreneur, three-time head of school, non-profit President, and prolific author, Dean was recently appointed lead delegate for the inaugural 2023 GSEP Colloquium on youth social entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. He is a recipient of prestigious fellowships from EE Ford, the National Endowment of the Humanities, and the Klingenstein Foundation at Columbia University. In addition to earning multiple graduate degrees, Dean is a certified master coach (M.C.L.C.) and founder of Thought Partner Coaching LLC where he is a sought after and trusted consultant to executive directors, non-profit boards, and organizations seeking strategic growth. To date, Dean has authored 7 books, published essays and briefs, and has appeared on over 25 expert panels and national podcasts.

His passion for developing leaders and building bridges of understanding between cultures has taken many forms including the founding of the Dominican Republic Orphanage project, the Center for Global Youth Leadership, and Teach-Learn-Lead Incl. His service on boards and ambassadorial roles includes the following:

> Council for International Visitors,
> NAIS Global Ambassadorship,
> TABS-NABI Advisory Board
> Advancement Advisory Council for Center for Purposeful Leadership,
> Board member Joy J Initiative on Food Scarcity
> Delegate to St. Lucia for the World Chamber of Commerce

In his career, he has established over 50 unique international partnerships, agreements, and exchanges with schools and businesses in China, Vietnam, Korea, Dominican Republic, Spain, Serbia, Bermuda, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, and more.

Currently, Dean serves as President of a PreK-8 in Park Slope and previously served as the Executive Head of School for two historic campuses in New York City. His career as an educational leader has included decades in boarding schools and PK3-8 day schools throughout New York, New England and the southeast. In 2014, he founded the www.teachlearnlead.net professional development network with over 22 digital libraries of curated resources. He credits his parents with instilling in him a love for social entrepreneurialism, service, community partnerships and civic impact. In their honor, he founded the Therese A. Fusto Micro-Grants to provide philanthropic seed money to promote youth leadership development of social and community impact projects.

Dean notes: “At a young age, an adventure in Spain as a homestay student transformed my worldview and made me hungry for more travel and perspectives. The idea of learning was amplified and no longer confined to some event that happens in a classroom. I knew that although I liked a good lecture now and again, our souls learn best through experience and self-reflection.”