About

George Simpson is a passionate, proven, and visionary artist, educator, and leader with over 26 years of experience in building and leading public arts high schools, district-wide arts programs, and arts-focused community partnerships. He is a fierce advocate for arts in education, particularly for underserved communities, and has recently relocated to New York City, where he is excited about new opportunities in arts education and arts-based non-profit organizations. George has a legacy of success in his career, having raised student achievement to the highest rating through rigorous teacher professional development. He has also targeted outreach efforts that increased the applicant pool nearly 200% and increased enrollment by students of color by 50%. His fundraising efforts resulted in more than $8M in increased revenues, and he has planned and led whole school arts-infused interdisciplinary PD and curriculum design. George has produced over 100 events each year and managed annual operating budgets up to $7M. He has successful community partnerships resulting in the founding and leading of Berklee College of Music’s Preparatory Academy and Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He advises arts, education, and community organizations on a variety of topics, including program design and implementation, teacher professional development, audience development, fundraising, community outreach and engagement, among others. George's areas of expertise include visual and performing arts, arts education, program design and evaluation, event planning/production, and El Sistema. He is also knowledgeable in education, curriculum design, instructional supervision, interdisciplinary and arts-infused curriculum, professional development, performance assessment (project-based learning), data-driven instruction and practices, special education and inclusion, and urban education. He also has management skills in educational administration, strategic planning, staff supervision, community outreach and engagement, fundraising and development, budget management, marketing and communications, and project management. George holds a Master's of Music in Music Education from Boston University, a Certificate in Educational Leadership and Administration from Northeastern University, and has taken courses in Special Education and Teaching from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Composition and Arranging from Berklee College of Music, and Commercial Music and Jazz Studies from Humber College.