Ami Desai | Chief Operating Officer

Ami Desai is a passionate leader and educator with over two decades of executional experience in transforming the educational landscape. She currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Gary Community Ventures, where she has worked since May 2020. She supports the organization with personnel issues, professional growth and system-wide structures to support a strong organizational culture. She also manages internal and external stakeholders, and navigates a variety of complex public and private partnerships.

Prior to Gary, Ami founded Ami Desai and Associates, LLC, an executive coaching company, with a mission to empower leaders and organizations to thrive through a holistic approach to organizational sustainability. She also wrote and published a book, The Educational Secret: Cultivating Entrepreneurial Spirit in our Youth. She served as a Consultant and Design Manager at 2Revolutions, an education design lab focused on creating future learning models and catalyzing the conditions for them to thrive. Additionally, Ami was a founder and Head of School at Denver Venture School from 2007 to 2010, where she launched an Expeditionary Learning charter high school focused on entrepreneurship and leadership.

Outside of Gary, Ami is passionate about her work and support of Dazzle Africa, a philanthropic organization that creates a “Modern Safari Experience” that connects travelers to the beauty of Zambia, Africa while simultaneously bringing positive change to the people and surrounding regions.