Bio
Amanda Kruger Hill, Ed.D. is an award-winning educational leader, professor of practice, and social entrepreneur with two decades of experience driving innovation in education through strategic leadership and community collaboration. She serves as Executive Director of the Cowen Institute at Tulane University, where she leads efforts to equip leaders and practitioners with the skills and resources needed to increase educational and postsecondary success among New Orleans students. Dr. Hill also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership and education.
As the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking, Dr. Hill will deepen the connection between university learning and community impact. She plans to integrate design thinking and entrepreneurial approaches into the Tulane courses she teaches, as well as the programs she oversees such as service-learning experiences and the Cowen Institute’s initiatives with educators and college access practitioners across New Orleans. Through this professorship, she will work to build capacity for systems-level change by equipping Tulane students with tools for social innovation while supporting educators and nonprofit leaders in developing creative solutions to persistent challenges in education and college readiness.
A former high school teacher and principal, Dr. Hill has helped design and launch several innovative schools. She has held system-level educational leadership roles, and has served as a leadership coach and mentor through Columbia University’s Principals’ Academy, Relay Graduate School of Education’s National Principal Academy Fellowship, and the Tulane Leadership Institute.
Dr. Hill earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a specialization in entrepreneurship from Johns Hopkins University, and holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership, Principal Licensure, and a B.A. in International Studies and Education from the University of California, Berkeley. She is certified in executive coaching through both the Tulane Leadership Institute and the Center for Executive Coaching.
Her contributions to education, leadership development, and community impact have been recognized. Dr. Hill is a recipient of the Tulane Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Achievement Award and was honored with a public commendation for Outstanding Community Impact from Alameda County. She has also been named one of Gambit’s 40 Under 40 and was selected as one of the Tulane Women’s Association’s Women of the Year.
