Millard House II is superintendent of Houston Independent School District (ISD). With approximately 210,000 students, Houston ISD is the eighth-largest district in the nation and the largest in Texas. House previously served as director of schools for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) in Tennessee. Under his leadership, the district produced steady academic gains across subject areas and established a multi-pronged teacher pipeline, as part of Tennessee’s Grow Your Own initiative, that garnered state and national recognition.

House has spent more than 25 years working in education and the nonprofit sector. Prior to CMCSS, he was  chief operating officer of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina and, before that, served as deputy superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma. In addition, House founded and led a college preparatory middle school in one of Tulsa’s most economically underserved neighborhoods. Over four years, his school became one of the highest-performing and most sought-after schools in the community. House’s experience also includes roles as executive consultant and executive director of New Leaders for New Schools.

He became assistant principal of Anderson Elementary in Tulsa at age 25 and was promoted to principal the following year. During House’s five years at the school, it went from being one of the lowest-performing Title I schools in the state to one of the highest. In 2003, he became the first African American to win the Tulsa Public Schools’ Principal of the Year Award. He was also named Outstanding Administrator of the Year by the Tulsa Area Alliance of Black School Educators.