Cecee Penney is a Master’s degree candidate in the 25th cohort of the Principal Leadership Institute at UC Berkeley’s School of Education. Her academic interests include educational equity, the ethical integration of artificial intelligence in schools, and building sustainable school models that prioritize student belonging and teacher retention.
Cecee currently serves as the Head of School at The Academy, a K–8 independent school in Berkeley, where she has led for the past four years. Under her leadership, The Academy expanded its STEM and humanities offerings, implemented data-informed leadership structures, redesigned admissions strategy, and grew its philanthropic footprint. Cecee has also been at the forefront of developing equity-centered tools for AI policy in schools and is the creator of FRAME, a framework for ethical AI decision-making in K–12 education.
During moments of recharge, Cecee is a working artist, a frequent presenter at education conferences, and a mother of two. She finds joy in Studio Ghibli movie nights, organizing community events, and dreaming up ways to make schools both rigorous and deeply human.
