Renee Owen, EdD

Associate Deputy Director, Western Region

Renee is a scholar-practitioner in the fields of adult education and educational leadership. In addition to her work at CEI, she is Assistant Professor of Education Leadership at Southern Oregon University and Managing Editor of the Holistic Educational Review, an Open Access Journal. Her Doctor of Education Degree is from Teachers College at Columbia University in Organizational Development, with a focus on transformative learning. Her consulting work in schools and businesses helps organizations to become more equitable and innovative through paradigmatic systems change.

Before entering higher education, Dr. Owen was a school leader for over 20 years. She founded Paradox Valley Charter School in Colorado as a place-based/project-based school, which was celebrated for closing the achievement gap for low-income rural students. As Head of School at Rainbow Community School in Asheville, NC, Renee was honored as an Ashoka Change Leader for her work in making holistic education more accessible. She was a co-author with a team of Ashoka Change Leaders on the book Changemakers: Educating with Purpose.

Dr. Owen’s life-long work is for education to be a vehicle for helping children and adults to thrive. Her ultimate vision is for a flourishing society that is socially just and in harmony with the natural world.