About PLC
The Principal Learning Center exists because the people who lead our schools deserve development as rigorous as the work they do every day.
Our approach
A principal’s impact on student learning is far greater than we once gave credit for. The research is clear: leadership is second only to teaching among the school-based factors that advance student learning.
Yet most leaders step into the role with too little support. PLC was built to change that – pairing the best of what research tells us with the coaching, community, and practice that make it stick. We don’t hand leaders a binder. We walk into classrooms with them.
Founder & Executive Director
The Principal Learning Center was founded by Dr. Mike Brown, an educator whose career has moved through nearly every seat in a school – classroom teacher, assistant principal, and school principal – and ultimately into system-level leadership as a Chief Schools Officer before founding PLC. That full-arc experience, from the classroom to the executive level, is the foundation of PLC’s approach: support built by someone who has done the job, not just studied it.
Dr. Brown has led school turnaround efforts, served as a Tennessee Education Fellow, and worked at the intersection of instructional leadership, school design, and equity. He founded PLC to give principals the rigorous, research-grounded, deeply human development he wishes every leader had – guided by a simple conviction: promoting academic excellence through cultural integrity.
What we believe
We hold leaders to a high bar because their students depend on it. The learning is demanding by design.
Rigor without support is just pressure. Every leader is coached, never left to figure it out alone.
We translate evidence into the concrete moves of leading instruction – usable the very next morning.
Our team
Executive Director
Curriculum Development
Facilitator
Program Coordinator
Program Administrator
Finance Manager
In their words
“I have watched Dr. Brown learn, grow, and develop into a phenomenal, compassionate, and experienced professional. He is a dedicated leader who has an eye for school design that helps students learn and supports the professionals who make it happen. His knowledge on issues and strategies around diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice are among the top leading professionals.”
“This experience, coupled with the support of an incredible network of leaders, has clearly strengthened and sharpened their leadership voices. Special thanks to Dr. Mike Brown and The Principal Learning Center for creating transformative spaces that invest in and empower educational leaders.”
“I truly appreciate spaces that intentionally invest in and pour into our school leaders. Thank you PLC for creating an environment where leaders feel supported, safe, and encouraged to grow.”
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