Dr. Vera J. Blake served as an international consultant who worked as a leadership coach and professional developer for school instructional improvement. Her work included capacity-building coaching and consulting for overall school improvement in schools and districts nationwide, the US Virgin Islands, Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar. She also participated in and served as a presenter in numerous national and international educationally-focused conventions and conferences.

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The capacity-building work included coaching school leaders, designing curriculum and instructional improvement seminars and workshops, and working as an advisor to primary decision-makers at the school and district levels. This rewarding work has been anchored in current research and aligned with Common Core standards implementation. She has extensive experience in integrating technology into curriculum design and student engagement strategies. In addition, she served as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, and the University of the District of Columbia.

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Dr. Vera Blake is a retired high school and middle school principal from Fairfax County, Virginia with a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia and an Ed. D. from Vanderbilt University. She is the co-author of the book, Fearless Conversations School Leaders Have to Have, was a contributing author to the book, Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Schools: Middle School Change, co-authored articles, "Middle School Partnerships:  The More, the Better" and "Addressing Diversity Through Partnerships". She has also authored several online articles, “Building, Strengthening, and Focusing Faculty Stakeholders”, “Building Consensus for School Change”, “Teachers Can Close the Achievement Gap”, and “Flexibility as the Cornerstone to School Management”. Blake was a Virginia Middle School Principal of the Year, Fairfax County Principal of the Year, and Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader.

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Dr. Blake maintains a professional interest in curriculum, supervision, leadership, collaboration, and instruction in middle, secondary, and collegiate levels of teacher and administrator preparation. Her focus is to help improve schools and increase student achievement by helping educators enrich and strengthen their current practices.