Dede McClure

Title(s)

Director of Development

Teaches

N/A

Education

Diplôme d'études de la civilisation française, University of Paris, Sorbonne;

University of North Carolina

Bio

Dede McClure has extensive experience in operations and management. Her career spans three decades serving both the private and nonprofit sectors. She specializes in advising executive level management about creative growth strategies.   In 2008, she incorporated Thoughtful Operations, an organization designed to assist in strengthening the infrastructure of small businesses.  Prior to creating Thoughtful Operations, Dede served as Vice President of Operations for Sightline Marketing, a communications and marketing firm.  Sightline Marketing was listed on the 2008 Inc, 5000 and was chosen by the Washington Business Journal as one of its “50 Best Places to Work” in 2008.

In recent years, Dede has been deeply involved in charter school growth in Washington DC. Concurrent with her eight years at Sightline, she managed the business and development office at the Elsie Whitlow Stokes Public Charter School. Before that, she served as Executive Director for the Greater Washington Hospitality Foundation, whose mission was to develop and open the Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School, the nation’s first charter school devoted to academic excellence and career development in the dynamic field of hospitality. She was associate director for FOCUS, a D.C. advocacy organization with national reach in supporting the role of choice in public education. Dede’s nonprofit career began in California where she worked for five years as the Human Resource/Policy Director for Phoenix House, the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of drug treatment services. Dede serves on the board of the TurnFirst Foundation, an organization she helped found that is dedicated to helping those newly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  She is also a member of the Elsie Whitlow Stokes PCS Board. Dede was educated at the University of North Carolina and the University of Paris, Sorbonne.