GVSU CSO Team Directory

Leah

Breen

Associate Vice President for Education Innovation and School Services

(616) 331-2240

Leah Breen serves as the Associate Vice President for Education Innovation and School Services at Grand Valley State University. She was promoted to this role in 2025 after serving as the Assistant Vice President for Charter Schools as well as the Deputy Director for School Performance for the Charter Schools Office.

In her current role, Leah provides strategic vision and policy guidance for education initiatives designed to increase innovation, access and opportunities for learners, especially those from historically underserved populations. This position includes leadership of the Charter Schools Office and the Thompson Working Families Scholarship program.  Collectively, the units under Leah’s leadership directly and indirectly support more than 40,000 students, 3,000 educators and 300 public school board members in K-12 and higher education.  

Before joining GVSU, Leah was the State Director/Assistant Director at the Michigan Department of Education's Office of Educator Excellence. In this role, she drove collaboration and open communication to support educator innovation, training, certification, assessment, recruitment, retention, evaluation, equity, and diversity. Leah played a pivotal role in drafting legislation to increase state funding for education, resulting in a $50 million appropriation from the legislature to recruit, prepare and retain K-12 educators. Leah also led efforts to fundamentally change teacher preparation and certification processes to incorporate research-based best practices, increase experiential learning, and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

With more than 20 years of process improvement and change management in public education, Leah has developed strategic relationships with governmental entities, state and national associations, nonprofits, foundations, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance Michigan’s reputation as an education innovator. She served as the State Education Agency champion of the Midwest Alliance to Improve Teacher Preparation and facilitated strategic partnerships leading to research funding. She has also been instrumental in generating results through her participation in various professional affiliations, including the Michigan Charter Schools Authorizer Council, Governor’s Education Advisory Council, Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, TRUE Detroit, TEACH313, and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education Colleges.  

She has earned a master’s degree in general administration and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Central Michigan University, and is currently pursuing her education specialist degree from Grand Valley State University. 

• M.Ed. Education Administration -- Central Michigan University
• B.S. in Elementary Education -- Central Michigan University

Back