Joseph Ferguson

JOSEPH FERGUSON

The Broad Residency Class of 2004-2006
Current Organization: Mastery Charter Schools
M.B.A., Stern School of Business at New York University, 1999
B.S., Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1995
B.A.S., Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 1995

One Wednesday in 2005, Philadelphia school district officials walked into Walton Elementary School and found hundreds of students sitting in a building with broken windows, filthy dysfunctional bathrooms and graffiti-littered walls. The school was clearly unsuitable and unsafe and posed a problem of epic proportions for the district. Students would need to be moved immediately to other schools. Major relocation hardships for students, families, teachers and neighboring schools were certain.

The district quickly brought in the person who could solve unsolvable crises—Broad Resident Joe Ferguson. Ferguson, a New York University M.B.A. with extensive experience consulting for global financial services organizations is executive director of The School District of Philadelphia’s chief operating office.

By the following Monday morning, Ferguson’s quick thinking allowed students to walk right back into the Walton School without missing a beat. In just days, Ferguson pulled together the right decision-makers, workers, funding and creative solutions that led to a school clean-up, complete with freshly painted walls, repaired bathrooms and fixed windows. Ferguson saved students and families the hardship of relocating schools and saved the district from spending thousands in mid-semester relocation costs.

The district recognized the value of Ferguson’s extraordinary problem-solving ability by promoting him from manager to executive director in just one year.

“I am quickly able to get to ‘the how’ to fix things,” said Ferguson, who at one point also stabilized the maintenance department’s financial debts when they spiraled out of control. “I make solutions happen. Academic ideas can become realities—it just takes the right people in the room, the right questions asked, and a clear understanding that each decision must be geared towards one goal—educating children.”

On calmer days in the nation’s eighth largest school district, Ferguson, who during business school days presided over the NYU Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students, now chairs several district leadership meetings, seeking to improve the effectiveness of the city’s educational support business. But unlike nearly all other district executives, Ferguson has never been a teacher, has no experience leading a school district, and is often the only non-educator in the room.

“Joe's consulting background is a tremendous asset to the team, says Natalye Paquin, who served as chief operating officer for the Philadelphia school district and was Ferguson’s supervisor until spring of 2006. “He is a strategic thinker who quickly gets to the bottom, and is willing to roll up his sleeves and get to work. This combination of planning and execution skills is invaluable in a large urban educational environment.”

Before joining the school district, Ferguson spent five years as a Deloitte consultant, advising numerous global financial services organizations on technology and operational issues. Although he was promoted into the position of senior manager and well on his way toward becoming a partner, Ferguson decided to go down another path.

“After consulting, I realized I was ready for a very different professional challenge. I wanted to use my skills to serve the public good, in a workplace that was diverse in terms of people and problems. In the school district, I am able to work with an eclectic group of people from accountants one moment to carpenters and plumbers the next.”

Ferguson still feels the consultant’s thrill of problem-solving—but now also has the satisfaction of knowing that students benefit from every move he makes.

“At the end of the day we are about children and families—this is the very important difference between what I do now and what I used to do,” says Ferguson. “There are now children at the center of every decision I make—a much more emotionally-based product. And, there is something powerful about liking what you do, and delivering.”