Michael McDowell, Ed.D. has been a public school educator for over eighteen years serving in the roles of classroom teacher, academic and athletic coach, school principal, assistant superintendent of personnel and instruction, and superintendent. During his tenure as a superintendent, his school district received state and national accolades including the National Blue Ribbon Award which recognized their work for student performance and mental health and well-being in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by the U.S. Department of Education.
Prior to serving as a superintendent, he served as an associate superintendent of instructional and personnel services and as a high school principal of a Title I and California Distinguished School. Before entering administration, Dr. McDowell was a leadership and instructional coach consulting with schools, districts, higher educational institutions, and state departments on educational leadership, teaching leadership, and instruction. Additionally, Dr. McDowell taught middle and high school science and mathematics.
Dr. McDowell served on the Advisory Board of 1% for Education, a non-profit serving to allocate funding for public education and currently is serving a local public school program board (The School of Environmental Leadership). Previously, Dr. McDowell was a National Faculty member for the Buck Institute of Education and an advisor to educational organizations focused on equity, excellence, and innovation. His practical expertise in schools and systems is complimented by his scholarly approach to leadership, learning, and instruction. He holds a B.S., M.A. and Ed.D ​
Dr. McDowell is the creator and author of all published works and original professional development programs offered through Hinge Education.
QUINN MCDOWELL
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER | CO-FOUNDER
Quinn has remained committed to serving children and their learning through her previous work as a licensed bilingual Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) and more recently in raising her 2 children. She holds a M.A. and is state and nationally licensed with a CCC-SLP. Coordinating district wide efforts for serving English language learning special education students and managing an independent SLP practice for serving children in a wide variety of contexts sparked her passion to build a business framework that could support children on a larger scale. Empowering children by teaching them the best tools for driving and regulating their own learning creates excitement and joy in the day to day work of Hinge Education. Being able to work alongside and in support of educators and children is a daily realization of so many of Quinn’s aspirations. She feels so fortunate to learn alongside her husband Michael as he continues his commitment towards his life’s work of creating his innovative and impactful methods for supporting learners, educators and leaders in changing the way we learn, teach, and lead.