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Suzette D. Lovely, Ed.D.
ESS Consultant
Education Support Services Group
Cell: (949) 283-7862
Dr. Suzette Lovely’s career has spanned 38 years in K-12 education and leadership development. As a young college student, her love of teaching materialized while serving as an instructional aide in San Bernardino. Suzette subsequently spent 27 years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, deputy superintendent, and acting superintendent in Capistrano Unified School District. In 2009, she left Capistrano to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources in Placentia-Yorba Linda. Dr. Lovely finished her public school journey as Superintendent in Carlsbad Unified before retiring in 2016.
Following her undergraduate work at UC, Irvine, Suzette earned a master’s degree in educational administration from National University and a doctorate from Cal State University, Fullerton. She has mentored and trained hundreds of aspiring school leaders with affiliations at: CSU, Fullerton; Chapman University; Brandman University; the School Superintendents Association (AASA); the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA); and Orange County Department of Education (OCDE).
During her tenure as Superintendent in Carlsbad, Dr. Lovely spearheaded several efforts to engage stakeholders in the work of public education. This included: implementation of a $13 million county-wide Career Pathways Trust Grant; facilitation of the Legislative Action Network (LAN) to engage state and local legislators in public policy discussions; collective impact work with local industry giants such as Qualcomm, Viasat, TaylorMade, Thermo Fisher, and Lego; and leveraging state standards, funding, and accountability systems to boost student learning. Dr. Lovely was among a select group of San Diego superintendents invited to meet with the Governor to discuss LCAP implementation, ESEA reauthorization, and state-wide education priorities.
Dr. Lovely is the author of four books and numerous articles on school leadership. Her latest work, Ready for Anything (Solution Tree, 2020), pushes educators to look beyond the four walls of the classroom to prepare students for the “any collar” workforce. Since retiring, Dr. Lovely has remained active in strategic planning work, leadership coaching, school design/redesign facilitation, and superintendent searches. She is also co-founder of the Women in Education Leadership (WEL) Network in Southern California. Suzette has been recognized for her visionary leadership by Senator Patricia Bates, the California PTA, the Hi-Noon Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, the Master Teacher Publication, and the San Diego Art Education Association.