Daren Dickson
Executive Director of Innovation, Valor Collegiate Academies
Dickson has spearheaded the creation of Valor’s Compass, the comprehensive human development framework at the core of Valor’s school model. Prior to starting Valor — a three-school charter management organization in Nashville — in 2013, Dickson spent 16 years as a therapist, clinical and program director, and social justice advocate in California. A licensed marriage and family therapist, he spent a portion of his career working with vulnerable youth and communities in the Bay Area. Much of Dickson's work at Valor is a translation of that work for a public school setting. He has a bachelor’s from Denver University, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and a master’s degree in integral counseling from the California Institute of Integral Studies.