Founder | Education Strategist | STEM Equity Leader | Legacy Builder

Chéla S. Wallace is an award-winning educator, STEM strategist, and school founder committed to designing learning environments where brilliance is recognized early, nurtured intentionally, and sustained across systems. With more than 18 years of experience spanning classrooms, districts, nonprofits, and policy-adjacent spaces, she is known for building future-forward models that integrate academic rigor, innovation, and student wellness. Her work is guided by a deep belief that education should be both intellectually demanding and a source of solace and strength.

Her career began in San Antonio, Texas, where she taught high school chemistry and launched her first afterschool STEM program for girls. That early work shaped her commitment to expanding access and opportunity for students historically excluded from advanced STEM pathways. She later held leadership roles in Philadelphia, supporting curriculum design across charter networks, before moving to New York City to serve as the inaugural Director of K–12 Science at KIPP NYC. In that role, Chéla led the STEM vision across 18 schools, expanding robotics, data science, and computational thinking opportunities for more than 8,000 students. Under her leadership, KIPP NYC launched 31 robotics teams and secured more than $1.75 million in STEM funding.

Chéla’s work extends internationally. In 2021, she co-designed an innovative boarding school model for girls in Sierra Leone and presented the proposal to government leaders, further strengthening her global perspective on girls’ education, leadership development, and systems-level change.

Now based in North Carolina, Chéla is the founder of Solace Rose Innovation Academy, a proposed year-round, STEAM-focused public charter school projected to open in Fall 2028 in Guilford County, North Carolina. Rooted in wellness, legacy, and project-based learning, Solace Rose is inspired by the enduring leadership of Shirley Chisholm, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Charlotte Hawkins Brown, and is designed to serve as a model for how schools can be academically excellent while remaining deeply human-centered. In 2025, she was selected as a Founder’s Fellow with Great Schools North Carolina, supporting the development of a high-quality charter application grounded in the history, resilience, and future of the Piedmont Triad.

In parallel, Chéla is the founder and CEO of Seeds of Faith Educational Services, a consulting firm that partners with school systems, organizations, and institutions nationwide to design culturally grounded, future-ready STEM ecosystems. Her work includes strategic planning, program and curriculum development, leadership training, and the integration of emerging technologies. She currently serves as a district implementation consultant with Data Science 4 Everyone, supporting K–12 systems across the country, and has advised organizations including Mastery Charter Schools, the Witte Museum, and Guilford Preparatory Academy.

Chéla is also a doctoral student in Applied Science and Technology at North Carolina A&T State University, where her research explores how data science and artificial intelligence can be used to quantify and disrupt systemic bias in K–8 STEM education, particularly for Black girls. Grounded in Quantitative Critical Race Theory, her work seeks to inform the design of innovative school models, data-driven interventions, and policy-relevant tools that expand access to rigorous STEM learning. In recognition of her expertise at the intersection of education, data science, and emerging technology, she was selected to join the United Nations Development Programme ExpRes Roster as an Artificial Intelligence Technical Expert.

She holds a master’s degree in Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Our Lady of the Lake University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia. Her contributions have been recognized nationally, including the 2024 Changing Lives Award from the Change Our Future Foundation and selection as a 2023 White House Fellows Regional Finalist. She has been invited to speak at national conferences on AI, data science, and education, including convenings hosted by the National Council for the Social Studies. Earlier in her career, she was featured on the national stage at Black Girls Rock, appearing alongside Queen Latifah, a moment that affirmed her lifelong commitment to amplifying the brilliance, leadership, and joy of Black women and girls.

Across every chapter of her work, Chéla S. Wallace designs with purpose, leads with vision, and builds systems rooted in possibility, creating pathways where students are not only prepared for the future but empowered to shape it.