Meet the ASU Prep 2026 Manager of the Year finalists

At ASU Prep Digital, leadership is about creating an environment where people feel supported, heard and empowered to grow. As an Elementary Assistant Principal for Digital, Jenny Spencer brings that philosophy to her work every day.

Now in her sixth year with ASU Prep, Jenny was drawn to the community and its commitment to creating meaningful educational opportunities for students. For her, leadership starts with helping the people around her feel supported and giving them the space to grow.

That people-first philosophy is at the center of Jenny’s leadership style. She focuses on building trusting relationships, leading with empathy and setting clear expectations around ASU Prep’s shared vision. Most importantly, she makes time to listen.

“Honestly, I just love people! I want to know them and want them to know me.”

Jenny believes that truly supporting a team starts with hearing people, not just responding to what they say, but making space for their experiences and perspectives. She works with her team to find solutions when they are needed, while also recognizing that sometimes people simply need space to be heard.

That approach has helped Jenny and her team navigate significant growth over the past year. With both student and staff populations growing, she is especially proud of how the team has continued to create and fine-tune systems that evolve alongside that growth.

She also intentionally creates opportunities for collaboration and reflection, giving her team space to consider what is working, what isn’t and how they can continue improving together. What sets ASU Prep apart, Jenny believes, is its commitment to expanding access to educational opportunities for students and families who need something different.

“Our culture focuses on being able to support students at a personalized level, be intentional about creating partnerships with families, and remain innovative in our efforts towards student achievement and growth.”

That commitment to people extends beyond the adults she leads. Jenny is inspired by the teachers and leaders who have influenced her throughout her career, as well as the example set by her parents. Her mom’s genuine curiosity about other people, in particular, shaped the way Jenny approaches relationships.

“People always come first, not the role and same with children…they are kids before they are students.”

Jenny sees that philosophy reflected in the growth of her team. She takes pride in watching educators step outside their comfort zones, pursue advanced degrees, lead professional development, take on leadership roles and pursue new opportunities.

For Jenny, those moments are a reminder that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about encouraging people to take that next step and then being there to support them as they discover what they can do.

Looking ahead, Jenny hopes to continue growing personally and professionally while modeling that same expectation for her team. “I want to keep showing up for my team and ASU Prep in the ways that are needed from me.”

Her goal is to remain curious, collaborative and grateful for the work her team does every day, while helping create learning environments where teachers feel empowered and students feel successful.

Through her empathy, curiosity and commitment to relationships, Jenny Spencer demonstrates how thoughtful leadership can create space for both educators and students to grow.

At ASU Prep, some of the most important work happens behind the scenes. As Assistant Director of Student Record and Compliance, Lynnette Rasmussen leads the Student Record and Compliance Team, supporting students across the ASU Prep network through transcripts, student records, transfer credit, concurrent college coursework, records requests, compliance and the systems that help ensure student information is accurate and trustworthy.

For Lynnette, that work is ultimately about much more than data.

“I often describe our responsibility as honoring students’ past, present, and future: accurately understanding where they have been, capturing the learning they accomplish with us, and communicating that learning clearly when they move on to their next opportunity.”

Lynnette began working with ASU Prep in 2021, drawn to an organization willing to rethink what education can look like for students. What has kept her here is the opportunity to contribute to that innovation from an operational perspective, helping turn new educational models into systems and processes that work for students, families and the people supporting them.

For Lynnette, leadership means creating the conditions for others to do excellent work in service of students. Sometimes that means developing people. Sometimes it means improving a process or questioning whether an established practice still serves its purpose. And sometimes it means bringing people together to solve a challenge no one team could solve alone. “I believe leadership is less about having all the answers and more about building trust, asking good questions, providing clarity, and helping people connect their everyday work to a larger purpose.”

Her leadership style balances people and systems. Lynnette believes people do their best work when expectations are clear, processes are strong, questions are welcomed and team members are trusted to use their own judgment and expertise.

She also makes sure her team understands not only how a process works, but why it matters. Through documentation, shared learning and cross-training, team members build the confidence and expertise to solve problems independently, teach one another and improve processes themselves.

Over the past year, Lynnette has been especially proud of how much her team has grown in both capability and confidence. Student Records manages an enormous and increasingly complex body of work, supporting not only current students but graduates and transfers throughout their lives.

“A transcript is a legal academic record, but it is also part of a student’s story.”

One of the most meaningful projects Lynnette led was the development and launch of a new annual re-enrollment system for ASU Prep Global Academy. The project brought together nine different groups across the organization, each with different responsibilities, systems and perspectives.

The technology was important, but Lynnette says the most meaningful part was the collaboration. By keeping the experience of students and guardians at the center, the teams transformed several disconnected processes into one coordinated experience.

The project reinforced something Lynnette believes deeply: complex organizational challenges are rarely solved by one department. They are solved when people trust one another enough to stay at the table and keep working toward a shared outcome.

What sets ASU Prep apart, she believes, is its willingness to ask a simple but powerful question: “What if there is a better way?”

That curiosity is reflected in the variety of educational opportunities available to students, from in-person and digital learning to concurrent university coursework, flexible learning models, partnerships and new approaches that continue to evolve.

At ASU Prep Casa Grande, leadership means creating a community where staff and students can do meaningful work, learn together and support one another. As Principal of the Casa Grande campus, Gayle Taylor has spent the past four years helping build that kind of environment.

Gayle was drawn to ASU Prep because of its personalized, college-focused and supportive approach to education, and its commitment to helping students find their own path to success.

For Gayle, leadership is about making sure everyone has the support they need to do their best work. Her leadership philosophy is straightforward: she would never ask someone to do something she wouldn’t do herself. “I am responsible for the team, but I am one of the team and I also have to do what needs done to keep things moving.”

That sense of shared responsibility has been especially important over the past year as the Casa Grande campus has continued to grow. With a small campus and an increasing student population, making the most of limited space has presented its challenges.

What Gayle is most proud of, however, is how her staff has responded together.

“I am proud that all of my staff works well together, for the good of the community as a whole.”

That collaborative culture has also helped create a workplace where people want to stay. Every member of Gayle’s staff returned from the previous school year, something she sees as a reflection of a fulfilling environment built around shared purpose and support.

Gayle’s approach to leadership has been shaped by the many leaders and educators she has encountered throughout her career, including both positive and difficult experiences.

As a leader, she tries to take those experiences with her. “I always think of myself as a teacher first, and as a teacher with principal power, I work as hard as I can to create a school that is in the best interest of teaching and learning from multiple perspectives.”

That perspective keeps teaching and learning at the center of her decisions and reminds her to consider the needs of the entire school community. For Gayle, that commitment also means continuing to learn from challenges. Rather than seeing obstacles as setbacks, she sees them as opportunities to find solutions and improve the way the school serves its community.

Looking toward the future, Gayle is excited about the many ways ASU Prep can continue to grow and evolve.

She approaches that growth by looking both forward and backward, considering where the school has been, where it is going and what it has learned along the way.

Her goal is to keep building on that progress together, always moving toward ASU Prep Casa Grande’s true north: “Turning Aspirations into Achievements.”

Through her collaborative leadership, commitment to teaching and learning and belief in the power of a strong community, Gayle Taylor continues to help create a school where staff and students can grow together.