Julia Wright, Ed.D.
Dr. Julia Wright is the founding CEO and Superintendent of MeyerPark Charter District in Houston, Texas, where she has led a single-campus charter school for over two decades. With 27 years in education, she has served 23 years as a principal and 21 years as superintendent, building a long-standing model of stability and continuity within Texas’ competitive charter school landscape. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston Downtown (1998), a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from the University of Houston–Clear Lake (2004), and a Doctorate from the University of Houston–Clear Lake (2025).
Her leadership style is rooted in empowerment, presence, and relationship-building. She is known for being highly visible on campus—greeting students each morning, visiting classrooms, and engaging with staff throughout the day—while also balancing administrative responsibilities and family life. A key focus of her work is mentoring and training teachers, drawing on early leadership lessons that shaped her approach to identifying strengths in others and developing them into leadership capacity. Over time, her style has evolved from leading by doing to intentionally building systems where others can excel in their areas of expertise.
Beyond her administrative role, Dr. Wright is committed to community engagement and service, including supporting local food banks. She is also deeply invested in cultivating a strong school culture that feels like family for students and staff alike. As an African-American woman in educational leadership, she has navigated the challenges of underrepresentation in superintendent roles, particularly in her early career, while continuing to sustain and grow a long-term charter school community. Outside of work, she enjoys crafting, creating new experiences with her family, and supporting her daughter’s competitive dance activities.
• Superintendent Certification
• University of Houston Clearlake - Ed.D.
• Food Bank Volunteer
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a really good team, an amazing mother, and grit. My mom was an educator and an amazing mother too, and she set the standard for excellence for me. I have such an amazing team around me that supports me, and I feel like sitting in this chair is because of them. They do amazing work, and I don't do half the work that they do. When you pour into people, they'll pour into you, and that's what I've experienced. The grit part is about never giving up, just grinding and grinding. When the no's come, you figure out if it's really a no, or if it needs to be worded a certain way, or if you need to find somebody else to help you through that no.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've ever received is never give up. That's my motto. I just grind and grind, and you just don't give up. When the no's come, you figure out if it's really a no, or if it needs to be worded a certain way, or if you need to find somebody else to help you through that no. This advice has been personal for me, but it's always kind of leaked over into my professional life as well.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say find a friend. Networking is, to me, more than anything you can learn. You can learn more by networking than you can by picking up a book, and I would say the first thing is to find a tribe. Find a good mentor, and you may not have just that one mentor. It may be a mentor for personal growth, it may be a mentor for professional growth, but mentors are needed, and they are seasonal. Sometimes we outgrow our mentors, but really finding someone that you can bounce ideas and thoughts with, having a thought partner, is really important.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field right now are funding and political policies. We went to school for education, we didn't go to school to be safety officers, we didn't go to school to be additional counselors, we didn't go to school to raise the kid. We went to school to partner with families. I really feel like now a lot of that's starting to seep into the schools, and so our biggest hurdles come from people who are not educators, honestly. But the biggest opportunity is still being able to be in a child's life and being a safe space sometimes for them if they don't have that.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Connections are really important to me, along with honesty and kindness. One of the things I say to my daughter every day before she leaves is being pretty on the inside out, because I feel like when we're pretty on the inside, that means that we're kind. We understand people, we have grace for people, and that flows outside. You could be the most gorgeous person on the outside, but then you can be real stank on the inside, and that oozes through. And if you may think that you're not as gorgeous on the outside, your kindness, people will see that before they see your physical being, how you make them feel. People will always remember how you made them feel.