Malia Burns, CEO

Malia is the CEO of OpenSeat, a national non-profit supporting mental wellness in schools.  Most recently before joining OpenSeat, Malia served as the Chief Program Officer at Summit Public Schools where she designed and implemented organization-wide pilots and programs to improve student outcomes while also overseeing Summit’s Special Education team and support of Multilingual Learners. Prior to her work leading national initiatives for Summit, Malia was the head of the organization’s Washington region and was the founder and leader of Summit’s first high school in Seattle - an innovative, diverse, and community-oriented school. 

 

Before her work leading at Summit, Malia was an assistant school leader and teacher at the Noble Network of Charter Schools in Chicago, IL. She began her teaching career in the Bronx where the incredible young people in her classes taught her the magic that can happen in a classroom and the transformational possibility of school when we get it right. 

 

Malia was born on Kauai and connects her deep belief in the power of diversity to growing up in a culturally rich and diverse community. Malia is an alum of Seattle University and Columbia University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two sweet, energetic sons. In her free time, you can find Malia watching the sunrise over Lake Washington with her rowing team or eating great food in friends' homes or in our great restaurants.