Erin Whalen

Erin Whalen, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, serves as Assistant Superintendent of Student Services. He is co-founder of Da Vinci RISE High School and previously served as its Executive Director.

Born into a proud Black, Chicano and Indigenous family, Erin found himself enticed by education’s power to provide people with a sense of self that could be leveraged as a powerful force in the world. Erin began his career in education in Miami, Florida through Teach For America. After being nominated Teacher of the Year and serving four successful years in Miami, Erin transferred his career in education back home to Los Angeles where he worked at KIPP: Sol in East Los Angeles.

During his time in Miami, Erin met his now-son, Sicard, who was a student in his first English class. Sicard’s story of housing instability sparked Erin’s passion to create a school designed around the intricate needs of youth who are often written out of the education system, foster, probation and unhoused. Erin began putting these ideas on paper alongside Kari Croft to submit to the XQ ‘Super School’ Challenge. About a year after his time at KIPP Charter Network, Erin and Kari led Da Vinci RISE to be named a winner of the XQ Challenge, unlocking $10 million to bring their vision to life.

Today, Da Vinci RISE is now a nationally recognized model for serving the most at-promise youth in Los Angeles. During the founding years, Erin served as Assistant Principal and humanities teacher, Principal and Executive Director. He also obtained his master’s in School Leadership from Loyola Marymount University, and Honorary Doctorate in Social Studies from Grinnell College.