JUST BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Dr. Jennifer Baez
EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT | CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER |
AUTHOR | SPEAKER | ADJUNCT PROFESSOR |
2026 Recognition
SCBIZ Top 100 Women in South Carolina
Honored for leadership, professional impact, community service & mentoring
"Jennifer didn't take a straight path to get here — and that's exactly what makes her work different."
— Dr. Bob Stevens, SAC, STAR Clinical Research Network, Vanderbilt University
THE JOURNEY
With more than 22 years of experience across education, operations, and organizational leadership, she's been a classroom teacher, a school principal, a district director of Multilingual Services , a COO, an adjunct professor, and an author. Each role has added a layer to how she thinks about people, systems, and what it actually takes to build cultures that last.
She spent years leading schools — including three Title I campuses — and directing Charleston County School District's ESOL/Multilingual Program, where she oversaw services for more than 8,000+ students. That work gave her a deep understanding of what it means to build equity into the structure of an organization, not just its values statement.
22+
Years of leadership
8K
Students Served
3
Principal of Title I Schools
WHERE IS SHE NOW
Today, as COO at BEHKO Group, Jennifer leads operations, finance, and cross-departmental strategy in the construction industry. She's proof that the skills it takes to run a high-functioning school — systems thinking, human-centered leadership, accountability, and culture-building — translate everywhere.
In 2026, Jennifer was named to SCBIZ's Top 100 Women in South Carolina, a recognition honoring the state's highest-achieving women for their professional impact, leadership, community service, and mentoring. She doesn't take it lightly.
She taught graduate-level linguistics and ESOL courses at The Citadel, serves on the Cane Bay YMCA Board, the Charleston Leaders Board, and the Chamber of Commerce member, and has been a featured presenter at conferences across the country — most recently the 2026 Southeastern School Behavioral Health Conference.
ROLES & AFFILIATIONS
📚 Adjunct Professor, The Citadel
🏫 Former District Director, CCSD
🤝 Cane Bay YMCA Board
🏗️ COO, BEHKO Group
📖 Author, Deep Culture Series
🌐 CHS Leaders Board Member
THE WORK
Through Just Beyond The Classroom, Jennifer brings everything she's learned into resources, courses, and professional development for educators and school leaders who are ready to go deeper — beyond the bulletin boards, beyond the buzzwords, and into the work that actually moves schools forward.
She writes and creates for the people in the building who are doing the hard, human work every single day. Because that's where change really happens.
Ready to bring this work to your school or district?