Zac Hess

Senior Director

Zac graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1995 and served in the U.S. Army as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and company commander. He later realized the impact he wanted to make would be best realized through educating our youth. In 2006, he pursued a career in public education and started teaching high school science to incarcerated young men. Zac spent 16 years in a school district as a teacher, dean, assistant principal, and district administrator. He was always an advocate for students and worked to understand the root cause of their gaps in learning, behavior, and mental health. Zac has led school and district teams in implementing Restorative Practices, MTSS, Trauma Responsive Practices, and Social Emotional Learning. He approaches this work with a prevention-based mindset and uses Implementation Science to strategically implement programming. In 2017, he became involved with the Douglas County Healthy Youth Coalition. He attended numerous conferences and trainings to become educated in coalition building. Zac’s mission is to work with youth serving organizations and other organizations dedicated to educating our youth. His work with Generation Schools Network focuses on Restorative Practices and its strategic implementation within a school system and community.