Gianna Cassetta (She, Her), Founder
Gianna began her teaching career in New York City, becoming one of the state's first 25 National Board-certified teachers. Her passion for education led her to co-found and lead one of only five public-to-charter conversion schools in NYC, which outperformed the district in which it was housed and the city. She helped launch the Office of School Reform and Innovation at Denver Public Schools as Director of Leadership Development before starting a school in Far Northeast Denver.
Gianna founded The Plain Red Horse Coaching and Consulting, where she supports parallel, equity-focused pathways to social and emotional development for children and adults. She is a certified Beyond EI (formerly Goleman EI) Emotional Intelligence Coach and serves on Beyond EI’s Coaching Certification Program faculty. Gianna is also an International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach and an ESCI (Emotional and Social Competency Inventory) 360 administrator.
She co-authored Classroom Management Matters: The Social and Emotional Learning Approach That Children Deserve, No More Taking Away Recess and Other Problematic Discipline Practices, and The Caring Teacher: Strategies for Working Through Your Own Difficulties with Students. Her newest book, The Social and Emotional Core of Equity Leadership: A Guide for Driving Change in Schools, is part of the Equity and Social Justice Series at Routledge.
Gianna lives on a small hobby farm in New England with her human family and her ever-growing non-human family of equines, canines, felines, and fowl.
“Gianna places the learner at the heart of her practice and her focus. She always, always works with empathy, gently prodding through the discomfort of the zone of proximal development and into competence and mastery. Gianna helps to make the challenges of leadership feel less painful, less lonely. She helps you grow as a full and holistic leader, prioritizing relationships and forward momentum.”
Angela B. Stepancic
Founder and CEO