Dr. Fabi Bagula, Acting Superintendent for the San Diego Unified School District, advances dynamic, large-scale change initiatives that improve outcomes for students and educators in public TK-12 systems. Her bicultural upbringing and experiences on the San Diego border have informed and guided her widely respected and visionary work. As a teacher, teacher coach, principal, assistant superintendent, executive leadership coach, senior director of equity, deputy superintendent –– and now as acting superintendent –– Dr. Bagula consistently gains and maintains the trust of her students, colleagues, and community.
Dr. Bagula was adjunct faculty for the Graduate Program in Educational Leadership and Emancipatory School Leadership at California State University San Jose, the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences (SOLES) at the University of San Diego (USD), and RISE San Diego, an organization that teaches adaptive leadership and equity-action research to aspiring leaders in the community. Dr. Bagula was faculty for school administrator credential programs for both San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and USD- teaching classes for future principals such as Finance, Budgets and Taxpayer Stewardship, Ethical Decision Making, Family and Community Engagement and Evaluation and Assessment.
Her work at SDCOE allowed her to coach county superintendents and their cabinets on leadership, education, equity, and group dynamics. She worked closely with the following districts and superintendents: Poway, Encinitas, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Ramona, Coronado, Lakeside. Dr. Bagula also led learning for Superintendents across the state of California.
As a leadership scholar, Dr. Bagula also launches and delivers keynote presentations across our county (Chula Vista School District, Coronado School District, San Ysidro School District, to name a few), state and some international locations such as Verona Italy, Vienna Austria, and Zurich Switzerland for the International Leadership Association (ILA).
She has been the recipient of the 2024 Finalist for the Matusak Award for Courageous Leadership, a 2023 “Cool Woman” Finalist from the Girl Scouts Organization, the 2023 California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA) Central Office Administrator of the Year, the 2013 César Chávez Visionary leader award, a nominee for San Diego’s 79th district Educational Leadership Award from Representative Dr. Shirley Weber, and a former National Equity Project fellow. She is currently a Yale-Broad Leadership fellow. Additionally, Dr. Bagula has served as a founding member of Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) and Board member of the Social Publishers Foundation (SPF), which supports practitioner-researcher projects and the democratization of knowledge around the world.
Dr. Bagula holds a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. Her research areas include leadership and identity formation. She has published both academic and literary works, including a chapter in the 2021 book, Latinas Leading Schools, two chapters in the 2022 book Recipes to Combat the ‘isms. Likewise, she is certificated in Stakeholder Centered Coaching with The Marshall Goldsmith Group and certified in Leading Dialogue through Conflict with Public Conversations Project. Dr. Bagula frequently facilitates seminars on topics of educational and systemic equity, dialogue facilitation, authenticity, improvement science, and adaptive leadership.