Brandon McNeice is a 2026 honoree of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and a 2026 Education Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington D.C. He serves as Head of School and CEO of Cornerstone Christian Academy in Southwest Philadelphia. He leads with a simple conviction: schools change lives when they pair high expectations with deep care, and when leaders build systems that make it easier for students and teachers to thrive.

Across his career, Brandon has worked in a range of educational settings—from founding a BASIS Independent campus in Manhattan to admissions and school leadership roles in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also served as Assistant Director of Global Recruiting at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where he supported students from around the world as they navigated the transition into graduate study and professional life.

Brandon holds an EdD in Leadership and Innovation from Purdue University Global, an M.S. in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University, a B.A. in History from Bishop’s University, and a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. He was selected as a Klingenstein Fellow for the Heads of Schools program at Teachers College, Columbia University as well as the National Institute of Urban School Leaders at Harvard University.

In addition to school leadership, Brandon writes and speaks about education, institutional renewal, and the moral demands of leadership. His articles have appeared in Commonweal, Plough, The Philadelphia Citizen, Christian Scholar’s Review, Front Porch Republic, Wayfarer Magazine, and many others. His short fiction and poetry have been published or are forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Hunger Mountain, Terrain, Cleaver, Flyway, and ONE ART. His work has been longlisted for the SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction and twice nominated for the Best Small Fictions Anthology, and he was selected for the One Story Writers' Conference.

Outside of his professional work, Brandon serves in nonprofit and civic roles, including supporting at-risk youth as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Kieran.