Building a Scaled and High Performing Learning Ecosystem

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Bryan Lively, CEO at Fusion Academy; Denise Gallucci, President at Red Apple Education; Smita Deorah, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at LEAD Group; Ryan Delk, CEO and Founder at Primer; and Nate McClennen, CEO at Getting Smart.The speakers explored how great schools took vision and craft, but learning ecosystems extended that impact at scale. They examined how, as AI accelerated personalization and choice expanded access, school networks were emerging as powerful systems for aligning culture, governance, capital, and instructional design across diverse learning environments.This session brought together operators and investors who had built, scaled, and sustained high-performing learning ecosystems to discuss how these networks could shape the future of education. Panelists examined how innovation could be paired with coherence at scale, ensuring that expanded choice and personalization did not lead to fragmentation, but instead strengthened quality, consistency, and student outcomes.At its core, this conversation focused on what it took to design and sustain scaled learning ecosystems that balanced entrepreneurial innovation with operational excellence. By aligning strategy, infrastructure, and instructional vision across networks, the session highlighted how high-performing ecosystems could become a defining force in the next era of education.