Brian Sense
Executive leader across philanthropy, startups and nonprofits. Twenty-five years launching, scaling, merging, restructuring and closing organizations built to change how young people learn and grow.
StartupEducationNonprofitPhilanthropy
How I lead
My high school football coach used to remind the offensive line that when we did our job, someone else got the glory, and when we missed a block, we were the ones on the big screen. I've spent most of my career as a lineman. The best operating work is often invisible: the problem solved before anyone knew it was coming, the structure that lets a team do the most important work of their careers.
Great Work was built to be a trim tab, the small fin on the edge of a rudder that turns the whole ship. That's still how I think about leverage. Every system has a gravitational pull toward the familiar grant, the safe metric and the established path. I've done my best work pushing against it, usually by trusting people, young people especially, with more responsibility than the system thinks they can carry.
In philanthropy we called ourselves wayfinders. We took the power dynamics of money seriously and worked to move decisions closer to the people most affected by them. I bring the same posture to every role: inquiry before certainty, naming what I don't understand yet, and working it out in the open.
I also try to be honest about endings. Part of building well is knowing when to compost something you once meant to cultivate, whether a program, a structure or a whole organization, and closing it with the same care you used to start it.
At my core, I'm a builder who amplifies other people's ambitions.
Experience
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A startup building schools, homes and community for families who live and learn around the world.
- Own the operating engine across education delivery, hospitality, admissions, real estate, legal structuring and internal product.
- Led the redesign of education operations into a single function with consolidated accountability.
- Built the operating model for new programs and markets, including a dual-language program and expansion of education centers.
- Made the internal portal the single source of truth for family operations and introduced an incident escalation and after-action review system.
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Turns classroom observation into a living map of each child's growth, for competency-based schools, microschools and Montessori programs.
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Nature-based education and camps for youth in Boulder County, Colorado.
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Wend Collective
Chief Strategist
2022 – 2024
Philanthropy
A private social impact and philanthropy organization. Sunset in fall 2024.
- Steered financial strategy for a nine-figure budget, aligning resources with the organization's vision.
- Co-led strategic planning for multiple initiatives, building partnerships across education, arts and social justice.
- Oversaw the restructure and sunset of the organization, ensuring a dignified and responsible transition.
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Great Work, Inc.
Executive Director
2015 – 2022
Education
A nonprofit incubator built to be a trim tab: small, well-placed pressure that moves the larger systems of youth development and education.
- Restructured the organization, growing its impact by 900% over 7 years.
- Launched 9 initiatives, including LLCs and 501(c)(3)s.
- Initiated and facilitated an international coalition to codify Montessori curriculum and training standards at the adolescent level, adopted by Association Montessori Internationale.
- Led acquisition and oversight of a $65M property portfolio, including school campuses, commercial buildings and a former YMCA camp in New York.
Launched: Embark Education, Pinwheel Coffee, Framework Cycles, Great Work Montessori School, Train Montessori, The Math Institute, Camp Reimagined, Tqamp, Great Work Education Holdings
Case study: Learning embedded in real businessesCase study: An incubator for educatorsCase study: Codifying Montessori for adolescents
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- Led a team of 400+ staff in the second-largest YMCA association in the US.
- Shifted culture toward programmatic impact while maintaining revenue growth.
- Led a $15M capital campaign and expanded youth programs to new locations.
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Educo Leadership Adventures
Executive Director
2007 – 2013
Nonprofit
- Increased youth served by 300% and negotiated a merger to secure long-term viability.
- Led the acquisition and development of a 600-acre off-the-grid camp.
Education and service
- BA, Political Science, Colorado State University
- altMBA
- Advisory Council, Teach For America Reinvention Lab, 2023
In the news
Startup 7
- Sprudge, 2018Teaching the next generation of baristas at Pinwheel Coffee
- Business Insider, 2024These families are ditching the US to live the American dream abroad
- 303Cycling, 2019Framework Cycles set to open in North Denver
- PR Newswire, 2025Boundless Life expands to South America with a program in Uruguay
- Westword, 2018Students run the show at Sunnyside's Pinwheel Coffee
- PhocusWireStartup Stage: Boundless Life
- Allwork.Space, 2022Boundless Life: the digital nomad experience for families
Education 15
- Embark Education on YouTubeThe Iterative Space Residency
- Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado Voices, 2022Embark Education: a micro middle school inside a coffee shop and bike shop
- 9News, 2019Denver micro-school gives 7th and 8th graders real, hands-on lessons
- Chalkbeat, 2022A Denver micro-school hatches within a bike shop and cafe
- Getting Smart podcast, 2022Embark Education on embedding learning in business
- Education Reimagined, 2021A journey to radically change the way business, education and community intersect
- Education ReimaginedMelding a Montessori approach into middle school at Embark Education
- A Revolution in Education podcastIt's about MY learning: Pinwheel, Framework and Embark
- Transcend, 2023Embark Education case study
- Learner-Centered Collaborative, 2022Rethinking middle school: Embark Education
- Education ReimaginedDesigned to Thrive: Iterative Space as a model for educator development
- Getting Smart podcastProfile of an unbundled learning ecosystem: Colorado (on Iterative Space)
- AMI Annual General Meeting, Amsterdam, 2019Wilderness, natural consequences and the struggling adolescent
- Association Montessori Internationale, 20192019 AMI AGM highlights and presentations
- montessoriadolescent.orgThe Montessori Adolescent Initiative
Nonprofit 3
Philanthropy
Wend worked without a public profile by design, so there is little coverage to link. More coming.
Contact
For executive search, board and advisory roles, or speaking. I read every message and reply within a few days.
