Marsha Little
Marsha is Director of Professional Learning and Development, Search & Consulting Services, and a Senior Consultant for the firm’s Key Administrator and Head of School Practices. She also supports schools with a range of consulting needs, including individual and team coaching and strategic planning. Marsha has a particular affinity for working with K-12 schools, and many of her clients have hired her for multiple searches. In addition to supporting schools, she has completed several searches for “school-adjacent” organizations, including Explo Elevate, The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), and Camp Merrie-Woode. Thanks to her longstanding professional involvement with Global Online Academy (GOA), Global Education Benchmarking Group (GEBG), and the Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX), Marsha has a significant professional network across the country, and since joining Carney Sandoe she has worked with schools in every region of the United States.
Marsha is a Coach in our Coaching Practice and has completed extensive coaching coursework and training through MentorCoach, Bright Morning Consulting (Elena Aguilar), and Instructional Coaching Group (Jim Knight). She brings a coaching mindset to all of her coaching and consulting work and has formally coached senior administrators, job-seekers, and administrative teams. At Carney Sandoe, she designs professional learning for the Search & Consulting Group and plays an instrumental role designing and facilitating CS&A’s annual Women’s* Institute.
Recent head of school searches include St. Paul Academy & Summit School (MN), Howard School (GA), Girls Preparatory School (TN), and Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL). Recent administrative searches include posts at Breck School (MN), Collegiate (VA), Holton-Arms (MD), Ashley Hall (SC), St. John’s School (TX), Athenian (CA), Culver Academies (IN), and Westminster (GA).
Previous Experience
Marsha brings over two decades of independent school administration and college admissions experience to the Search & Consulting Group. She joined CS&A from The Lovett School (GA), a K-12 day school with approximately 1,700 students, where she served as Director of College Counseling, Upper School Dean of Academic Affairs, and then Assistant Head of School. In addition to her administrative duties at The Lovett School, Marsha served as a faculty advisor for 16 years and taught English 9, Algebra I, and a grade 5 elective.
Marsha presents regularly at local, regional, and national conferences and has served on accreditation committees throughout the southeast. She has been actively involved in the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), World Leading Schools Association (WLSA), and Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX), among other organizations. Before joining the Lovett faculty, Marsha worked in college admissions at Washington University in St. Louis (MO) and Vanderbilt University (TN).
Education & Interests
Marsha graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The College of William and Mary (VA) with a degree in English. She earned an M.S. in Social Foundations of Education from Georgia State University, where much of her research centered on collegiate and secondary school honor codes.
She is an active alumna at William & Mary and has served on the College’s Boards of Directors for the Earl Gregg Swem Library and for the School of Education. She serves as a leadership coach and as volunteer coordinator for the non-profit Montessori Partnerships for Georgia, which supports Montessori programs in public and community-based schools.