As CEO of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), Tatia Davenport brings her relentless quest for improvement, her innovative mindset, and her profound ability to inspire and mobilize people to transform education and drive results with her team to support the organization’s members and the students they serve. 

Founded in 1928, CASBO is the foremost authority on school business and serves more than 30,000 members. Davenport has been with the nonprofit organization for 14 years, acting as CEO for the past four years. She is responsible for strategic leadership and vision implementation to foster innovative school business practices that support California’s 6.1 million TK-12 students.

Davenport’s rich and diverse background includes a degree in International Business Administration, and leadership and consulting positions in both the public and private sectors. She first came to CASBO through her consulting work and saw the vast potential to help bring forth the transformative power of innovation with the organization.

“Innovation in the business of public education can change lives, and we help shape the future of education by ensuring that we are delivering efficient and robust business practices across California schools and districts,” she says.  

“Innovation in the business of public education can change lives, and we help shape the future of education by ensuring that we are delivering efficient and robust business practices across California schools and districts.” — Tatia Davenport, CEO

CASBO does much more than offer members education, advocacy, and professional networking. The organization offers influential professional development opportunities including a monthly Women in Leadership Roundtable that has grown in participation to an estimated 700 women statewide. The roundtable offers members the opportunity to share, inspire one another, and grow in leadership roles. 

As Davenport looks to the future, she has three core goals for CASBO: ensuring the organization is a thought leader in reimagining educational finance and operations, strengthening advocacy efforts for sustainable and innovative education policy, and advancing automation in school business operations.

“We have tens of thousands of people engaged in CASBO to better the education system, and we are proud to support our members who support our students,” she says.