Mario Clopton-Zymler

Mario Clopton-Zymler is a charismatic and dedicated leader who has spent his career advocating for social justice and equity as school leader, teacher, community organizer, and policy maker. He received his Doctor of Education degree from The Ohio University, Master of Music in Choral Conducting from California State University, Los Angeles and earned his Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education with Honors from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. His research focus includes educational equity policies and practices including the impact of school choice programs, experiences in inequity in suburban school districts, and leadership structures in education.

Mario currently serves as Principal of The Intergenerational School, a non-profit charter school in Cleveland, Ohio. As leader of the school, Mario has overseen successes in student achievement gap closing, student achievement in value-added scores in Math and English Language Arts. He has worked to strategically plan how to implement intergenerational learning as part of the day-to-day education experience of the students.

Dr. Clopton-Zymler has served as a guest lecturer for the Patton College of Education at The Ohio University, and for the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies doctoral program in the Virginia Tech School of Education. He has presented his research and findings at the American Educational Research Association and the American Educational Studies Association Conferences.

His past service to the community is themed around social justice, Black, and LGBTQ+ liberation. In 2015, he was appointed to a four-year term on the Cleveland Community Police Commission, an advisory group created by consent decree that recommended policies centered around ending unconstitutional policing and improving community-police relations in Cleveland.

Mario has crafted, moderated, and served as a panelist in workshops and seminars focused around LGBTQ+ Inclusivity, the Black experience in music education, how best to support trans students, as well as community-police relations, bias-free policing and youth/police interactions. On top of his service, Mario also continues to practice his art performing as a baritone vocalist.