The Unique Scholars Institute
Every standard we sethas a name behind it.
Meet the people who build, teach, mentor, protect, and pour into every scholar and family who walks through a USI door. From the Office of the Founder to the team that meets your child on a Tuesday afternoon — this is the human architecture of the Institute.
It starts with one voice
Every program, every policy, every partnership at USI is anchored in a single founding conviction — and a single founder who refuses to compromise it.
Office of the Founder
Draylen Ross
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Sets the vision, mission, and standard for every program under the USI umbrella.
Born and raised on the Northside of Fort Worth, former NFL athlete with the Chicago Bears, and a veteran of eight years of after-school program leadership, Draylen built The Unique Scholars Institute from memory, discipline, love, and a life that taught him how much structure, guidance, and belief can change a young person’s future. He is the final voice on brand, ethics, and long-term direction.
The Co-CEOs who carry the same blood, the same burden
Side-by-side with the Founder — two leaders who translate vision into daily reality across athletics, strategy, growth, and culture.
Braylen Ross
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Partners with the Founder on strategy, athletics, and culture across all USI programs.
Braylen stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Draylen as Co-CEO, carrying the same Ross family commitment to discipline, development, and belief in young people. He oversees cross-program alignment, athletic identity, and the brand energy that makes scholars feel seen — ensuring every student who walks through a USI door meets the same high standard, no matter which program they enter.
Willie Gross III
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Drives institutional growth, capital strategy, and long-term organizational sustainability.
Willie represents the next generation of Ross-family leadership. As Co-CEO, he owns institutional growth — the financial architecture, capital strategy, and partnership pipeline that allow USI to scale without losing its soul. His discipline keeps the business mission and the family mission moving in one direction.
“The strongest institutions are not built by one person. They are built by a room full of people who agree on the standard and disagree on nothing about the mission.”
Four executives who own the four pillars
Academics, Operations, Finance, and Technology — the four columns that hold the entire Institute upright.
Dr. Monique Calloway
Chief Academic Officer
Owns academic quality, learning outcomes, and the integrity of every USI program.
Dr. Calloway sets the academic north star for USI. She oversees curriculum standards, learning outcomes, instructor development, and the rigorous evidence base that lets us promise families real growth — not just activity. If it carries the USI name, it meets her bar first.
Marcus Delgado
Chief Operating Officer
Runs the operational engine that keeps every program, enrollment, and schedule moving.
Marcus runs the day in, day out. Enrollments, schedules, attendance systems, access center operations, instructor logistics — the pipes that carry everything we do. If a family can reach us, a scholar can check in, and a program starts on time, it’s because of his team.
Ava Chen, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Steward of every dollar invested in USI — from package pricing to scholarships.
Ava oversees the full financial engine: package architecture, billing integrations, Stripe payment flow, scholarships, financial aid, and the bookkeeping discipline that keeps us accountable to every family and sponsor. She protects USI’s ability to say yes to families who need us most.
Jordan Anders
Chief Technology Officer
Owns the platform, the data, and the digital experience every scholar touches.
Jordan owns the entire USI digital architecture — student, parent, instructor, and admin dashboards; access codes; the AI Assistant “Ace”; integrations; and the security posture that keeps family data sacred. If you can click it on this site, his team built it.
The directors who show up for scholars daily
Seven department heads who translate leadership decisions into the lived experience of every student, parent, instructor, and partner — every single week.
Dr. Patricia Holloway
Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Builds the lessons, roadmaps, and grading rubrics instructors use every week.
Dr. Holloway translates academic vision into the weekly plan. She designs lesson libraries, student roadmaps, grading rubrics, and the resources instructors lean on daily — the bridge between what we teach and how a scholar actually grows.
Coach Derrick Armstrong
Director of Athletics
Leads the athletic pillar — training, competition, and the discipline that fuels it all.
Coach Armstrong leads the athletic side of USI — Athletic Fuel, Panthers programs, and every training curriculum that builds scholar-athletes. He holds the line on conditioning, nutrition, mental toughness, and the culture of accountability that turns talent into standard.
Kendra Vance
Director of Student Success & Access
The voice every scholar hears when they feel lost — and the plan that gets them unstuck.
Kendra leads the Student Success team and owns the Access Center experience — achievement tracking, progress journals, mentorship journaling, and the human follow-through that makes a scholar feel watched over. She turns enrollment into belonging.
Sarah Whitfield
Director of Partnerships & Community
Brings schools, nonprofits, and sponsors to the USI table.
Sarah builds the ecosystem around USI. She manages school partnerships (Texas College Prep, Shiloh, C84), nonprofit alliances, vendor contracts, partnership assessments, and sponsor relationships — making sure our mission is never fighting alone.
Camila Reyes
Director of Family Engagement
Stands with every parent and guardian who walks beside a USI scholar.
Camila leads Family Engagement. The Parent Dashboard, Parent Participation Pass, parent-student linking, and the intentional communication cadence that makes a family feel like a partner, not a spectator — that’s her world.
Jasmine Carter
Director of Marketing & Communications
Tells the USI story — with clarity, dignity, and heart.
Jasmine owns the brand voice. The Panther Newsletter, website content, announcements, brand ambassadors, social presence — everything the public sees passes through her standard of “serious work, beautifully told.”
Anthony Brooks
Director of Compliance & Safety
Keeps USI clean, safe, and trustworthy for every child, family, and partner.
Anthony leads Compliance & Safety. Safety standards, compliance documentation, audit logs, contractor vetting, youth protection protocols — the unseen discipline that lets families trust their scholars in our hands.
How the team fits together
From the Founder’s office down to the classroom, the line of accountability is direct, clear, and intentional.
Office of the Founder
1 leaderVision · Standard · Final Authority
Executive Leadership
2 Co-CEOsStrategy · Growth · Culture · Athletics
C-Suite
4 ChiefsAcademics · Operations · Finance · Technology
Department Directors
7 DirectorsCurriculum · Athletics · Student Success · Partnerships · Family · Brand · Compliance
Every name on this page chose this work.
They chose to give young people what the Founder was given — structure, love, belief, and a room full of adults who refuse to let them fall through the cracks. If that call lives inside you, we would love to meet you.
The Unique Scholars Institute · A Team Built for Scholars