Operations in service of mission.
Not the other way around.
VAO Collaborative exists because great schools deserve operational systems as strong as their vision. We believe that equitable access to high-quality education starts with removing the back-office barriers that hold mission-driven schools back and replacing them with systems built to last.
A commitment to building systems that serve the mission, not constrain it.
The schools that need the strongest systems are often the ones with the least access to them.
Small, innovative charter schools and education nonprofits are doing some of the most important work in communities across Colorado: serving students who've been historically underserved, building something different, on purpose, with intention.
And they're often doing it while also trying to figure out payroll, navigate compliance requirements, close an audit, and build a budget that actually reflects their vision, without the operational infrastructure that larger districts take for granted.
That's the gap VAO was built to close. Not with templates or one-size-fits-all solutions, but with real partnership: embedded, sustained, and built around each school's specific model, community, and mission.
Every school leader deserves to walk into their board meeting with clean financials, a compliant HR file, and the confidence that their systems are working; not hoping they are.
Equitable access to high-quality education starts with a school that has the operational foundation to stay open, stay strong, and keep growing.
The principles that shape how we partner.
Our values are not decorative statements. They guide how we choose partners, how we make decisions, and how we show up when things are hard. Operations shape opportunity. We take that responsibility seriously.We embed as thought partners and operational leaders, accountable for outcomes, not just deliverables. We share in the wins, the pressure, and the responsibility. School success is our success.
- Honest counsel, even when it's uncomfortable
- Proactive problem-solving
- Long-term thinking over short-term convenience
We protect public trust, legal compliance, and institutional credibility, even when it requires hard conversations. Professionalism at VAO includes the courage to say no.
- Escalate risk early
- Refuse to obscure or misrepresent
- Push back when equity or sustainability is at stake
Budgets, staffing models, governance structures, and compliance systems are never neutral. We use our expertise to design systems that interrupt barriers rather than reinforce them.
- Fair, transparent systems
- Equitable access to funding and opportunity
- Community-centered, sustainable models
We design systems and structures that strengthen internal leadership, improve clarity and confidence, and continue functioning after we step back. Strong schools are self-sustaining schools.
Schools operate in complex, high-stakes environments. We bring steadiness, foresight, and structure. We document clearly. We anticipate risk. We reduce ambiguity so school leaders can lead with confidence.
We stay fluent in policy, finance, governance, and compliance so school leaders can make informed, defensible decisions. We question assumptions and improve systems continuously.
We work with schools and organizations that are doing meaningful, community-centered work. Revenue alone is not a reason to engage. Shared values create strong partnerships.
Every budget line, policy revision, HR system, and board presentation carries weight. Our work supports the people who support students. We take that seriously.
A decade inside Colorado's charter school landscape — building the systems that keep missions alive.
Shannon Gossard is a mission-driven operations and finance advisor who has spent her career at the intersection of educational vision and operational reality. She founded VAO Collaborative — Vision Aligned Operations, pronounced "vow" — to give charter schools and education nonprofits the kind of back-office partner she'd spent years wishing existed.
Shannon began her work in charter school operations as Director of Business & Operations at the Academy of Arts & Knowledge, where she led a full operational turnaround during a probationary renewal period. The school was near closure. Under Shannon's leadership, it emerged financially stable, operationally sound, and positioned for long-term success. That experience, sitting in the pressure of a school that could close, and doing the unglamorous, essential work of rebuilding its foundation, is what VAO is built on.
Over more than a decade working inside Colorado's charter school landscape, Shannon built deep expertise supporting schools at every stage — brand-new startups preparing for their first year, schools transitioning to operational independence, and established schools that needed targeted financial or HR solutions. She has worked across finance, HR, compliance, grant writing, and strategic planning, giving her a genuinely integrated view of how charter school operations work and where they break down.
Shannon's approach is grounded in the belief that every problem has a solution, one that can only be found through genuine partnership, operational clarity, and a deep respect for the communities these schools serve.
Shannon has deep familiarity with Colorado's charter authorization landscape — including CDE compliance requirements, audit standards, and the specific regulatory environment that Colorado charter schools navigate. She has worked with schools authorized by:
Shannon has held operational leadership roles inside charter schools, not just advised them. She knows what it's like to be the person responsible when things go wrong.
VAO is designed to stay. Engagements are built around sustained operational support, not a deliverable and a departure.
VAO understands the specific compliance requirements, authorizer expectations, and CDE standards that Colorado schools face and builds systems that anticipate them.
Most vendors specialize in one area. VAO works across all three so your operational functions are integrated, not siloed, and nothing falls through the cracks.