There is a Black-White achievement gap as a global phenomena (Wagner, 2010) and Black community members face disempowerment. This paper addresses the professional challenge that Black Chief Executive Officers of Education Systems in England face as Local Education Authorities power is shifting towards the corporate systems of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and Free Schools. Corporate systems are based on profits, and not on a moral compass that assure the prevalence of an ethical framework in the school processes and practices. The aim of this research is to generate new understandings of the level of turbulence Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) encounter as they implement change strategies to empower students to be societal innovators for equity and renewal. The purposive sample is 15 Black Chief Executive Officers, and where possible these will be women who represent traditionally minorities and disempowered community members (Denscombe, 2007). We read the data through Turbulence Theory (Gross, 2014) to reveal the impact of the competing interests within the education system on the Chief Executive Officer as light, moderate severe, or extreme. We take a social constructivist approach to collecting the narrative biographies of the 15 Black Chief Executive Officers using semi-structured interviews (Denscombe 2007). Our strategy is case study (Yin, 1994). The research will conform to AERA, BERA and the University of Leicester Ethical Code of Conduct. We will collect the data by February 2017. We take a humanist approach to education where each human being has rights (UN, 1948), and responsibilities in their cultural and economic participation in a democratic education system and a democratic society (Dewey, 1916). To address the aims we ask three questions. First, how do 15 Black Chief Executive Officers describe and understand how school governance systems and school commissioners empower them to develop school communities as societal innovators for equity, peace and renewal? Second, how do they describe and understand the role mentors, and/or advocates play to support their navigation through the governance systems? Finally, to what extent do Chief Executive Officers believe a cultural change is required to empower them to empower school communities to become societal innovators for equity and renewal?

Denscombe, M. (2007) The Good Research Guide for Small Scale Research Projects. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. USA: Complete and unabridged classic reprint. Gross, S.J. (2014) Using turbulence theory to guide actions. In Branson, C.M., Gross, S.J. (2014) (Eds.) Handbook on Ethical Educational Leadership. New York: Routledge. Pp. 246-262. Horizon 2020 (2015) CO-CREATION-01-2017: Education and skills: empowering Europe’s young innovators. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/co-creation-01-2017.html accessed 21 December 2015.