Founding Executive Director & School Leader

Lalah S. Radney is an equity-driven educator and leader dedicated to transforming lives through education. A proud Columbia community member with over a decade of experience in K–16 and higher education, Mrs.Radney has dedicated her career to expanding access, opportunity, and economic mobility for students.

Mrs.Radney’s career began in higher education at Seton Hall University, where she discovered her passion for connecting access, opportunity, and impact for first-generation college students. Before stepping into her role with Rooted, she served as Executive Director of Special Populations at Louisiana State University, leading initiatives that achieved a 97.2% retention rate for high-need students and scaling the university programs by over 350%. Prior to LSU, she directed the K–16 College Readiness division at Harlem Children’s Zone, managing a multimillion-dollar portfolio that provided over $200 million in scholarships and increased college matriculation rates by 10%.

Mrs.Radney holds two master’s degrees, in School Counseling and Strategic Communication, and is widely recognized for her student-centered leadership, data-driven approach, and deep commitment to closing opportunity gaps. Her life’s mission is clear: to end intergenerational poverty through education by increasing economic mobility, helping students change their socioeconomic status, and preparing them to become sustainable, self-sufficient adults. 

Vision Statement: Education is the bridge between potential and prosperity. My mission is to end intergenerational poverty by creating pathways that help students change their story, one degree, one career, and one generation at a time.

Senior Director of Growth and Innovation

Steven Carney is the Senior Director of Growth and Innovation at Rooted School Foundation, where he leads new school growth, authorization, and support across the Rooted network. His WHY is grounded in a deep commitment to evidence-based practice, high-quality implementation, and advancing equity, inclusion, and justice in education. At RSF, he uses his expertise in Implementation Science to ensure that Rooted’s promise—that every graduate leaves with a college acceptance in one hand and a job offer in the other—becomes a lived reality in diverse communities.
Steven has founded and led schools that balance innovation with excellence, including Rooted School Vancouver and the nationally ranked Western Sierra Collegiate Academy. He has also coached and supported hundreds of schools and leadership teams nationally and internationally, focusing on growth strategy, sustainable school improvement, and equity-centered systems design.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from San Diego State University and a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from National University. He sees his work at RSF as an opportunity to disrupt cycles of poverty at scale and to build durable systems that allow Rooted’s model of future-ready education to thrive wherever students need it most.