Steven J. Bourgeois, Founder & CEO, Ahart Solutions

Steven J. Bourgeois, PhD is an educational researcher, consultant, and former classroom teacher with over 30 years of experience in teaching, leadership, and applied policy analysis. He has taught German, string orchestra, humanities, and applied music in Oregon and Texas, and most recently served as Executive Director of Research for the largest charter school network in Texas, where he led large-scale data initiatives to support district-wide decision-making.

Dr. Bourgeois holds dual BAs in Music and German, an MA in German from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington. He has taught as an adjunct professor at both the University of Dallas and UT Arlington, and currently serves on the advisory board of the Canyon Center for Character Education at Grand Canyon University. His research interests include student motivation, distributive leadership, teacher attrition, and character development, with work presented at national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Outside of his professional work, Dr. Bourgeois is an accomplished jazz pianist and a lifelong student of German philosophy. He continues to read literature and philosophy in the original German, with particular interest in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger.

Dr. Bourgeois founded Ahart Solutions to transform how schools gather, interpret, and act on feedback. What began with a few clients has grown into a national research firm supporting schools, universities, and nonprofits through mixed-methods research and customized evaluation. Since 2019, Ahart has collected over 1.5 million stakeholder responses and built research systems grounded in theory and designed for impact.

Ahart focuses on the deeper, often overlooked dimensions of school culture—moving beyond test scores and attendance. Drawing on frameworks like self-determination theory, flow theory, collective efficacy, and ecological systems theory, the work reflects a belief that schools are dynamic systems shaped by human motivation. Central to this approach are three research-based indices developed through years of field testing.

A key differentiator is Ahart’s comparison dataset, which allows leaders to interpret survey results in context—benchmarking against similar schools. The process begins with AI-moderated interviews that surface deep stakeholder insights and replace traditional focus groups. Schools then engage in weekly staff and leadership pulse checks to monitor trust, culture, and alignment in real time.

All data flows into the Ahart Portal—a centralized, year-round hub that integrates scaled and open-ended responses. Supported by proprietary AI text analysis, the portal delivers live dashboards, progress tracking, and prompts for reflection and action. At its core is the Ahart Bot, which synthesizes local data with curated best practices to help school leaders turn insight into action.

At the core of Dr. Bourgeois’ work is a belief in quality motivation—a sharp contrast to compliance-based models often associated with accountability systems. He argues that true engagement arises from autonomy, competence, and relatedness—not from external rewards. Too often, schools mistake outward compliance for real engagement: students appearing focused but simply going through the motions. This kind of inauthentic engagement, he believes, undermines long-term curiosity and learning.

Ahart Solutions is committed to designing research that fosters authentic engagement—every question, finding, and recommendation is intended to surface human-centered insights that support a more motivated and connected school community.