About Us
Made for educators, by educators
Hilight was created to be the indelible system that elevates the positive moments happening in schools every period of every day. Originally founded by a former 7th Grade Math Teacher using nothing more than a spreadsheet, Hilight is now supporting districts across 16 U.S. states and growing, with millions of positive moments being seen, shared, and celebrated. Hilight's partners are retaining stronger talent, uplifting culture among staff, and increasing collective teacher efficacy.
Where Hilight Began: St. Bernard Middle School
It all started with a spreadsheet. Claire, Hilight's Co-Founder and CEO, was a 7th grade math teacher at St. Bernard Parish Public Schools, and she felt what so many educators feel. One hard parent call or tough moment with a student could eclipse a dozen good ones from that same day, even though the good moments were happening so much more often. So she built the first version of Hilight on a simple spreadsheet to help her colleagues see the wonderful things they were doing.
In Hilight's earliest days, a custodian named Mr. Jason came to Claire in tears after receiving his first hilight. He told her it made his year, and it made all the hard, invisible work worth it. That was the moment Claire knew this needed to be in every school and district in the country.
She called up a college friend, Krissy, then a rising engineer at a major health tech company, and asked her to help build something real.
Hilight can't erase teacher burnout. But it can make sure the good moments never get drowned out by one hard one. It's a system to make sure the amazing things educators are already doing every day get seen, celebrated, and remembered. Most importantly, the data from our partner districts all over the country shows it's working.
Our Founders
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Claire Smith Lancaster
Co-Founder & CEO
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Krissy Taft
Co-Founder & CTO
Hilight's Superintendent in Residence, Dr. Morris Leis
Dr. Morris Leis has spent 32 years in education, the last 17 of them as a superintendent, including 15 years leading Coffee County Schools, the longest tenure the district has seen since 1962. Under his leadership, Coffee County built or renovated 11 schools and facilities, raised graduation rates to historic highs, and earned the Georgia School Board Association's Exemplary designation every year since 2015, all while cutting property tax rates in nine of his fifteen years and never once recommending an increase. In 2025 he received Cognia's Greg Arnsdorff Servant Leadership Award for that body of work. Today, Dr. Leis serves as Hilight's Superintendent in Residence.
Coming out of Covid, Dr. Leis knew Coffee County needed a way to keep morale and improvement moving together. He became one of Hilight's earliest believers, and what won him over wasn't a pitch, it was watching staff retention rise once recognition became part of daily culture instead of an afterthought.
That experience shaped his thinking on leadership. In his whitepaper, Moving the Flywheel, Dr. Leis draws on Collins, Hattie, Covey, and DuFour to argue that purposeful recognition is not just kindness, it is a leadership system. He calls it making deposits, the trust that lets leaders ask for hard things later, and the flywheel that turns small moments of recognition into collective teacher efficacy and stronger student outcomes.
At Hilight, Dr. Leis helps districts put that thinking into practice. Read the Coffee County case study and his whitepaper, Moving the Flywheel, to see the research and results behind it.