The EEP Board

Ben Austin

Executive Director, Parent Revolution

Director, EEP Board

Ben, a proud parent of two young daughters, has served as the Executive Director of Parent Revolution since April 2008 and currently serves as a member of the California State Board of Education. He has dedicated much of his career to fighting for a California where every child can get a great public education. Prior to launching the Parent Revolution, he directed the successful campaign to transform Locke High School from the worst high school in Los Angeles into a college preparatory model of reform. Ben has also served as a Deputy Mayor under Mayor Richard Riordan from 2000-2001, where he helped craft the mayor’s education reform policy; as well as Senior Advisor to Rob Reiner and First 5 California from 2002-2006, where he helped create LAUP (Los Angeles Universal Preschool), a $600 million preschool program rooted in high standards, accountability and parental choice that serves 10,000 low-income children every year.

Ben has also worked on numerous Democratic presidential campaigns, served as the Communications Director for the 2000 Democratic National Convention Host Committee, served in the Clinton White House in a variety of roles between 1994-1999, and was an early supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. He is a native of Venice, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown Law School. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Tracy, and their two daughters, Fiona and Eloise.

Ben is looking forward to sending Fiona and Eloise to their wonderful neighborhood elementary school, Warner Elementary.

Cory A. Booker

Mayor, Newark

Director, EEP Board

The Honorable Cory A. Booker, 41, is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He took the oath of office as Mayor of New Jersey’s largest city on July 1, 2006 following a sweeping electoral victory and was re-elected to a second term on May 11, 2010.

Elected with a clear mandate for change, Mayor Booker has begun work on realizing a bold vision for the city. Newark’s mission is to set a national standard for urban transformation by marshalling its resources to achieve security, economic abundance and an environment that is nurturing and empowering for individuals and families.

Mayor Booker and his Administration have made meaningful strides towards achieving the City’s mission.  On April 1, 2010, the City of Newark experienced its first homicide-free month in more than forty years and was recognized in July 2008 for leading the nation among large cities for reductions in shootings and murders, achieving decreases of more than 40% reductions in both categories. Radical transformation of the Newark Police Department under Mayor Booker’s leadership, together with the deployment of over 100 surveillance cameras throughout City, has led to Newark setting the nationwide pace for crime reduction.

Among other recent notable achievements under Mayor Booker’s leadership, the City of Newark has committed to a $40 million transformation of the City’s parks and playgrounds through a ground-breaking public/private partnership. The Booker Administration has also doubled affordable housing production.

Mayor Booker’s political career began in 1998, after serving as Staff Attorney for the Urban Justice Center in Newark. He rose to prominence as Newark’s Central Ward Councilman. During his four years of service from 1998-2002, then-Councilman Booker earned a reputation as a leader with innovative ideas and bold actions, from increasing security in public housing to building new playgrounds. This work was the foundation for his leadership as Mayor.  For this work, he has been recognized in numerous publications, including, among others, Time, Esquire, New Jersey Monthly (naming him as one of New Jersey’s top 40 under 40), Black Enterprise (naming him to the Hot List, America’s Most Powerful Players under 40) and The New York Times Magazine.

Reflecting his commitment to education, Mayor Booker is a member of numerous boards and advisory committees including Democrats for Education Reform, Columbia University Teachers’ College Board of Trustees and the Black Alliance for Educational Options. Mayor Booker received his B. A. and M. A. from Stanford University, a B. A. in Modern History at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and completed his law degree at Yale University.

Julián Castro

Mayor, San Antonio

Director, EEP Board

Julián Castro was elected Mayor of San Antonio on May 9, 2009. A 35-year-old San Antonio native, Mayor Castro is the youngest mayor of a Top 50 American city.

In 2001, at the age of 26, Castro became the youngest elected city councilman at that point in San Antonio history. Throughout his tenure in public service, Mayor Castro has championed a vision of economic growth and a top-notch quality of life for all San Antonians.

Befitting those goals, Mayor Castro has placed an emphasis on education during his first term in office with a goal of positioning the city to attract the jobs of the future. His initiatives include a holistic approach to raising local educational attainment levels by increasing city participation in early childhood education, high school dropout prevention and comprehensive higher education counseling.   

In 2005, Castro founded The Law Offices of Julián Castro, PLLC, a civil litigation practice. He has served on the board of Family Services Association, the Clear Channel San Antonio Advisory Board and the San Antonio National Bank Advisory Board. In addition to his community service, Mayor Castro has taught courses at The University of Texas at San Antonio, Trinity University, and St. Mary’s University.

Mayor Castro earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University with honors and distinction in 1996 and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2000. He is married to Erica Lira Castro, an elementary school teacher, and they are the proud parents of a baby girl, Carina, born in March 2009.

Mayor Castro’s brother, Joaquin, serves in the Texas House of Representatives.   

Christopher D. Cerf

President & CEO, Sangari Global Education

Director, EEP Board

Christopher Cerf is currently CEO of Sangari Education, which offers innovative education programming to over 500,000 students worldwide.   He previously served as senior campaign advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  Between 2004 and 2009, he was Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education where his portfolio included organizational strategy, external relations (press, communications, politics, etc.), innovation and R&D, and all aspects of human capital.  In that capacity, he oversaw labor relations and all matters pertaining to recruiting, supporting, developing and evaluating the nearly 80,000 teachers and 1450 principals who work in the DOE.  Previously, he was a partner in the Public Private Strategy Group, which advises school districts pursuing comprehensive reform strategies.  In that role, he served for a year as New York City Chancellor Joel Klein’s Chief Advisor on Transformation.  As part of that effort, he built and managed a team of external experts and internal managers charged with (1) re-visioning the financial and organizational structure of the nation’s largest school district (1450 schools, serving 1.1 million children with an annual operating budget of $20 billion) and (2) working closely with the same team to implement the new design.

Mr. Cerf served for eight years as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Edison Schools, Inc., the nation's largest private-sector manager of public schools, operating 150 schools in 19 states and providing other educational services in an additional 700 schools in both the U.S. and Great Britain.  He earlier served as Associate Counsel to President Clinton and as a partner in two Washington, D.C., law firms.  Mr. Cerf is a graduate of Amherst College and Columbia Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Prior to attending law school, he spent four years as a high school history teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Mr. Cerf graduated from the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy in 2004.

Stacey Childress

Lecturer, Harvard Business School

Secretary, EEP Board

Stacey Childress is a Lecturer in the General Management unit at Harvard Business School, and a co-founder of the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University. Stacey studies entrepreneurial activity in public education in the United States. This includes the behavior and strategies of leadership teams in urban public school districts, charter schools, and nonprofit and for-profit enterprises with missions to improve the public system. She is also interested more generally in a range of social enterprise topics, including international social entrepreneurship.

Howard Fuller

Distinguished Professor of Education & Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning, Marquette University

Director, EEP Board

Howard Fuller's career includes many years in both public service positions and the field of education. Dr. Fuller is a Distinguished Professor of Education, and Founder/Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The mission of the Institute is to support exemplary education options that transform learning for children, while empowering families, particularly low-income families, to choose the best options for their children. Immediately before his appointment at Marquette University, Dr. Fuller served as the Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools June 1991 - June 1995. Dr. Fuller became nationally known for his unending support for fundamental educational reform.

Dr. Fuller is also the Chair of the Board of the Black Alliance for Educational Options; the Chair of the Board of the Wisconsin Municipalities Private School Finance Commission; the Chair of the Board of the Alliance for Choices in Education in Milwaukee; and the Chair of the Board of CEO Leadership Academy. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Transcenter for Youth; the Johnson Foundation; the Big Picture Company; the Joyce Foundation; School Choice Wisconsin; Advocates for School Choice; The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; The Charter School Review Committee for the City of Milwaukee; the Wisconsin United for Health Foundation, Inc.

Dr. Fuller received his B.S. degree in Sociology from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1962; M.S.A. degree in Social Administration from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1964, and his Ph.D. in Sociological Foundations of Education from Marquette University.

Deborah Gist

Commissioner of Elementary & Secondary Education, Rhode Island

Director, EEP Board

Deborah A. Gist, who taught and served directly in schools for more than a decade early in her career, began her service as the Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 1, 2009.

Previously, she served as State Superintendent of Education in the District of Columbia, beginning in June 2007. As the first state superintendent of education in the District, she was responsible for transitioning all state-level education functions to the newly formed office of the state superintendent of education and for putting into effect the accountability systems of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

As state superintendent of education, Gist created new, progressive educator-certification polices for teachers and school administrators, allowing school districts and nonprofit organizations to apply to certify educators, and she enacted new standards for teacher-preparation programs to improve quality, expand opportunity, and encourage innovation. Gist worked with the first state board of education in the District to transition its role to that of a policy-setting body during its first year of existence, and she developed many important state-level education policies, including standards for health and physical education, world languages, arts education, and early-childhood learning.

Before taking on the role as State Superintendent, Gist served for three years as the state education officer in the District. In that role, she restored the confidence of Congress in the Tuition Assistance Grants program, resulting in a federal funding increase of more than 100 percent for a program that now serves more than 5,000 college students in the District each year. She also oversaw dramatic improvements in much-maligned child-nutrition programs in the District, including the Summer Food Service program, which was subsequently named the best-performing summer-food program in America for four consecutive years.

Gist began her career in education 21 years ago, as a teacher in the Ft. Worth, Texas, elementary schools, where she focused on literacy education and applied learning. She later taught in Tampa, Florida, where she founded and directed a center on environmental education and later conceived, designed, and initiated Hillsborough Reads, which served families in 108 elementary schools in Hillsborough County. She won “Teacher of the Year” honors at her schools in both Ft. Worth and Tampa.

In addition to spending 10 years serving directly in schools, Gist was a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Education. She advised the secretary and deputy secretary on top issues, analyzed proposed policy initiatives, and conducted research and feasibility studies. Gist also served as the marketing and development director of the Discovery Creek Children’s Museum, in Washington, and she later worked for the Office of the Mayor, in Washington, as the executive director of the office on volunteerism and service programs, Serve DC. While in Washington, Gist served as a volunteer mentor and a board member for Mentors, Inc.

Gist earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where she was also selected as a Kennedy Fellow and received the Littauer Fellowship for academic excellence and community service. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in early-childhood education from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Arts in elementary education, with an emphasis in curriculum, from the University of South Florida. Gist became a certified public manager, following successful completion of a joint program with the District of Columbia government and the George Washington University. In 2008, she completed a fellowship with the Broad Academy for Superintendents, which prepares talented leaders to take on executive leadership roles in urban education.

Philip Handy

President & CEO, Strategic Industries

Director, EEP Board

Since October, 2001, F. Philip Handy has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Industries, a portfolio of 18 companies in diversified service and manufacturing businesses.  All of the companies have been significantly restructured and taken to a global presence and enhanced profitability.  Sixteen have been sold with a very positive return to the investors.

Until January, 2007, he served for six years as Chairman of the Florida State Board of Education, a seven person board appointed by Governor Jeb Bush, which has constitutional responsibility for Florida’s public educational system (over 4 million students).

Mr. Handy has been appointed twice by President George W. Bush to the National Board of Education Sciences (confirmed by the U.S. Senate), where he has served as Vice Chairman.

Mr. Handy currently serves on the public Board of Directors of Anixter International, Inc., the world’s leading distributor of wire and cable; Rewards Network, Inc., the only national dining rewards company; Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials systems and composite solutions.  He also sits on the private Boards of Directors for WRS Infrastructure and Environment, Inc., a national environmental and remediation company; Picture People, a 173 store, mall-based consumer photography company; and Greenwood Fuels, a manufacturer of high quality pellets made from recycled materials.

Mr. Handy has been a member of the Florida Governor’s Council of 100 since 1987.  He is a member of the Chief Executives Organization, and the World Presidents’ Organization

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.  He completed the sixth forum at The Rugby School and graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School.  He received the Doctorate of Laws “h.c.” from Flagler College.  He also served six years in the US Army Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1973.

Mr. Handy has owned and operated many businesses. They include Maryland Club Foods, a nationally branded coffee/beverage company (purchased from Coca Cola), Majik Markets, a 1000 store food/gasoline retailer, and Equality Specialties, a package decoration wholesaler. He has also served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of   two public companies….Chart House Restaurant Group and Rewards Networks.  From 1996 through 1999, Mr. Handy was managing director of Equity Group Corporate Investments, a private investment firm controlled by Sam Zell.

Mr. Handy was a securities analyst at Fidelity Management and Research from 1968 to 1970. He then joined Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette where he served as Vice President from 1970 to 1976. In 1976, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Combanks, a multiple bank holding company based in Orlando, Florida.  In 1980 he commenced his career in the private equity business.

In the political and eleemosynary area, Mr. Handy is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, an Advisor to the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Director of The Education Equality Project.  He also co-chaired Senator John McCain’s Florida Presidential Campaign and served as Chairman of Senator McCain’s National Policy Council on Education.  He served as the State Chairman of Jeb Bush’s gubernatorial campaigns in Florida in 1993-94 and 1997-98; and as co-chairman of Jeb Bush’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign.  In 1991 and 1992, he was chairman of Limited Political Terms, a political committee, which led the most successful petition drive in Florida’s history, which resulted in a 77 percent affirmative vote. Mr. Handy has chaired nine statewide political races (won 5, lost 4).

Mr. Handy is currently serving as the Chairman of Bill McCollum’s Gubernatorial Campaign’s Education Policy Committee.  He is also co-chairing Pam Bondi’s Campaign for Florida’s Attorney General.

Mr. Handy served as a Trustee of the Northfield Mount Hermon School (his alma mater), where he has served as Treasurer and as a member of the Executive Committee.  He was a member of the Board of Overseers of Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business.  For ten years he was a member, and the President for three years, of the Board of Trustees of the Orlando Museum of Art.

In 1980, Mr. Handy was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to serve on the Investment Advisory Board for the State Board of Administration (the State’s pension fund manager). He served as Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee from 1982 to 1986.

In 1989 and 1990, he served on the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Florida’s Environment, which helped create Preservation 2000.  In September 1989, he was appointed by the Governor to the Board of Directors of PRIDE of Florida (Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises, Inc.) and served as Chairman of the Board until December 1992.

Mr. Handy was a long distance runner who successfully completed the New York, London and Sydney marathons. He is now a passionate bicyclist – both mountain and road.

Joel I. Klein

Chancellor, NYC Department of Education

Co-Chairperson, EEP Board

Joel I. Klein is Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. As Chancellor, Mr. Klein oversees a system of 1,631 schools with 1.1 million students, 136,000 employees, and a $21 billion operating budget. He launched Children First in 2002, a comprehensive reform strategy that has brought coherence and capacity to the system and resulted in significant increases in student performance. In the next phase of Children First, Mr. Klein will build on this progress by cultivating teacher talent; expanding school choices so that students attend schools that best meet their individual needs; and innovating to ensure students are prepared for rigorous, real-world opportunities in the 21st century.

Formerly chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, Inc., a media company, Mr. Klein served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice until September 2000 and was Deputy White House Counsel to President Clinton from 1993-1995. Mr. Klein entered the Clinton administration after 20 years of public and private legal work in Washington, D.C.

He attended New York City’s public schools and graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School. He received his BA from Columbia University where he graduated magna cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa in 1967, and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1971, again graduating magna cum laude.

John Legend

Entertainer & Education Activist

Director, EEP Board

Recording artist, concert performer and philanthropist John Legend has won six Grammy awards and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

John launched his career as a session player and vocalist, contributing to best-selling recordings by Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z and Kanye West before recording his own unbroken chain of Top 10 albums -- Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006), and Evolver (2008) --each of them reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts.

John's debut album, Get Lifted, earned eight Grammy nominations; won Best New Artist, Best R&B album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Ordinary People" while selling more than three million copies worldwide. His follow-up album, Once Again, earned an RIAA platinum certification and a Grammy award for "Heaven", which also won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. In 2008, John released Evolver, his third Top 10 album and embarked on an extensive world tour with his ten-piece band, his largest traveling production to-date.

Throughout his career, John has worked to make a difference in the lives of others. In 2007, John Legend launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), an initiative that uses education to break the cycle of poverty.

John was awarded the CARE Humanitarian Award for Global Change in June 2009 and received the 2009 Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award by Africare.

John is a Co-Chair of the Harlem Village Academies Founder’s Council, an advisory board for a group of charter schools in New York City. He is the national spokesperson for Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a national non-profit organization that has made ground-breaking progress assisting the next generation of minority business leaders. In 2007, John was named spokesman for GQ Magazine's "Gentlemen's Fund", an initiative to raise support and awareness for five cornerstones essential to men: opportunity, health, education, environment, and justice. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of PopTech, a unique innovation network with a mission to accelerate the positive impact of world changing people, projects and ideas.

John stars in The People Speak, a film about social change in the U.S., and is a frequent guest on political talk shows including Real Time with Bill Maher, Anderson Cooper 360o and MSNBC’s Morning Joe. He supported President Barack Obama’s campaign, including appearances at benefit rallies and concerts; the premiere of a new song, "If You're Out There," at the 2008 Democratic National Convention; and a live Inauguration Day performance.

In response to devastation surrounding Hurricane Katrina, John partnered with Tide laundry detergent to address the needs of families in hard-hit areas. John works with Product (RED), which benefits the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria.

In his Time 100 tribute to John, Quincy Jones explained "He is a genius...and we've seen only the tip of the iceberg. For all that he has already achieved in his career, it is going to be fun watching where he goes from here."

Dr. Michael Lomax

President & CEO, UNCF

Co-Chairperson, EEP Board

As president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Dr. Michael L. Lomax heads the nation's largest and most successful minority higher education assistance organization. Through its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, and 24 field offices across the country, UNCF annually provides operating and program funds to its 39 member private historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their 60,000 students. In addition, it manages more than 400 scholarship programs that support nearly 10,000 students at over 900 of the nation's colleges and universities. In the course of its 62-year history, UNCF has raised and distributed over $2.5 billion and has assisted over 300,000 students in earning undergraduate degrees. In 1999, UNCF received over $1 billion, the largest private gift to American higher education, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to administer the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which provides outstanding minority students with an opportunity to complete their undergraduate and graduate college educations.

Dr. Lomax joined UNCF after serving in a series of high-level academic and political positions. Immediately before joining UNCF, he served seven years as president of Dillard University in New Orleans.

Dr. Lomax went to Dillard after thirty years in Atlanta, where he pursued simultaneous full-time careers as a university professor and public servant. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Atlanta's Morehouse College (the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King) and, after receiving his M.A. degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. in American and African American literature from Emory University, taught literature at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges and the University of Georgia.

At the same time, he became a prominent figure in Atlanta government and politics. He began his public service as an assistant to Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first African American mayor, and went on to serve as the first head of Atlanta's Bureau of Cultural Affairs. In 1978, he was elected to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Two years later, he became the Board's chairman, the first African American ever to hold that position and served in that position for twelve years.

Dr. Lomax is a trustee of Emory University, a member of the founding Council of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a member of the Boards of Directors of Teach for America, The KIPP Foundation, The Carter Center, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Studio Museum in Harlem, The Bill T. Jones Dance Company and the National Black Arts Festival, of which he was founding chair. President George W. Bush appointed him to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He has also received numerous awards including The Laurel Crowned Circle Award from Omicron Delta Kappa (2006), the distinguished Emory Medal, the Candle in the Dark award from Morehouse College and several honorary degrees.

Dr. Lomax and his wife, Cheryl Ferguson Lomax, have two daughters, Michele and Rachel. His oldest daughter, Deignan, graduated from Dillard University in 2000.

Janet Murguía

President & CEO, National Council of La Raza

Co-Chairperson, EEP Board

As someone who has experienced the promise of the American Dream firsthand, Janet Murguía has devoted her career in public service to opening the door to that dream to millions of American families. Now, as a key figure among the next generation of leaders in the Latino community, she continues this mission as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Since 2005, Murguía has sought to strengthen NCLR’s work and enhance its record of impact as a vital American institution. One of her first priorities was to harness the power of the nation’s nearly 50 million Hispanics and improve opportunities for Latino families by strengthening the partnership between NCLR and its network of nearly 300 community-based Affiliates which annually serve millions of people in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Murguía has also sought to strengthen the Latino voice on issues affecting the Hispanic community including education, health care, immigration, civil rights, the economy, and the rise of hate rhetoric and hate crimes targeting the Latino community. In her role as NCLR’s spokesperson, she has appeared on ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, CNN’s Larry King Live, PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°, and CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight.

Murguía has placed special emphasis on turning Latino growth into empowerment through the Latino vote. In the 2008 election, NCLR along with its partners helped to register nearly 200,000 new Hispanic voters. Other initiatives and partnerships helped more than 1.5 million eligible immigrants apply for citizenship.

Murguía has also focused on strengthening NCLR’s relationship with sister civil rights and advocacy organizations. She has spearheaded efforts to build bridges between the African American and Latino communities in conjunction with organizations such as the NAACP and the National Urban League. She was the also first Hispanic leader to give the keynote speech at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast in Birmingham, Alabama.

Michelle Rhee

Chancellor, Washington, D.C. Public Schools

Director, EEP Board

Chancellor Michelle Rhee was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty June 12, 2007. She leads D.C. Public Schools, a district numbering 46,000 students and 123 schools. In the Mayor’s search for a change agent for schools in the District, experts in education recommended Ms. Rhee, who had already transformed many urban public school systems through her work with The New Teacher Project (TNTP). Chancellor Joel Klein, whose work in New York City’s public schools is a model for effective change, said of her appointment that it was “the choice D.C. needs, given that, year in and year out, they have not gotten results.” Results drive the Chancellor every day. Whether she is developing effective measurements to track student achievement and teacher quality; talking with principals and teachers in one-on-one meetings; developing new measures to hold herself and staff accountable for their roles in student achievement; traveling throughout the community to engage parents and other stakeholders in our schools; establishing partnerships with neighborhood organizations; meeting with business leaders as she transforms a broken organizational structure into one that works for students and families; or ensuring that needed repairs are completed to create physical learning environments serve students, Chancellor Rhee’s vision rests on results.

She had these results in mind when she founded The New Teacher Project (TNTP) in 1997, and it is now a nationally recognized leader in understanding and developing innovative solutions to the challenges of new teacher hiring. As Chief Executive Officer and President, she partnered with school districts, state education agencies, non-profit organizations, and unions, to transform the way schools and other organizations recruit, select, and train highly qualified teachers in difficult-to-staff schools. Her work implemented widespread reform in teacher hiring, improving teacher hiring in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, Oakland, and Philadelphia. Thanks to TNTP, 23,000 new, high-quality teachers were placed in these schools across the country.

Ms. Rhee’s commitment to excellence in education began in a Baltimore classroom in 1992, as a Teach-for-America teacher. The lesson she learned at Harlem Park Community School informs her mission today: with the right teacher, students in urban classrooms can meet teachers’ high expectations for achievement, and the driving force behind that achievement is the quality of the Educator who works inside it.

Chancellor Rhee currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ); the National Center for Alternative Certification (NCAC); Project REACH of the University of Phoenix’s School of Education. She is an Ex- Officio Member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. Chancellor Rhee’s expertise on education is also informed by a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Roy Romer

Senior Adviser to the President, College Board

Director, EEP Board

Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer recently assumed the role of senior advisor to the president of the College Board. In this role, Romer will work closely with the U.S. Department of Education, the nation's governors, chief state school officers and district superintendents to promote world-class standards in all schools. He will advocate on behalf of policies and programs that will create new standards, curricula, assessments and teacher professional development programs that are anchored in rigorous academic content that prepare all students for success in college and the 21st-century workforce.

Immediately prior to joining College Board, Governor Romer was Chairman of Strong American Schools, a nonprofit entity based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for higher academic standards, performance pay for teachers, and extended learning time. He was formerly Superintendent of Schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District. As Superintendent, he focused resources and attention on instruction and construction of schools. He advocated ambitious literacy and math plans that included computer-based learning programs and teacher training. As a result, scores in elementary school reading and math were above the national levels for the first time in decades.

Romer was Governor of Colorado for three terms, from 1986 to 1998, becoming the nation's senior Democratic governor, and was the general chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1997 to 2000. He was vice chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, an information-age think tank that examines national political and policy issues, where he studied effective educational strategies and school reform initiatives.

He served as chair of the Educational Commission of the States and the National Education Goals Panel. Romer was a legal officer in the U.S. Air Force and practiced law in Colorado. Romer earned his law degree at the University of Colorado.

Margaret Spellings

President & CEO, Margaret Spellings and Company

Director, EEP Board

Margaret Spellings is president and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company and a leading national expert on public policy. Spellings also serves as a senior advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and as executive vice president of the National Chamber Foundation, the Chamber’s public policy think tank. In addition, she is a senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm. Her work also includes guiding philanthropic and private sector organizations in meeting their strategic goals.

Spellings served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009. In that role, she oversaw an agency with a nearly $70 billion budget and more than 10,000 employees and contractors. As a member of the president’s Cabinet, she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a historic national initiative to provide enhanced accountability for the education of 50 million U.S. public school students. 

In higher education, Spellings launched a national policy debate and action plan to improve accessibility, affordability, and accountability in our nation’s colleges and universities. Spellings initiated international outreach and collaboration by leading delegations on behalf of the President of the United States as well as overseeing the development and implementation of international education agreements with such countries as China, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.  

As White House Domestic Policy Advisor, from 2001 to 2005, she managed the development of the president’s domestic policy agenda. Her achievements include the development and passage of NCLB, oversight of the development of the president’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the development of a comprehensive immigration plan to ensure long-term economic stability and to secure U.S. borders, and numerous other initiatives on health and human services, transportation, labor, justice and housing.  

Prior to her service in the White House, Spellings was senior advisor to then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas, led governmental and external relations for the Texas Association of School Boards, and has served in key positions at Austin Community College and with the Texas Legislature.

Spellings serves on the boards of the American Action Forum, America’s Promise Alliance, Special Olympics, The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. She is also a member of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Advisory Council and The Aspen Institute Commission to Reform the Federal Appointments Process.

She is an experienced public speaker and media personality who speaks with authority on policy and politics to business and civic audiences. She has appeared on Meet the Press, Celebrity Jeopardy, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and the Colbert Report, among others.

Amy Wilkins

Vice President for Government Affairs and Communications, The Education Trust

Director, EEP Board

Amy Wilkins is an experienced political and community organizer with a special skill in media communications. At the Education Trust, Amy serves as the Vice President for Government Affairs and Communications. In this capacity, Amy oversees the Trust's media, data, and government affairs and coalition work. She has sharpened her skills in advocacy over years of successful work for the Children's Defense Fund, the Democratic National Committee, the Peace Corps, and the White House Office of Media Affairs, among others.

Joe Williams

Executive Director, Democrats for Education Reform

Treasurer, EEP Board

After more than a decade of frontline newspaper reporting on education reform, Joe Williams has established a nationally recognized reputation as a writer, contributor and speaker on cutting-edge education reform issues at the federal, state, and local levels. His most celebrated work was as author of the controversial book Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

In June of 2007, Joe decided to make it his full-time job to implement the social change for which his investigative journalism had repeatedly called, and he was named Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). Williams identified with DFER's focus on building a powerful national coalition in support of meaningful education reform.

Joe knew from his research and writing that a political problem demanded a political solution--a solution that draws on all communities and community leaders who are committed to putting America's children first.

Joe previously worked as an award-winning education journalist for the New York Daily News. He also served as an education reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he won numerous local, state, and national awards for his coverage of the Milwaukee Public Schools and that city's groundbreaking school choice programs.

In addition to studying reform efforts in Milwaukee, Joe has completed exhaustive research on the challenges of individual school districts in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego. He has developed expertise on national education policy such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, and on state issues such as the growing Charter School movement.

Joe has written in-depth pieces for the Hechinger Institute, the Thomas Fordham Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. He has served as a non-resident Senior Fellow at Education Sector, a non-partisan, Washington DC-based think tank.

Joe has contributed book chapters, articles and policy reports on numerous education-reform related topics, and for a variety of respected publications including: Education Next, Education Sector, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Press.