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About Us
The Executive Team
Executive Leadership
Jean Desravines
Chief Officer for Cities and Policy
Jean Desravines serves as the Chief Officer for Cities and Policy. In this role he oversees management of all of New Leaders for New Schools' city teams as well as the organization's national public policy and public funding work. Before joining New Leaders for New Schools, he served as Senior Counselor to the Chancellor of New York City. In that capacity, he developed and executed a community relations strategy to engage and communicate with various stakeholders. At the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE), Jean also served as the Executive Director for the Office of Parent and Community Engagement (OPCE), Chief of Staff to the Senior Counselor for Education Policy, and the Director for Community Relations. Jean has over 15 years of experience working with parents and communities on education issues and community development with a primary focus on service delivery to the disadvantaged in underserved communities. He joined New Leaders for New Schools because of his deep commitment to improving education for all students. He has a degree in History from St. Francis College and an M.P.A in Management from New York University (NYU).
Benjamin Fenton
Chief Strategy and Knowledge Officer and Co-Founder
Ben is responsible for the ongoing implementation of the New Leaders for New Schools organizational learning plan. He also leads the organization's human capital consulting initiatives, helping states and districts to develop new approaches to principal evaluation and principal effectiveness. Ben co-founded New Leaders for New Schools in 2000, and since then has served as Chief School Support Officer, developing national and local strategies to support the performance of schools led by New Leaders principals; Chief Cities Officer, managing and supporting all local program sites; and Chief Operating Officer. He formerly worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Company, focusing on marketing and operational efficiency. Ben is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School, where he received the Fiske award for excellence in teaching in the Economics Department.
Julie Horowitz
Chief External Affairs Officer
Julie serves as Chief External Affairs Officer for New Leaders for New Schools, and is responsible for leading the organization's Development and Marketing departments. For the last 15 years, Julie has worked in the field of education, holding leadership positions in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Prior to joining New Leaders for New Schools, Julie served as Executive Director of the Young Women's Leadership Foundation, a New York City-based nonprofit that supports a network of all-girls' public schools. From 2003 to 2006, during the first term of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration, under Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Julie served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Chancellor for Operations. During that time she also participated in the inaugural cohort of The Broad Foundation's "Residency in Urban Education," a management training program for "talented emerging executives" in urban education. A product of the New York City public schools, Julie began her career as a teacher in NYC and Cape Town, South Africa. She holds a BA and an MBA from Yale University. After business school, she worked as an education industry analyst on Wall Street, and then held business development positions for three education companies, including Edison Schools. Early in her career she was a Fulbright scholar in South Africa, an Urban Fellow in NYC government, and a fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership program.
Dianne Morse Houghton
Chief Community Resources Officer
Dianne oversees New Leaders for New Schools' Effective Practices Incentive Community (EPIC), working with school districts and a consortium of over 175 charter schools to identify educators who drive achievement gains for historically underserved students, and then document and share their effective practices so that others might learn from their success. Dianne brings 25 years of experience in business operations and executive leadership to her role at New Leaders for New Schools. As a management consultant with Booze-Allen-Hamilton, Honeywell, and Arthur Andersen, she worked with many Fortune 100 and government organizations to create and launch strategic initiatives. Dianne later filled executive roles within services-oriented enterprises, most recently as the turn-around CEO of Digital Focus, Inc. Dianne has served as chair of the Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee for Fairfax County Public Schools and was a member of the Superintendent's Business Advisory Council. She has her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, her MBA from William and Mary, and is co-author of the book Vision, Values, and Courage: Leadership for Quality Management.
Peter Kannam
Executive Officer of Government Relations and Public Policy
In his current role Peter oversees the organization's work in federal and state policy. Previously, he spent four years as Executive Director for New Leaders for New Schools in Maryland and launched programs in both Baltimore City in 2005 and Prince Georges County in 2007. He oversaw the recruitment and training of 77 school leaders impacting over 20,000 students in Maryland on a daily basis. From 2003 to early 2005, Peter served as the New England Regional Director for Catapult Learning and oversaw all aspects of the regional operations that serve over 1,500 students in four cities across New England: Boston, Providence, Hartford, and Springfield, Massachusetts. Peter also served as the Executive Director of Teach for America-Baltimore. He worked in partnership with the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) and the community to double the size of the corps of teachers, where he placed and supported 280 teachers in 50 BCPSS schools during his tenure from 1999-2003. Before serving as Executive Director, Peter taught 8th grade Social Studies in BCPSS at Lombard Middle School from 1993 until 1998. Peter is a 1993 graduate of Bates College where he majored in History, earned a Master's of Science in Administration Supervision from Johns Hopkins University in 1999. Peter is also the proud father of three young sons ages 11, 9, and 6 years old.
David Kuizenga
Chief Administrative Officer
David is responsible for organizational infrastructure including the financial, technology, legal and human resources functions. He has 25 years of experience in operational management, strategic organizational development, fiscal planning, and IT strategy. Prior to joining New Leaders for New Schools, David was COO of Transitcenter, a New York based national nonprofit formed to encourage the use of mass transit. David has held senior executive positions at Marsh, a leading risk and insurance services firm; Driveskills, a 3D educational software firm; and the Inter-Insurance Bureau of the California State Automobile Association where he was responsible for oversight of the $2 billion business. David shares a deep commitment to social activism that has led to volunteer work on the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Board and tutoring adult education classes in New York City. David has an MBA from the Atkinson School of Management at Willamette University.
Michael Moore
Chief Academic Officer
Michael leads the recruitment, selection, training, and support of New Leaders Principals and Residents. In addition, his team designs and implements specific work streams for secondary and turn-around schools, and plays a significant role in school diagnosis and leader development. Michael joined New Leaders for New Schools as the leader of the Bay Area team, where more than 60 school leaders serve 25,000 students from Sacramento to San Jose. Michael spent 30 years as a K-12 teacher, high school principal, and superintendent. He has extensive university teaching experience and experience designing and leading alternative leadership preparation programs. Michael has been an organizational development consultant, a collective bargaining facilitator, and the leader of a public policy research group. Michael deeply believes that the primary outcome of America's school system is the perpetuation of an underclass. He has spent his career leading and creating leaders to ensure that all children, in all conditions, succeed. He has degrees from The Boston Conservatory and the University of Southern Maine.
Jon Schnur
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Jon works with the New Leaders for New School's team and community to accomplish our mission: driving high levels of learning and achievement for every student by attracting, preparing, and supporting the next generation of outstanding leaders for our nation's urban schools. Since co-founding New Leaders for New Schools, he has led the development of the organization's strategy, management team and board, core values, performance metrics, partnerships, and fundraising. From September 2008 to June 2009, Jon took leave from New Leaders for New Schools, serving as an advisor to Barack Obama's Presidential campaign, a member of the Presidential Transition Team, and a Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Before co-founding New Leaders for New Schools, Jon served as Special Assistant to Secretary of Education Richard Riley, President Clinton's White House Associate Director for Educational Policy, and Senior Advisor on Education to Vice President Gore. He has developed national education policies from preschool to higher education - with special focus on teacher and educator quality, reforming urban school systems, charter schools, after-school programs, and early learning and preschools. Jon graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Politics with honors, took coursework at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government and graduated from a Wisconsin public high school. Jon lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife Elisa and their three children: Matthew, Elizabeth and Philip.
LaVerne Evans Srinivasan
President
As President, LaVerne leads New Leaders for New Schools' day to day operations in addition to overseeing and managing the organization's long-term strategic planning, together with the CEO. LaVerne focuses on building organizational capacity to enable the ultimate goal of high academic achievement for every student. LaVerne currently sits on the Boards of Directors for both New Leaders for New Schools as well as the Chappaqua Schools Foundation, a community-supported foundation that funds innovative educational programs in the Chappaqua, New York school district. Previously, LaVerne served as the Deputy Chancellor for Operations for the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE). LaVerne's commitment to student opportunity and strong educational leadership was deepened at the NYCDOE through her direction of the Office of Student Enrollment Planning & Operations and the Division of Human Resources. Prior to joining the education sector, LaVerne was the Senior Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs and General Counsel for BMG Entertainment. LaVerne holds an AB from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Executive Directors
Maggie Blinn
Executive Director, Chicago
Before joining the New Leaders for New Schools team, Ms. Maggie Blinn was a strong advocate, partner, and supporter of New Leaders. Ms. Blinn began her association with New Leaders in 2003 while working for the Chicago Public Education Fund (CPEF) on their Chicago Public Schools Principal Program Investment project. Her work with CPEF included assisting the creation of the Office of Principal Preparation and Development (OPPD) and the district-wide principal eligibility process. In 2005, Ms. Blinn went to work at OPPD as Deputy Chief Officer.
Prior to her work at Chicago Public Schools and CPEF, Ms. Blinn was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she worked with corporate management teams to plan and implement strategies for achieving a superior competitive position. Before that, she practiced law at Sidley, Austin Brown & Wood in the corporate securities group.
Ms. Blinn earned her J.D. cum laude from the University of Chicago, and graduated with the highest honors with a B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois at Champaign.
Janice Crawford
Executive Director, Memphis
Janice has returned to Memphis after serving as a Senior Fellow with the Ball Foundation, outside of Chicago. The Foundation partners with urban school districts to help create high performance education systems in which all children learn at high levels regardless of race, national origin, socioeconomic status, native language, or culture. Her experience includes implementing principles of whole system transformation with school and district staff, strategic planning, and supporting professional learning communities. Prior to joining the Foundation, Janice served as Executive Director for Communications and Administrative Services for Memphis City Schools, where she also taught high school English. Janice has also worked for the Los Angeles County Office of Education and Chancellor's Office and the California State University System. She received her BA in journalism/education/English from the University of Memphis and MA in public relations/education from Rowan College.
Eric Guckian
Executive Director, Charlotte
Eric Guckian has spent his entire professional career working to narrow the achievement gap in our nation's public schools. While serving as Executive Director of Teach for America-North Carolina, Eric worked in partnership with 10 urban and rural school districts, and led the expansion of TFA into Charlotte. Over the course of his tenure with TFA (2000 - 2005), the size of teaching corps quadrupled and the annual fundraising base tripled. Most importantly, student achievement dramatically increased; students taught by TFA teachers in North Carolina had the highest student achievement outcomes in the country among their TFA peers according to ABC Accountability results.
A recent national study by the Urban Institute found that TFA North Carolina teachers' effect on student achievement in core classroom subjects was nearly three times the effect of their more experienced peers. The group analyzed exclusively North Carolina high school data produced between 2000 and 2006, including test scores, teacher characteristics, and student demographics.
Eric has continued to play a leading role in North Carolina's public school reform efforts, serving as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the North Carolina New Schools Project, a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and leading a strategic planning effort for KIPP. Eric began his professional career as an elementary science teacher and TFA corps member in the South Bronx. He has also taught in public schools in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Eric is a proud product of the public school system and a first generation college student. He earned his BA in English at Colgate University in 1993 and later received a Masters in Education from Harvard University in 1998. Eric lives with his wife Lisa and his daughter Scarlett in North Carolina.
Daniel McLaughlin
Executive Director, Bay Area
Daniel has spent the last 20 years working to dramatically improve public education for low-income and minority youth. He co-founded Envision Schools, a non-profit charter school management organization and was its first President and CEO. More than 93% of Envision graduates attend a 2- or 4-year college, compared with 40% of all California high school graduates. Before Envision, Daniel was a Senior Research Associate at WestEd where he directed multiple research, evaluation, and training initiatives aimed at increasing the academic success of disadvantaged students. Prior to WestEd, Daniel served as Vice President and Manager of Corporate Education Programs for Bank of America and worked as a political consultant in Hong Kong, California, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. He taught history and drama at Lee High School in New Haven, CT and Park Junior High in Antioch, CA. Daniel received a Master of Public Policy from Harvards Kennedy School of Government and a BA and Teaching Credential from Yale College, and completed executive leadership programs at the Aspen Institute and Harvard Business School.
Shane Mulhern
Executive Director, Greater New York
Shane Mulhern serves as the Executive Director for the Greater New York team. Previously, Shane worked for New Visions for Public Schools as the Senior Executive for Transfer Schools providing direct support, programmatic knowledge, and leadership to planning teams and newly created transfer schools that serve overage and undercredited students in New York City. Prior to that he held a number of senior-level positions with the New York City Department of Education, including: Executive Director of the Office of Youth Development and School-Community Services; Chief of Staff of the Division of Youth Development; and Policy Projects Manager for the Senior Counselor to the Chancellor. Shane has also served as the Director of Youth Programs at South Side Community Mission, as the Site Coordinator for North Side Catholic Academy and as a teacher at St. Joseph's High School. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.A. in Education Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University.
Tyra Newell
Executive Director, New Orleans
As Executive Director of the New Orleans team, Tyra is responsible for the development and successful execution of a strategy to drive high academic gains in schools led by New Leaders in New Orleans. Tyra joins New Leaders having served most recently as Budget Director for Chicago Public Schools (CPS). She entered CPS through the Broad Residency in Urban Education, a competitive two-year national program that seeks to provide a pipeline of talent to build leadership capacity in urban public school districts. As a Broad Resident, she led the implementation of strategies to address overcrowding and increase the quality of principal candidates within the district. Her experiences include both public and private sector work, including Kraft Foods Corporate Training and Development, where she focused on providing effective training programs as well team development and personal efficiency strategies. Her work at McKinsey & Co. as a management consultant allowed her to gain exposure to a broad set of management issues in a variety of industries. She received a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Howard University and an MBA from Stanford University. Tyra was born and raised in New Orleans and looks forward to making a greater contribution towards building high quality education for all New Orleans' children.
Michelle Pierre-Farid
Executive Director, Washington, DC
Michelle Pierre-Farid serves as the Executive Director of New Leaders for New Schools - Washington, DC. In this capacity, she oversees the day-to-day operations and programming for the Washington, DC program. Before joining New Leaders for New Schools as Executive Director, Michelle served as Deputy Chief Academic Officer for Friendship Public Charter Schools and Principal of Friendship Southeast Academy, where she dramatically increased student achievement and won an EPIC award. Before joining Friendship, she was the Principal of John Tyler Elementary School in DC. When she arrived, Tyler was the lowest performing elementary school in DC, but over her tenure, it saw dramatic gains in proficiency scores and was one of three schools to win the TEAM award for having over 20% gains in one year. Michelle is a proud member of New Leaders for New Schools Cohort 3 and served her Residency in DC. Michelle graduated from Adelphi University with a BS in Sociology and Education and earned Master's degrees from Towson University in Human Resource Development and Trinity University in School Leadership. She is currently in University of Pennsylvania's Mid-Career Doctorate Program in Educational Leadership.
Tonieh Schmitz
Executive Director, Milwaukee
Tonieh Schmitz is the founding Milwaukee Executive Director of New Leaders for New Schools. Prior to New Leaders, Tonieh served in numerous roles in the Milwaukee Public Schools and other education non-profits. She started a number of programs from the ground up, including leading the development of the first group of Community Learning Centers in Milwaukee Public Schools, a school-based student and family involvement program that was eventually replicated across more than 50 MMilwaukee public schools. As part of this initiative, she led fundraising efforts, student recruitment and enrollment, marketing, parent communications, event planning, parent leadership, and volunteer development. Growing out of that experience, she has also acted as an Interim Director for the College Readiness 21 Program (through the Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges) and was the Director of Education Programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. For several years, Tonieh worked with Rethinking Schools as an Associate Editor and later as a marketing consultant. Tonieh has taught elementary education and Spanish at multiple phases of her career, and has been actively involved in a major facilities upgrade and leadership selection at a city-wide, dual-language school where she had been a teacher and program coordinator. She is now a proud parent of three children. Tonieh graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Elementary Education.
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