The Building Bridges Initiative

Signatories

The signatories of A Generation at Risk—a diverse group of leaders from left, right, and center—seek bold action to quickly and dramatically improve the learning opportunities for today’s students, while we simultaneously begin putting in place the building blocks of a more responsive system that will help future generations of students address the challenges of the world to come.

Sign the Statement

Note: Each person listed below signed as an individual leader. Titles and organizations are for identification purposes only and do not indicate institutional support.

Name	Title	Organization
Chad Aldeman	Author	Aldeman on Education
Chad Aldis	Vice President for Ohio Policy	Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Jennifer Alexander	Executive Director	PIE Network
Daniel Anello	CEO	Kids First Chicago
Amanda Aragon	Founding Executive Director	NewMexicoKidsCAN
Gabriella Armstrong	Learning Coach	college exponent
Ben Austin	Founding Director	Education Civil Rights Now
John Bailey	Non-resident Senior Fellow	AEI
Rajeev Bajaj	CEO / Executive Vice President	Kitamba / MGT
Jaqlyn Baldwin	Executive Director	Siembra
Garrett Ballengee	President and CEO	Cardinal Institute for WV Policy
Vanessa Bangser	Managing Director	LeveragED Foundation
Charlie Barone	Vice President for K-12 Policy	Democrats for Education Reform/Education Reform Now
Darren Beck	Founder and Lead Advisor	Avenues School
Jenn Bell-Ellwanger	President and CEO	Data Quality Campaign
Robert J. Bellafiore	Founder	Stanhope Partners
Brenda Berg	President & CEO	BEST NC
Kara Berghaus	Educator, Certified School Counselor, President- Special Education PTA	Wilton SEPTA
Emily Bertelli	Advisor	PLT Strategies Group
Rekha Bhatt	Co-President, Innovative Schools	Washington State Charter Schools Association
Mike Bland	Vice President	Leaders of Color at Education Reform
Haid Bloxham	Co-President, Finance and Operations	Washington State Charter Schools Association
Josh Boots	Executive Director	EmpowerK12
Derrell Bradford	President	50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now
Jean-Claude Brizard	President and CEO	Digital Promise Global
Barbara Brody	Retired Psychiatric Social Worker	PLTI, The Children’s Agenda
Andrew Broy	President	Illinois Network of Charter Schools
Dr. Maya Bugg	President & CEO	TN Charter School Center
Julia Burns	Co-Founder and Board President	Pathways High
Maryellen Butke	Advancement Director	Organizer Zero
Andrew Campanella	Chairman and CEO	National School Choice Awarenss Foundation
Sarah Carpenter	Director	The Memphis Lift Parent Institute
Myrna Castrejon	President and CEO	California Charter Schools Association
Christopher D Cerf	Former NJ State Education Commissioner and Urban Superintendant	NJ Dept of Education/Newark Public Schools
Ed Chang	Executive Director	redefinED atlanta
Laurae Clifford	Executive Director of Sales	Rio Las Vegas
Liz Cohen	Policy Director	FutureEd
Matthew Cohen	Managing Director	Cohen Strategy Group, LLC
Paula Cole	Executive Director	Educators for Excellence-Minnesota
Leslie Colwell	Partner, Policy	Transcend
Cooper Conway	William E. Simon National Policy Fellow	50CAN
Tafshier Cosby	CEO	Parent Impact
Jim Cowen	Executive Director	Collaborative for Student Success
Courtney Criswell	VP, Policy and Program	PIE Network
Josh Crosson	Executive Director	EdAllies Minnesota
John Danielson	Chairman	The Chartwell Hamilton Group
Katie Dauphinais	Executive Vice President	A for Arizona
Vicki M Denmark	CEO, President	Denmark Education Services
Brenda Dickhoner	CEO	Ready Colorado
Marielys Divanne	Executive Director – NY	Educators For Excellence – NY
Mark E. Dixon	President	A+ Education Partnership
Amy Dowell	Executive Director	DFER CT
Mark Dynarski	Founder	Pemberton Research
Sharif El-Mekki	Founder and CEO	Center for Black Educator Development
Jorge Elorza	CEO	Democrats for Education Reform
Jack Elsey	Founder & CEO	Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative
Tillie Elvrum	Founder	Parent Support for Online Learning
Brian Eschbacher	Education Consultant	Eschbacher Consulting
Victor Evans	Executive Director	TennesseeCAN
James Fogarty	Executive Director	A+ Schools
Catherine Fraise	CEO	100 Roads Design
Peter Franzen	Associate Executive Director	Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri
Chong-Hao Fu	CEO	Leading Educators
Beth Gamba Steel	Executive Director	Gamba Family Foundation
Veronica L. Garcia	Executive Director	Houstonians for Great Public Schools
Melinda George	Chief Policy Officer	Learning Forward
Katherine Genao	Director of Special Projects	LeveragED Foundation
Lina Germann	STEM Educator	Independent
Jessica Giles	Executive Director	Democrats for Education Reform DC
Jim Goenner	President & CEO	National Charter Schools Institute
Subira Gordon	CEO	Nashville Charter Collaborative
Chiara Grabill	Chief Growth Officer	Educators for Excellence
Lisa Graham Keegan	Partner, The Keegan Company	Former Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Lisa Gray	President	Ohio Excels
Laura Green	SACC site supervisor	BPS
Cris Gulacy-Worrel	Vice President	Oakmont Education
Lisa Hammersley	Executive Director	School + State Finance Project
Heather A Harding	Executive Director	Campaign for our Shared Future
Paul Herdman	President/CEO	Rodel
Natalie Hester	Co-President, External Affairs	WA Charters
Bill Hoffman	CEO	Bill Hoffman & Assoc., LLC
Tedrick Holmes	CEO/Founder	Houston L.E.A.D. Preparatory Academy
Kevin Huffman	CEO	Accelerate
Kimberly Hyatt	President & CEO	Cathedral Arts Project
Muhammad Ibnu Sabil	Senang Belajar	Sekolah
Garry Jones	ED	DFER TX
Joan G Kelley	Founder & CEO	Abound Parenting, PBC
Samantha Kobbah	Chief of Staff	50CAN
Sandy Kress	Former Senior Education Advisor	President George W. Bush
Ben Kutylo	Executive Director	Forward Arkansas
Scott Laband	President	Colorado Succeeds
Robin Lake	Director	Center on Reinventing Public Education, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU
Patricia Lee	Founder & CEO	Read 21 Literacy to Success
Eric Lerum	Senior Advisor	America Succeeds
Nathan Levenson	President	New Solutions K12
Terrence Lockett	Executive Director	Education Reform Now LA
Susan F. Lusi	President & CEO	Mass Insight Education & Research
Meghan Mackay	Executive Director	LeveragED Foundation
Alex Magana	Executive director	Beacon Network Schools
Kevin Malonson	Executive Director	Teach Plus TX
David Mansouri	President & CEO	Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE)
Jacquelyn Martell	Executive Director	Democrats for Education Reform NY
Maya Martin Cadogan	Executive Director	Parents Amplifying Voices in Education
Maria Martineau	Director of Partnerships & Engagement	NewSchools Venture Fund
Nicholas Martinez	Executive Director	Transform Education Now
Anna McDaniel-Wyatt	Analyst, Member Engagement & Communications	PIE Network
Victoria McDougald	Chief of Staff	Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Crystal McQueen-Taylor	Executive Director	StudentsFirstNY
Frances Messano	President and CEO	NewSchools Venture Fund
Hope Morales	Executive Director	Teach Plus NM
Sydney Morris	Co-Founder and Co-CEO	Educators for Excellence
Gale Morrison	Editor	American Education
Alyssa Morton	CEO and Partner	Empower Schools
Marilyn Muller	Co-founder	Moms for Free Appropriate Public Education
Britney Mumford	Executive Director	DelawareCAN
Tim Nicolette	Executive Director	Massachusetts Charter Public School Association
Robert Nomberg	President & CEO	Virginia Learns
Eileen O’Connell	Impact Manger	City Year
Michael O’Sullivan	Executive Director	GeorgiaCAN
Cheryl Oldham	SVP	U.S. Chamber Foundation
Roquesha O’Neal	Parent	National Parent Union
Kira Orange Jones	Chief Executive Officer	Teach Plus
Matthew Pahl	Executive Director	Public Charter Schools of New Mexico
Sonia C. Park	Executive Director	Diverse Charter Schools Coalition
Daniel Pearson	Executive Director	E4E-CT
Benita Pedersen	Founder	AllFiredUpForFreedom.com
Torree Pederson	President/CEO	Aligned
Susan Pendergrass	Director of Education Policy	Show-Me Institute
Heather Peske	President	National Council on Teacher Quality
Dan Peters	President	Lovett & Ruth Peters Foundation
Michael Petrilli	President	Thomas B. Fordham Institute
James Peyser	Former Secretary of Education	Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Jocelyn Pickford	Senior Affiliate	HCM Strategists
Eugene Pinkard	Director of K-12 Leadership	Aspen Institute Education & Society Program
Adah Pittman-Delancey	VP, Community Impact Strategy	redefinED atlanta
Jordan Posamentier	Vice President of Policy & Advocacy	Committee for Children
Scott Quinn	Director of Government Affairs	Education Reform Now (ERN)
Dan Quisenberry	President	MI Association of Public School Academies
Patricia Ratcliffe	Executive Director	Sustainable Education Solutions
Julia Rafal-Baer	CEO	Women Leading Ed
Luke Ragland	SVP for Grants	Daniels Fund
Nina Rees	CEO	National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
Tony Roberts	President and CEO	Georgia Charter Schools Association
Keri Rodrigues	President	The National Parents Union
Brett Roer	Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement	LeveragED Foundation
Francisco J Ronquillo	Health Extension Officer	University of New Mexico
Kyle Rosenkrans	Executive Director	New Jersey Children’s Foundation
Robert Runice	CEO	Chiefs for Change
Christopher N. Ruszkowski	Former New Mexico Secretary Of Education	Meeting Street Schools
Terry Ryan	CEO	Bluum
Valerie Sakimura	Executive Director	Deans for Impact
Aylon Samouha	Co-CEO	Transcend
Mark Sass	Executive Director	Teach Plus Colorado
Kerry Savage	Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy	PAVE (Parents Amplifying Voices in Education)
Yesim Sayin	Executive Director	D.C. Policy Center
Irvin Scott	Senior Lecturer on Education	Harvard Graduate School Of Education
Dan Schaller	President	Colorado League of Charter Schools
James Schmitz	Graduate	Northwestern University
Mary Schwanfelder	Retired public school teacher	CT retired teachers association
Richard Seigler	Managing Director	LeveragED Foundation
Naomi Shelton	CEO	National Charter Collaborative
Mohan Sivaloganathan	CEO	Our Turn
Angie Smajstrla	Enterprise Account Specialist	The NROC Project
Ahnna Smith	Senior Director	Education Strategy Group
Steve Smith	Executive Director	Black Education Strategy Roundtable
Lindsay Sobel	Chief of Policy, Planning & External Affairs	Teach Plus
Nancee Sorenson	Chancellor	Louisiana State University at Eunice
Sheree Speakman	President and Founder	Talent First, PBC
Ned Stanley	VP of Communications	50CAN
Jennifer Stern	CEO	Great MN Schools
Richard A. Stoff	Co-Founder and Former President and CEO	Ohio Business Roundtable
Evan Stone	CEO	Educators for Excellence
David Sun-Miyashiro	Executive Director	HawaiiKidsCAN
Peter Svahn	Owner	CP Svahn Educational Services, Inc.
Bob Taft	Distinguished Research Associate, U. of Dayton	Former Governor of Ohio
Mary Tamer	Executive Director	DFER Massachusetts
Tim Taylor	Cofounder & President	America Succeeds
Ariel Taylor Smith	Senior Director of Policy and Action	National Parents Union
TNTP		TNTP
Ron Tupa	Candidate for Congress – INDEPENDENT	Colorado CD-7, former state rep/senator from Colorado
Peri Lynn Turnbull	CEO	PLT Strategies Group Inc.
Jen Walmer	Colorado Executive Director	DFER
Wendy Watson	Principal	Spokane Public Schools
Mark Weinberg	Partner	National Charter Schools Institute
Joanne Weiss	President	Weiss Associates
Jeff Wetzler	Co-CEO	Transcend
Jana Wilcox Lavin	CEO	Opportunity 180
Brandon Wright	Editorial Director	Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Carey M. Wright	Former MS State Superintendent of Education	Wright Outcomes LLC
Cary Wright	CEO	Good Reason Houston
Margie Yeager	Managing Partner	Education Forward DC
Caprice Young, Ed.D.	CEO and Superintendent	Navigator Schools