DECEMBER 18, 2013
Arizona’s Education Breakthrough Network founder selected as Board Chair of national organization
Lisa Graham Keegan to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors of National Association of Charter School Authorizers
CHICAGO – (BUSINESS WIRE) – The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is pleased to announce that Lisa Graham Keegan has been elected to serve as chair of its Board of Directors for 2014. Keegan is the founder and president of the Education Breakthrough Network and former Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She succeeds James Peyser, managing director of the NewSchools Venture Fund, who will remain on the Board as vice chair.
Lisa Graham Keegan has a national reputation as a strong advocate for student-based education policies, and remains at the forefront of education reform. Keegan's expertise and outspoken nature have made her a sought after education reform expert who has worked with national education leaders, the media, legislators, business leaders, policy organizations, and community groups. She currently serves as a senior advisor to National School Choice Week, an annual public awareness campaign to advance excellent choices in education.
"NACSA combines steadfast membership support with visionary initiatives that challenge all of us to deliver on the promise of the charter schools movement,” said Keegan. “I am deeply honored to continue my work with this incredible organization and our board, staff and members across the country."
NACSA president and CEO Greg Richmond said that with Keegan’s unique set of experiences in the charter school sector, she brings outstanding leadership to the Board during NACSA’s One Million Lives campaign to impact education quality through improved charter school authorizing.
Richmond added, “Since NACSA’s founding thirteen years ago, our board has included a strong diversity of perspectives and some of the best national leaders and practitioners in the charter school space. Lisa is one of those leaders. Her ideas and passion have made her an excellent NACSA board member for the past two years and I look forward to working with her even more closely as our board chair.”
Outgoing chair James (Jim) Peyser, partner at NewSchools Venture Fund will remain on the Board as vice chair. Richmond stated, “NACSA would like to thank and recognize Jim for his leadership of the NACSA Board over the past three years. He has helped shape outcomes-focused policy at the state level on standards, charter schools, and school accountability. We appreciated his vision, leadership, and service.”
In addition to Keegan and Peyser, the Board elected Alan Coverstone, executive director of Metro Nashville Public Schools as secretary and Steve Canavero, Ph.D., director of the Public Charter School Authority of Nevada as treasurer. Continuing their board service are Frederick Hess, resident scholar and director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; Karega Rausch, Equity Project coordinator at Indiana University; and Hanna Skandera, Secretary-Designate, New Mexico Secretary of Education. Newly appointed to the Board in October 2013 were José J. Cole-Gutiérrez, director of charter schools for Los Angeles Unified School District and Scott Pearson, executive director of D.C. Public Charter School Board.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) is committed to advancing excellence and accountability in the charter school sector and to increasing the number of high-quality charter schools across the nation. To accomplish this mission, NACSA works to improve the policies and practices of authorizers – the organizations designated to approve, monitor, renew, and, if necessary, close charter schools. NACSA provides training, consulting, and policy guidance to authorizers. It also advocates for laws and policies that raise the bar for excellence among authorizers and the schools they charter. Visit www.qualitycharters.org.
