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Leadership

Stand for Children Leadership Center Board of Directors

Julie Mikuta, Chair
Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund
Julie is a Partner in the NewSchools Venture Fund West Coast office, where she focuses on the firm’s human capital investment strategy and management assistance.  She began her career in education teaching high school science in New Orleans through Teach For America.  Prior to joining NewSchools, she was Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at EdBuild, led trainings for leadership teams of large urban districts at the Center for Reform of School Systems, and served as an elected member of the DC Board of Education from 2001 until 2004.

Kristin Ehrgood
Family Foundation Manager

Kristin Ehrgood is president & founder of Sapientis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education in Puerto Rico.  She is also the Director of the Flamboyan Foundation, a family foundation that focuses on improving public K-12 in school time through strategic partnerships in Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.  Kristin also founded “The Friends of Public Education,” a nonpartisan citizens group in Puerto Rico dedicated to gathering and disseminating fact-based information to help improve Puerto Rico’s public schools.  Previously, Kristin taught for three years in Louisiana and New Jersey and worked on the staff of Teach for America, first as Executive Director of their New Jersey region and then as Director of New Site Development.

Julie Jensen
COO, The Jenesis Group

Julie J. Jensen is the COO of The Jenesis Group, a private family foundation bringing innovation and an entrepreneurial philosophy to philanthropy. Jenesis works through Social Entrepreneurs to educate and empower disadvantaged youth to become productive citizens. The Jenesis Group includes entrepreneurial organizations such as Ashoka, Year Up, College Summit, Sports4Kids, Latin American Youth Center and Positive Coaching Alliance amongst its list of impressive grantees. Julie also co-founded the Chasdrew fund, which provides pro bono technical assistance to charities.

Vanessa Kirsch
President & Founder, New Profit Inc.

Vanessa Kirsch is the President and Founder of New Profit Inc., a national venture philanthropy fund that unites engaged philanthropists with visionary social entrepreneurs to grow their social innovations to scale. The organization provides performance-based grants, strategic guidance, coaching, and performance management techniques to nonprofit organizations focused on issues from early childhood literacy to college access for low-income youth. Vanessa has more than 17 years of experience in developing innovative solutions to social problems and is widely recognized as a leading social entrepreneur. Prior to launching New Profit, Vanessa founded and led two nonprofit organizations, Public Allies and the Women's Information Network.

Jonathan Lavine
Managing Director, Bain Capital

Jonathan Lavine is a Managing Director at Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm based in Boston.  Jonathan serves as the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Sankaty Advisors, Bain Capital’s fixed income and credit affiliate, which he founded in 1997.  He is a Trustee of Columbia University and Chair of the Columbia College Board of Visitors, a member of the Boards of the Dana Hall School, Children’s Hospital Trust, City Year, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Horizons for Homeless Children and Stand for Children.

John Legend
Entertainer and Education Activist

John Legend is a recording artist, concert performer and philanthropist.  He has won nine Grammy awards and was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. Throughout his career he has worked to make a difference in the lives of others, and in 2007 he launched the Show Me Campaign (ShowMeCampaign.org), an initiative that uses education to break the cycle of poverty.  John sits on the Boards of The Education Equality Project, Teach for America, Stand for Children and the Harlem Village Academies and co-chairs the Harlem Village Academies’ National Leadership Board.

Eliza Leighton
Public Interest Attorney

Eliza Leighton is the co-founder of Stand for Children. In 2001, after five years of leadership with Stand, Eliza left Stand to attend Yale Law School. Upon graduation, she went to work for a legal services organization for Latino immigrants in Prince George's County, Maryland. Eliza is an exceptional person and strategic leader with an incredible commitment to Stand’s growth and success.

Andy Moffit
Senior Practice Expert, McKinsey & Company

Andy Moffit is a Senior Practice Expert and member of core leadership team for McKinsey & Company’s Global Education Practice.  Since co-founding the Global Education Practice in 2005, Andy has worked with multiple large urban districts, state education departments and charter management organizations to markedly improve system performance and close achievement gaps. He co-authored a recent book, Deliverology 101: A Field Guide for School System Leaders (Corwin Press, 2010), which describes key success factors and steps in driving results in global school system reforms. Before joining McKinsey, Andy was an elementary school teacher in an inner-city school in Houston, Texas as a corps member of Teach For America.

Reuben Munger
Vision Ridge Partners
Reuben Munger is Chairman of Bright Automotive, an American company that builds on the work of a consortium of organizations to map an automotive solution to tackle the challenges of our economy, air pollution and diminishing oil supplies. He is a seasoned investment professional and Managing Partner of Vision Ridge Partners, L.L.C.  Prior to founding Vision Ridge in 2008, Mr. Munger was a Managing Director at The Baupost Group, L.L.C., a $15 billion investment firm. Vision Ridge aims to develop financially viable solutions to the global climate crisis.