The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has selected Charles Wright, Jr., J.D. as its Vice President of Strategy, Finance, and Operations. In this newly established position, Wright, a K–12 education executive with more than 20 years of experience working for equitable outcomes, will be an essential member of the Foundation leadership team, and responsible for strategic planning, project management, finance, and operations.

“We are thrilled Charles is joining the Carnegie team as VP for Strategy, Finance, and Operations,” says Carnegie President Timothy Knowles. “As a district and philanthropic leader, he has demonstrated excellence, pertinacity, and a deep commitment to educational justice. Charles will be instrumental to Carnegie’s pursuit of educational equity for every student.”

Wright brings to the Foundation a distinct and unusual combination of experiences—he served as the Deputy Superintendent for Seattle Public Schools, Chief Strategy Officer for Denver Public Schools, and Assistant Superintendent for Duval County Public Schools; Portfolio Manager for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and a strategic consultant for mission-oriented corporations. In these positions, he executed long-term strategies, oversaw a grants team that administered 200+ grants, and advised on improving both work  and learning environments.

Wright received a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Elementary Education from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Finance from Morehouse College.

“I am excited by this opportunity with the Foundation,” says Wright, “to work toward its mission of catalyzing transformational change in education so that all students can lead healthy, dignified, and fulfilling lives.”

Wright will formally join the Foundation on September 7th.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is committed to solving long-standing inequities in educational outcomes. The Foundation addresses problems that impact large numbers of students; tests innovations on the ground; understands what works, why it works, and in what contexts; and shares what it learns for use by others. In so doing, Carnegie integrates the discipline of improvement science and the use of structured improvement networks to build the education field’s capacity to improve.