NEW ORLEANS – Educate Now! has named Cate Swinburn Vice President of Programs.
Leslie Jacobs, Founder and President of Educate Now!, announced Swinburn will initially focus on initiatives in college and career readiness and personalized learning.
“Cate brings an incredible depth and breadth of experience to Educate Now!,” said Jacobs. “She has successfully managed K-12 classrooms, programmatic initiatives in both the charter and traditional public school sectors, and fundraising and oversight of multi-million dollar public-private partnerships. We are very fortunate to have her expertise and leadership.”
Swinburn began her career in education fifteen-plus years ago as a first grade teacher. She later earned a graduate degree in public administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and served in the NYC Department of Education while Joel Klein was Chancellor.
Swinburn then moved to Washington D.C. where she served as President and Executive Director of the D.C. Public Education Fund while Michelle Rhee was Chancellor of DC Public Schools (DCPS). Under her leadership, the Fund secured over $80 million in commitments from the local community and national organizations interested in growing innovation and capacity in DCPS. Swinburn then joined DCPS as Chief of Data and Accountability, a role in which she was responsible for overseeing data systems and teams to drive decision-making across DCPS.
Over the past three years Swinburn has worked as a consultant with Educate Now! to develop a multi-organizational partnership to increase the success of high school graduates through career readiness training, titled YouthForce NOLA, as well as a local funding partnership to seed and scale personalized learning practices in schools. Other recent work includes consultation with Relay Graduate School of Education to inspire and prepare non-education major college undergraduates to become teachers, and with the Recovery School District and New Schools for New Orleans to develop a citywide blueprint for high quality special education services.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as Vice President of Programs for Educate Now!,” said Swinburn. “Every child in New Orleans deserves a high quality education. My job will be to analyze trends, listen to members of our community, leverage the talents of our educators and partners, and help connect the dots to bring increased opportunities to our youth. I am thrilled to join this team and to lead this critical work.”
