Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, announced that Alix Guerrier and Kaya Henderson were appointed to its board of directors (the “Board”) as independent directors, effective March 20, 2024.
Guerrier was appointed to the Board by the directors elected by holders of Scholastic’s Common Stock, and Ms. Henderson was appointed to the Board by the directors elected by holders of its Class A Stock, resulting in both current vacancies on the Board, including that created as a result of the recent expansion of the Board to eleven members, now being filled, as per the statement.
Iole Lucchese, Chair of the Board, said, “We are very pleased to welcome two accomplished leaders in K-12 education and education technology, with extensive direct-to-consumer experience and expertise in non-for-profit and for-profit enterprises, to our Board. Mr. Guerrier contributes over 20 years of experience in the education sector including as a teacher and an educational technology entrepreneur. Ms. Henderson’s career spans over three decades of work in schools, policy, and the not-for-profit sector, earning her a reputation as one of the most admired school leaders in America. The Board believes each of these individuals will make valuable and distinct contributions to Scholastic’s business as we continue to build on our over 100-year legacy of supporting the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with reading and literacy.”
Guerrier currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for DonorsChoose, a leading nonprofit organization that supports public schools in the United States through the use of its crowdfunding platform. As CEO, Mr. Guerrier works to ensure DonorsChoose maintains a focus on equity while expanding its broad appeal and advancing its mission to serve students in every community. Prior to DonorsChoose, Mr. Guerrier served for three years as the CEO of GlobalGiving, a nonprofit organization and global crowdfunding community that enables donors to support charitable projects around the world.
In 2011, Guerrier co-founded LearnZillion, an educational technology company offering school districts a free, cloud-based curriculum. The company was acquired by Edgenuity and Weld North Education. Prior to that, Guerrier had a five-and-a-half-year career with McKinsey & Company, first as an Associate in the company’s Healthcare Practice and then as an Engagement Manager and Expert in McKinsey’s Education Practice.
Guerrier began his career in education by serving as a teacher for the Pan American School of Porto Alegre in Brazil and then as a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Costaño Elementary School in East Palo Alto, California, as part of Teach for America. He then spent two years as a math teacher for Leadership High School in San Francisco, California. Guerrier has an AB degree in Physics from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in Education from Stanford University, and an MBA from Stanford University.
Henderson currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Reconstruction US, a technology company she co-founded and launched in April 2020. Reconstruction US delivers a K-12 supplemental curriculum that situates Black people, culture, and contributions in an authentic, identity-affirming way for the benefit of students from all backgrounds. Before serving in her current role, Ms. Henderson served as Principal for her consulting company, Kaya Henderson Consulting. She also previously worked for Teach for All for over two years as Head of the Global Learning Lab for Community Impact. In that role, she led the organization’s international community strategy across 60 countries.
From 2007 to 2016, Henderson had a successful tenure with the District of Columbia Public Schools. She first served as Deputy Chancellor and was subsequently promoted to Interim Chancellor and then Chancellor, a role she held for five years. Under her leadership, the school district experienced consecutive years of enrollment growth, an increase in graduation rates, wider access to advanced courses for all students, and improvements in student satisfaction and teacher retention. Additionally, her legacy in the D.C. public school system includes major gains in reading and math performance.
In her early career, Henderson taught Spanish to sixth through eighth grade students in New York City via Teach for America, and she later spent six years working with Teach for America in roles of increasing responsibility. In her last role with Teach for America, she served as Executive Director in Washington, D.C. She also spent seven years with The New Teacher Project, first as Partner and then as Vice President for Strategic Partnerships.
Henderson has served as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence for Georgetown University, as Superintendent in Residence for The Broad Center, and as a Fellow for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Henderson has a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service, a Master of Arts in Leadership, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Georgetown University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Trinity Washington University.
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