Dr. John E. Deasy, who led improvements that propelled student achievement and high school graduation rates to historic levels in the nation’s second-largest school district, is the President of the Bezos Family Foundation. Previously, he was a partner with Cambiar Education and a partner and co-founder of Rethinc. He has also served as the Executive Vice-President for Education for The Wonderful Company.
He has consulted for The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems as a superintendent-in-residence, Just Instruction, and The National Student Support Accelerator. John provides executive coaching to leading urban public-school systems as well as facilitates professional development for leading sector CEOs. In his roles in public education, Deasy was superintendent of the Stockton Unified School District, the Los Angeles Unified School District, where he championed a “youth first” agenda credited with reversing the district’s school-to-prison pipeline, raising achievement, and helping more students graduate ready for college and the workplace.
Deasy previously served as superintendent in Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in California, and Coventry Public Schools in Rhode Island. He was named Superintendent of the Year in 2001 by the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association. A former high school principal, Deasy has focused school improvement efforts on child-centered, outcomes-based practices, including alternative assessment, school-to-work transition programs, and interdisciplinary instruction. John is a senior moderator for The Aspen Institute and an AGLN Fellow of the first class of the Pahara Fellowship.
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