Contributor

Kati Haycock

Founder and CEO (retired)

Kati Haycock is one of the nation’s leading advocates in the field of education. She currently serves as CEO of The Education Trust. Established in 1996, Ed Trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, pre-kindergarten through college. The organization’s goal is to close the gaps in opportunity and achievement that consign too many low-income students and students of color to lives on the margins of the American mainstream. Known for years as a powerful force on education policy, Ed Trust is often described as “the most important truth teller” in American public education. But the organization also works hand in hand with educators and civic leaders in their efforts to transform schools and colleges into institutions that serve all students well. Before coming to The Education Trust, Haycock served as executive vice president of the Children’s Defense Fund, the nation’s largest child advocacy organization. A native Californian, Haycock founded and served as president of The Achievement Council, a statewide organization that provided assistance to teachers and principals in predominantly minority schools in improving student achievement. She also served as director of outreach and student affirmative action programs for the nine-campus University of California system. Kati Haycock speaks about educational improvement before thousands of educators, community and business leaders, and policymakers each year. She has received numerous awards for her service on behalf of our nation’s youth, and serves as a director on several education-related boards, including the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, The New Teacher Project, and the Hunt Institute. Karin has spoken widely about the work of successful educators, including at the Oklahoma Visions 2020 conference, Title I principal conferences in Virginia and Maryland, the Iowa Governor’s Education Summit, the Illinois Coalition of High Schools, the American Federation of Teachers’ QuEST conference, and, with Christina Theokas, at the Learning Forward national conference, Western Kentucky University, Rutgers University-Camden, and the Hume Region principals conference in Melbourne, Australia. Before joining Ed Trust, Chenoweth wrote a weekly column on schools and education for The Washington Post and before that she was senior writer and executive editor for Black Issues In Higher Education (now Diverse). As a freelance writer, she wrote for such publications as Education Week, American Teacher, American Educator, School Library Journal, and the Washington Post Magazine. In addition, she was an active parent volunteer throughout her children’s public schooling in Montgomery County, Maryland. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism and a bachelor’s from Barnard College.