Board of Directors

James Peyser, Chair (Board Term 2010-2013)
Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund

Jim Peyser is a Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, where he brings to bear a strong hybrid background in education policy, charter school development and business management to lead NewSchools' East Coast initiatives. From 1999 through 2006, Jim served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education, where he helped shape outcomes-focused policy at the state level on standards, charter schools and school accountability. He also spent more than seven years as Executive Director of Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where he supported public education innovations, including early charter schools.

Karega Rausch (Board Term 2010-2013)
Equity Project Coordinator, PBIS Indiana, Indiana University

Karega Rausch currently serves as Equity Project Coordinator for PBIS Indiana, Indiana University. The Equity Project supports educators and educational institutions in developing and maintaining safe, effective, and equitable learning opportunities for all students.  Prior to that, Karega served as the Indianapolis Director at Stand For Children where he was responsible for Indianapolis operations including strategic planning, successes in meeting organizing and advocacy goals, supervising organizing staff, and helping to raise the annual budget for Indianapolis. Prior to joining Stand in 2011, Karega served as the Office of Education Innovation Director at the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, where he led a successful and nationally recognized charter school authorizing enterprise (23 schools serving 8400 students. During his tenure, the Mayor’s Office received an inaugural grant of $100,000 from NACSA’s Fund for Authorizing Excellence to further implementation of quality authorizing practices.  Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, Karega worked as a Research Associate at Indiana University’s School of Education, where, as part of his preparation for a PhD, he studied and provided technical assistance to Indiana public school districts engaged in school reform efforts in order to understand and address the overrepresentation of students of color in special education and school discipline. Karega holds a Masters of Science in Education from Indiana University and a B.A. from DePauw University.

Josephine Baker, Treasurer (Board Term 2010-2013)
Past Executive Director, District of Columbia Public Charter School Board

Jo Baker served as the first chairperson of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board from 1997 until 2002, sharing her extensive educational knowledge and leadership with the founding board.  In 2002 she assumed the position of Executive Director with a focus on implementing the Washington, DC charter school law and directing the establishment of a robust charter school sector.  In 2011, when she ended her tenure with the Board, more than 35% of the public school students in DC were being educated in charter schools.  She is also a founding member of NACSA.

Presently, as an Education Reform Consultant, she shares her expertise and experience with charter schools and with local and state authorizers.

Steve Canavero, Ph.D. (Board Term 2012-2015)
Director of Public Charter School Authority of Nevada

Steve Canavero was appointed by the Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada to serve as the state’s Director of the Public Charter School Authority of Nevada. Prior to this appointment, he established and was the Director of the Office of Charter Schools at the Nevada Department of Education. Steve and his staff oversee a portfolio of 15 schools serving roughly 8,000 students. Steve brings over 13 years of experience working in and with charter schools in a variety of positions, primarily in California, including: Dean of Students, Principal 7-12, and Director of Accountability. Steve earned a Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno where he studied charter school policy.

Alan Coverstone, Secretary (Board Term 2011-2014)
Executive Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools

In September 2008, Alan Coverstone was elected to serve on the Metro Nashville Board of Education. During his time on the board, Coverstone led a study group that evaluated district policies and practices regarding charter schools and established most of the recommendations that have become the heart of the District’s portfolio approach to schools of Innovation today.

In 2009, Coverstone was offered the position of Executive Director of Charter Schools with the school district. In this capacity, Coverstone was instrumental in designing the office and establishing a stronger relationship with and policy oversight of the district’s charter schools. In 2010, Coverstone played a key role in earning Nashville a spot as one of nine cities nationwide to participate in the Gates Foundation District-Charter Collaboration Compact. That same year, Coverstone was selected to administer the $12 million Magnet School Assistance Grant awarded to MNPS. Under his direction, six district schools have been converted into thematic magnet schools:  two museum magnets, three STEM magnets, and Nashville's first entertainment industry magnet school. In the summer of 2011, Coverstone was tapped to also lead the district’s newly created Office of Innovation, overseeing a portfolio of turnaround schools during the 2011-12 school year.

Garth Harries (Board Term 2011-2014)
Assistant Superintendent for Portfolio and Performance Management, New Haven Public Schools (Connecticut)

Garth Harries was appointed Assistant Superintendent for Portfolio and Performance Management in New Haven Public Schools in Connecticut in 2009. Previously, Garth was Chief Executive for Portfolio Development at the New York City Department of Education. Harries also served as CEO of the Office of New Schools (now part of the Office of Portfolio Development), creating 269 new small secondary schools and 63 charter schools between 2003 and 2008.

Rick Hess (Board Term 2011-2014)
Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

As the Resident Scholar and Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Rick Hess studies a range of K-12 and higher education issues. He is an educator and political scientist and has authored influential books such as Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels. He is executive editor of Education Next, a faculty associate with Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance, and he serves on the review board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education.

Lisa Graham Keegan, Vice Chair (Board Term 2012-2015)
Founder and President of the The Education Breakthrough Network

Graham Keegan is a respected national figure in education reform. She served as Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1995 to 2001. Prior to her appointment as the state’s education chief, she was elected to Arizona’s House of Representatives where she chaired the Education Committee. Since leaving public office, she has advised many Governors and other political figures on enacting comprehensive education reform within their states and across the nation.

In 2010, Graham Keegan founded the Education Breakthrough Network on the principles of the power of education and the belief that every child has the right to choose a school that works best for them. The organization provides a "one-stop-shop" for every school, organization, and person who provides or supports excellent choices in education.

Hanna Skandera (Board Term 2012-2015)
Secretary-Designate, New Mexico Secretary of Education

In December of 2010, Governor Susana Martinez nominated Hanna Skandera to lead the New Mexico Department of Public Education. Previously, Ms. Skandera served as Florida’s Deputy Commissioner of Education under former Governor Jeb Bush. Ms. Skandera has served as a senior policy advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Education. During former President George W. Bush’s Administration, she assisted Secretary Margaret Spellings with policy development and implementation, strategy, and communications. Ms. Skandera also served as former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Undersecretary for Education. Most recently, Ms. Skandera served as CEO of Laying the Foundation, a national teacher-training program for teachers of English, mathematics and science in grades 6 through 12, committed to providing excellent teacher training and serving as a model across the United States.

Prior to joining Laying the Foundation, Ms. Skandera was Executive Vice President for Academic Partnerships in Dallas, Texas. Academic Partnerships supports state college and university efforts to deliver high-quality, accredited online programs to students nationally and internationally. Formerly, Skandera was a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. She also taught Education Policy at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Public Policy.

Greg Richmond (ex-officio)
President and CEO, NACSA

Greg Richmond has served as NACSA’s President and CEO since 2005. During his tenure, the organization has directly assisted school systems and authorizers around the country, including those in New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Hawaii, and Minnesota, to improve authorizer practices and develop quality charter schools.

From 1994 to 2005, Richmond served in a variety of roles at Chicago Public Schools, including Chief Officer for New School Development, where he established the district’s Charter Schools Office. Under his leadership, Chicago became the first urban school district in the nation to release an RFP requesting educators and community organizations to start charter schools. Richmond also established the nation’s first district-funded capital loan fund for charter schools and developed model accountability and monitoring practices. Under then-CEO of the district Arne Duncan, Richmond led Chicago’s Renaissance 2010 Initiative, working with charter schools, contract and traditional district schools.

In 2011, Richmond was nominated by the Governor and appointed to lead the newly formed Illinois State Charter School Commission. He serves on several boards and committees, including the Aspen Institute’s Commission on No Child Left Behind and Tulane University’s Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives. He has also consulted with the governments of the United Kingdom, Chile, and Abu Dhabi on the development of charter-like schools in those countries.

Richmond holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Master of Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.