LaVerne Evans Srinivasan, an expert on employing talent strategies to strengthen urban education, has joined Carnegie Corporation of New York as Program Director for Teaching and Human Capital Management. Ms. Srinivasan will oversee the Corporation’s grantmaking and amplifying activities with a goal of getting great teachers into high-needs schools and supporting them to be successful. Ms. Srinivasan brings a diverse track record of effective education leadership that includes serving as a Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, President of New Leaders for New Schools, and President of Time to Know and FieroNow, education technology companies.
As Program Director, Ms. Srinivasan will focus on improving how teachers and school leaders are recruited, prepared, and supported in an era of higher standards for all students. She will continue to build on the program strategy of supporting high-quality, high-performing organizations and of seeding innovation to build up the number, quality, and reach of innovative organizations across the human capital spectrum responding to the increased need for educational equity. The Corporation places a particular emphasis on STEM teaching and learning. Ms. Srinivasan will join the funding partnership 100kin10 and will continue the Corporation’s support of 100kin10 organizations.
"Andrew Carnegie believed that if America was to remain a vibrant democracy, it needed an educated citizenry to contribute to our shared progress. For over one hundred years, Carnegie Corporation of New York has been dedicated to supporting that vision. Our work to advance education is aimed at strengthening our nation and improving Americans' ability to achieve their personal and professional goals through excellent and accessible education across the entire spectrum of our society,” said Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation. “We welcome LaVerne Evans Srinivasan to the Corporation, where she will help lead our efforts to carry on Andrew Carnegie's legacy of supporting and reinvigorating teaching and learning in order to do what he called 'real and permanent good' for this generation of students and all those who will follow after them."
Ms. Srinivasan brings to philanthropy lessons from her senior level leadership in urban district change, non-profit education reform, and educational technology. From 2003-2006, as Deputy Chancellor in the New York City Department of Education, she directed and managed the long-term strategic planning of the Human Resources Division, Student Enrollment Planning and Operations division, and launched the Parent and Community Engagement organization. She designed and implemented a streamlined system for recruiting, hiring, and placing teachers and school principals that greatly increased the teacher talent available to high-needs schools. In 2006, she became President of New Leaders for New Schools, where she led and managed day-to-day strategy and operations. She also oversaw the organization’s growth and expansion into six new urban school systems, its launch and development of the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) awards program, and the doubling of its network of community and staff.
“In LaVerne Srinivasan, the Corporation has found an innovative leader with a strong commitment to educational equity who brings a depth of understanding of how systems need to change to support teachers and enable great teaching and learning. LaVerne has also demonstrated an informed and nuanced understanding of the intersections of policy, practice, systems, innovation, and partnerships,” said Michele Cahill, Vice President of Carnegie’s National Program.
She also served as President of Time to Know, an educational technology company that provides teachers with a suite of integrated tools for curriculum planning, classroom management, and student assessment designed to foster deeper learning by students through writing, project work, problem-solving, and creative activities. Ms. Srinivasan also co-founded FieroNow, a technology company created to provide education organizations with meaningful and actionable feedback from their stakeholders, and with the tools to respond.
Ms. Srinivasan began her career at Shearman and Sterling. In 1993, she joined BMG Entertainment as a Senior Director, rising to Senior Vice President and General Counsel. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
She is currently Chair of the School Leaders Network board of directors, serves on the boards of the Urban Schools Human Capital Academy and TeachBoost, and was a founding member of the Strategic Management of Human Capital Task Force.
- Education
