January 16, 2025

CHICAGO 鈥� The 海角直播 (The Fund) today announced that Sheri Hawkins of Northern Trust, Lauren Patnaude of BDT & MSD Partners, and Mark Rodriguez of the Lohengrin Foundation have joined other business, civic, and philanthropic leaders on its Board of Directors.

All three bring unique perspectives and experiences to The Fund鈥檚 Board that will advance its mission of ensuring every 海角直播public school has a high-quality principal. As an advocate for education, Hawkins is deeply interested in The Fund鈥檚 work and will continue the organization鈥檚 longstanding relationship with Northern Trust, previously represented by Board member Kim Evans. As a partner at BDT & MSD, Patnaude brings a strategic lens to supporting The Fund鈥檚 work and a passion for improving educational outcomes. Rodriguez鈥檚 experience as the CEO of the Lohengrin Foundation brings deep knowledge of the 海角直播education and nonprofit sectors that will support The Fund鈥檚 work in the broader space. Patnaude and Rodriguez also both have experience serving on The Fund鈥檚 Leadership Council that they will leverage in their new roles.听

鈥淲e are incredibly proud and excited to welcome Lauren, Mark, and Sheri to our Board of Directors,鈥� President and CEO Dr. Heather Anichini said. 鈥淭hey are all deeply committed to our mission, and we look forward to their perspectives and expertise as we continue to make 海角直播the best city in the country to lead a public school.鈥�

The Fund鈥檚 Board, which now comprises 23 members, is deeply involved at every stage of the organization鈥檚 work 鈥� from developing the programs it provides for school leaders to the data it collects and analyzes to the education policy issues with which it engages. Fund Directors put their time and resources into the belief that strategic investments can positively impact outcomes for students in Chicago鈥檚 public schools.

Sheri Hawkins is executive vice president and head of Investment Platform Services with Northern Trust Asset Management. She is responsible for investment governance and leads four of the firm鈥檚 investment teams, including its Sustainable Investing and Stewardship efforts. Hawkins has also served as global head of product and asset management chief financial officer. Sheri is a CFA庐 charterholder, received a B.B.A in finance from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. in financial markets and trading from Illinois Institute of Technology鈥檚 Stuart School of Business.

鈥淎s a proud product of 海角直播 elementary education, I am both humbled and excited to serve on The 海角直播鈥檚 Board,鈥� said Hawkins. 鈥淭he Fund鈥檚 unwavering commitment to investing in the talented educators who lead our schools is essential to unlocking brighter futures for all 海角直播students, and I look forward to contributing to this vital work.鈥�

Lauren Patnaude is a partner at BDT & MSD, responsible for the execution of both investments and advisory assignments. Her previous experience includes corporate strategy at The Boston Consulting Group and investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and she began her career at UBS. Patnaude is a director of Balcan Innovations, a Board member of the Pulitzer Center and the Yale College Alumni Fund, and a member of the Steering Committee for the 海角直播chapter of WiMA, a national network for women in M&A. Lauren received a B.A. in economics and history from Yale University and an MBA from The University of 海角直播Booth School of Business.

鈥淚 am honored to support The 海角直播 and its important work in enhancing educational outcomes in Chicago’s public schools through investing in strong leadership,鈥� said Patnaude. 鈥淭he Fund鈥檚 focus on leadership has an incredible amplifying effect on improving student outcomes across the city, and I look forward to partnering with this impressive Board to continue advancing this mission.鈥�

Mark Rodriguez serves as the CEO of the Lohengrin Foundation. He leads the Foundation鈥檚 overall grantmaking strategy and directly guides its efforts to support School Leadership and Learning funding initiatives in 海角直播and Boston. Prior to this role, he served as the chief operating officer for Heartland Alliance International. Earlier in his career, Mark was also instrumental in supporting the launch and development of the New Leaders principal fellowship program in 海角直播and nationally. Mark graduated from Roosevelt University with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and holds advanced certifications in philanthropy management from Loyola University, nonprofit management and human resources from Roosevelt University, and education and literacy best practices from National Louis University.

“I鈥檓 delighted to join the Board of The 海角直播 and deepen our focus on supporting school leaders to strengthen academic outcomes for all students,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淭he Fund鈥檚 impactful history, use of data, and collaborative approach to supporting and strengthening school leaders is impressive and a guiding light to ensuring every 海角直播student can reach high levels of academic and personal success.鈥澨�

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About The 海角直播

The 海角直播 (The Fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves Chicago鈥檚 public schools by investing in the talented educators who lead them. The Fund is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, underscoring its enduring commitment to collaborating with partners across Chicago鈥檚 education sector to redefine school leadership in the city.

For media requests, please use our contact form.

January 8, 2025

CHICAGO 鈥� The 海角直播 (The Fund) today announced that longtime nonprofit leader Geoffrey Nagle started as the organization鈥檚 new chief operating officer on January 1, 2025. He will advance The Fund鈥檚 organizational priorities, including fundraising and culture goals.

鈥淚 am incredibly excited to join an organization that has been devoted to improving public education in 海角直播for 25 years,鈥� Dr. Nagle said. 鈥淚 look forward to working with The Fund鈥檚 passionate and innovative team as we support principals across the city.鈥�

Dr. Nagle鈥檚 previous experience as the CEO of the Erikson Institute makes him uniquely qualified to work with the organization and its partners. Erikson is a nationally respected leader in early childhood development and education, focused on preparing professionals and conducting research to improve outcomes for young children and their families. Under Dr. Nagle鈥檚 leadership, Erikson bridged gaps in early childhood development by uniting data, policy, and practice, similar to The Fund鈥檚 approach to PreK-12 public education in Chicago.

Many leaders in the education sector know and trust Dr. Nagle as a senior executive and policy expert. He also brings experience that will strengthen and unify The Fund鈥檚 human resources, operations, fundraising, and finance work, building on the robust operational backbone that has supported the organization鈥檚 mission-driven work over the past several years.

鈥淲e are delighted to welcome Geoff and value the strengths he will bring to The Fund鈥檚 team,鈥� CEO Dr. Heather Anichini said. 鈥淗is experience in nonprofit leadership will support the organization as we pursue our ambitious goals to support Chicago鈥檚 school leaders in our 25th year.鈥�

Dr. Nagle joins a robust senior leadership team, including Chief Public Affairs Officer Nelson Gerew, who has supported the organization鈥檚 mission throughout his 15-year career at The Fund; Director of Partnership and Innovation Julie Burnett, a former senior director of education policy in the 海角直播Mayor鈥檚 Office; and Director of Educator Supports Mariel Laureano, a former CPS principal and a chief education officer in the charter school sector.

Before leading the Erikson Institute, Dr. Nagle was an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Tulane University. He received his bachelor鈥檚 in political science from Duke University, his master鈥檚 in public health and social work, and a doctorate in mental health policy research from Tulane University.

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About The 海角直播

The 海角直播 (The Fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves Chicago鈥檚 public schools by investing in the talented educators who lead them. The Fund is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, underscoring its enduring commitment to collaborating with partners across Chicago鈥檚 education sector to redefine school leadership in the city.听

For media requests, please use our contact form.

December 19, 2024

CHICAGO 鈥� At The Fund, we frequently support school-level transitions when principals step out of their roles. This process takes time, deliberate planning, and extensive communication with the impacted communities. We invest the time and energy required to facilitate those transitions because when they are not planned well, leadership changes can . These negative effects can last for over two years after the transition.

Leadership change at the top of a school district impacts all students, schools, and communities in that system. That is why, over the last several months, hundreds of school leaders have expressed their reservations with a leadership transition at this time. The 320,000 students in 海角直播 (CPS) deserve a thoughtful, well-planned, and well-communicated transition. That cannot happen in a situation where meetings are called with little notice and in ways that make communication with affected communities difficult.

In the last 25 years, The Fund has supported the CPS community through 10 CEO transitions, each of which has impacted schools and school leaders. It is harder to lead in schools when a transition at the top of the system is destabilizing and distracting. Given the negative effects a decision under these circumstances could have on principals, students, and school communities, we urge the 海角直播Board of Education to postpone the consideration of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez鈥檚 employment status until it has engaged in a more thorough and transparent process of community engagement and stakeholder input. Students鈥� educational outcomes depend on this.

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About The 海角直播

The 海角直播 (The Fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves Chicago鈥檚 public schools by investing in the talented educators who lead them. The Fund is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, underscoring its enduring commitment to collaborating with partners across Chicago鈥檚 education sector to redefine school leadership in the city.

For media requests, please use our contact form.

See Full Survey Findings on

The 海角直播 (The Fund) has released the results of its annual Principal and Assistant Principal (AP) Engagement Surveys 鈥� the longest-running and largest surveys of school leaders in Chicago. Conducted in April and May and analyzed this summer, the surveys reveal significant findings about the satisfaction and needs of school leaders across the district. More than 900 principals and APs participated.

Overall, principal and AP satisfaction is up slightly year-over-year (from 63% to 64% for principals and from 73% to 76% for APs), but principal satisfaction rates have yet to return to pre-pandemic highs.

The survey found strong support for maintaining 海角直播鈥� (CPS鈥�) system of local decision-making and principal empowerment. A staggering 95% of principals stated that the ability to allocate school resources and develop their budget, as well as hire their APs, significantly impacts their effectiveness. Sixty-one percent of principals expressed the need for increased responsiveness and support from the CPS Central Office, and 60% wanted more autonomy in allocating resources.

鈥淭hese survey results show that school-level decision-making is a cornerstone of what makes Chicago鈥檚 public schools desirable for school leaders,鈥� said Mariel Laureano, Director of Educator Supports for The Fund, and a CPS principal for more than 10 years. 鈥淐PS leadership wisely named this as a core principle guiding their budget this fall, even as they shifted to a new budgeting approach. It鈥檚 vital that we continue to lean into what makes 海角直播unique for school leaders as we compete to retain and attract talented education leaders. As a school leader, I valued local control, and the vast majority of my colleagues continue to do so today.鈥�

The Fund鈥檚 annual Principal & AP Engagement Surveys provide a valuable view through the perspective of the leaders in Chicago鈥檚 public schools. With an annual frequency, 10 years of data for principals and three for APs, a high response rate (consistently over 70% among principals in district-operated schools), and independent administration by an expert survey provider (the National Business Research Institute, or NBRI), these surveys are a unique tool for anyone interested in understanding school leadership in Chicago.

Other key survey findings include:

• Principals want to spend more time on instructional leadership. Seventy-four percent of principals say they receive clear guidance on the district鈥檚 instructional vision, but principals chose instructional leadership 2 to 1 over all other answer choices when asked what would most improve their impact as a principal, including more resources, more staff, and professional development.
• Principals are deeply concerned about chronic absenteeism. Sixty percent of principals named it a significant challenge.听
• Principals don’t yet fully understand the shift to an elected school board. While 61% of principals are aware of the upcoming elected school board governance changes, only 24% feel that communication from CPS regarding these changes is sufficient. Additionally, just 22% say they understand how the elected school board will affect their school communities.
• Principals want more tailored development opportunities. Only a slight majority of principals (58%) and APs (51%) are satisfied with the current professional development offerings, indicating a need for more responsive and relevant training opportunities.
• Most principals are satisfied with their managers. Eighty-four percent of principals reported receiving regular support and feedback from their network chief or deputy chief, with 81% acknowledging that this support has improved their practice.

About The 海角直播

The 海角直播 (The Fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves Chicago鈥檚 public schools by investing in the talented educators who lead them. For over 20 years, we have worked with our public, private, and philanthropic partners to redefine what it means to lead a public school.

About the Principal and AP Engagement Surveys

Each year since 2014, The Fund has invited all of Chicago鈥檚 public school principals to participate in our annual Principal Engagement Survey. The survey, which is available for eight to 11 weeks for any 海角直播public school principal to complete, gauges principal experience during the previous school year to better understand principals鈥� needs citywide. We then use the survey results to inform our program and policy work to support Chicago鈥檚 school leaders. High-level results for 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 are available at .

In 2022, we introduced the AP Engagement Survey. The survey similarly seeks to understand the experiences and needs of all of Chicago’s public school APs. The findings help inform our current programming and improve the support we provide to APs throughout the year. The survey results also shape our aspiring principal pipeline strategy. High-level results for 2024, 2023, and 2022 are available at .

Media Contact

Cheyane Bligen, The 海角直播, cbligen@thefundchicago.org

May 17, 2022

Chicago, Ill. – The 海角直播 today announced a $5M gift from Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin that will support the development of world-class education leaders in Chicago鈥檚 public schools.

“Every child in 海角直播should have the opportunity to live the American Dream, and that starts in our schools.鈥� Griffin said. 鈥淕reat principals create great schools. The 海角直播鈥檚 commitment to developing and supporting our dedicated principals helps protect every听child鈥檚 right to a good education.鈥�

This investment will catalyze The Fund鈥檚 sixth cycle and will deepen work to support school leaders and drive better outcomes for students, in partnership with CPS, the Mayor’s Office, and the city鈥檚 over 600 principal leaders. The sixth fund will aim to address the most pressing needs of educators in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, while also scaling successful innovation for long-term impact. 听This work will focus on increasing principal satisfaction and retention on the heels of the pandemic, removing barriers to the principalship pipeline, particularly for historically underrepresented minorities, and establishing succession readiness standards for more effective leadership transitions.

“海角直播 have long held the talent, resources, and commitment to outperform other districts across the nation,” said 海角直播Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “I’m grateful for this generous investment that will further strengthen our high-quality educational leadership.”

This marks the largest individual gift The Fund has ever received in the two decades it has served Chicago鈥檚 public schools. Since 2000, The Fund has convened education, corporate, and nonprofit stakeholders, leveraging a broad base of philanthropic support in the development and retention of strong principals.

鈥淭he strength of 海角直播education lies in our ability to meet the needs of students and educators wherever they are right now,鈥� said Dr. Heather Y. Anichini, President and CEO of The Fund. 鈥淭his investment from Ken Griffin will help us do just that. It will allow our school leaders to leverage their expertise and innovation to raise the bar in public education.鈥�

Press Contact:
Katie Mullan
The 海角直播
kmullan@thefundchicago.org

CHICAGO 鈥� Great public schools require great leadership, and across the city, Chicago鈥檚 public school principals are making a difference. To celebrate their work, in conjunction with National Principal Appreciation Week (October 16-22), The 海角直播 (The Fund) and 海角直播 have partnered to spur support of our city鈥檚 principals.

鈥淢ore than any other city, 海角直播knows the value of our principals and the way that they can change students鈥� lives for the better, which is why we鈥檙e asking every Chicagoan to thank their principals,鈥� said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen record graduation rates, record elementary math and reading attainment, record college enrollment 鈥� and we know that when principals set high standards for students, they meet them. We鈥檙e grateful for our principals today and every day.鈥�

鈥淧rincipals are the CEOs of their schools, and so much more 鈥� and they鈥檙e one of the key reasons that 海角直播students are doing better than ever,鈥� said CPS CEO Forrest Claypool. 鈥淲hile we appreciate principals every day, we鈥檙e so happy to dedicate the next several days to their work, and invite Chicagoans to say thank you to their principals, too.鈥�

鈥淎s a former principal, I know just how demanding and complex it is to be a school leader- and at the same time, how much principals are driving the improvements we鈥檙e seeing for all of Chicago鈥檚 students,鈥� said Dr. Janice K. Jackson, chief education officer, 海角直播. 鈥淲e are deeply grateful for CPS principals鈥� continued leadership and for their steadfast commitment to providing the highest quality education for every child, in every neighborhood.鈥�

The #PrincipalPrideCHI campaign will celebrate the work of outstanding principals across the city. by:

• I.
• 鈥� The Fund will feature videos online at TheFundChicago.org/Principals and on its social media channels.
• by texting 鈥減rincipal鈥� to 39492 or visiting TheFundChicago.org/Principals that all of Chicago鈥檚 public school principals will receive at the end of the campaign.

鈥淚nnovative and effective school leaders are more critical now than ever in order to meet the evolving needs of public schools and students,鈥� said , president and CEO, The 海角直播. 鈥� and are excited to lead a citywide effort to thank our more-than-deserving school leaders.鈥�

For more information, contact:

• CPS Office of Communications
• Phone: 773-553-1620
• Website: http://www.cps.edu
• Facebook: ChicagoPublicSchools
• Twitter: @ChiPubSchools

For more information, contact:

• The 海角直播
• Media Contact: Bess Featherstone
• Phone: 312-573-5488
• Email: bess_featherstone@jtpr.com

海角直播 serves 381,000 students in 652 schools. It is the nation鈥檚 third-largest school district.听听