Dr. Margaret Fortune Leaves to Serve as National Co-Chair of Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools
Los Angeles – The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) announced today that the organization’s Board of Directors elected Dr. Cristina de Jesus as their new Board Chair. She succeeds Dr. Margaret Fortune, President/CEO of Fortune School, a charter network with nine schools and 2,300 students grades K-12 located in Sacramento and San Bernardino, California. Dr. Fortune served as Board Chair since September 2017 and a member on the Board of Directors since 2012.
“I am honored and humbled for the vote of confidence by my fellow board members and for the opportunity to lead the board and guide our strategy to strengthen high-quality charter public schools across California,” said Dr. de Jesus. “Our education system is at a crossroads, responding to unprecedented challenges created by a public health crisis, economic uncertainty, and a greater recognition that our schools must lead in fostering greater equity among students. In this critical moment during a national pandemic, charters are demonstrating extreme agility, flexibility and creativity in mitigating learning loss and supporting the families, students and communities we serve.”
Dr. De Jesus has worked in education for 26 years and currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Dot Public Schools California, a non-profit network of charter public schools. She initially joined Green Dot in 2002 as the founding principal of Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School. Green Dot’s schools include nineteen middle and high schools that serve over 11,000 students across Los Angeles. Three of these schools are California Distinguished Schools, and nine are recognized among the top 10 percent of schools across the country. Prior to joining Green Dot, Dr. de Jesus was an English and History teacher in the Santa Monica-Malibu School District and earned National Board Certification in Early Adolescent/English Language Arts.
Outgoing CCSA Board Chair, Dr. Margaret Fortune, resigned from her position with CCSA to focus on her new position of Co-Chair of the Freedom Coalition for Charter Schools, a national organization founded to protect the right of “self-determination” for Black and Brown charter school leaders, parents and students. She was recently inducted into the National Charter School Hall of Fame for pioneering the development and growth of charter schools, being a champion for charter school advocacy in California, as well as her work re-opening six charter schools in Paradise, California that had been devastated by the Camp Fire in 2018.
“During my time at CCSA I learned that now more than ever, we have to fight for high-quality education options for all children,” said Dr. Fortune. “I am excited to turn my focus to this work at a national level. I believe Cristina will do a great job at the helm of the CCSA Board and I look forward to continuing to work with her shoulder to shoulder.”