Board

Greg Jobin-Leeds, Co-founder, Chair of the Board, The Schott Foundation for Public Education, MA

Lilo Leeds, Co-founder, Director, L&GL, LLC, NY

Rinku Sen, Vice Chair of the Board, President and Director, Applied Research Center, NY

Michelle Coffey, Executive Director, Lambent Foundation, NY

Andrew Gillum, City Commissioner, City of Tallahassee, FL

Gerard Leeds, Co-founder, Director, L&GL, LLC, NY

Maria Jobin-Leeds, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Partnership for Democracy and Education, MA

Greg Jobin-Leeds

Greg Jobin-Leeds has made a career out of launching and nurturing successful, high-impact public policy organizations. His talent for recruiting effective leaders and guiding their efforts to break new ground has led to milestone victories for the nation's historically underserved children and most under-represented families.

Greg is Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of the award winning Schott Foundation for Public Education. Under Greg's leadership, Schott began funding the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) www.cfequity.org in 1993 and later helped found the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) www.aqeny.org. Through litigation, legislation, media and grassroots organizing, both organizations' efforts led to winning $7.4 billion annually for high-need New York schools. Schott won the Council of Foundation's 2007 Critical Impact Award for this victory.

In 1999, Schott recruited the leadership and provided the start-up funding for the Early Education for All (EEA) www.strategiesforchildren.org campaign in Massachusetts, which successfully advocated for a universal pre-kindergarten education bill. In 2003, Schott published State Report Cards on "Public Education and Black Male Students," which generated a national consciousness, leading many to confront historical inequities and rethink how to educate boys of color. In 2004, the Foundation created The Schott Fellowship for Early Care and Education at Cambridge College to train new public policy leaders of color.

Greg co-founded Access Strategies Fund, which helps disenfranchised communities harness their collective democratic power to improve their lives. Access has played a leading role in closing the racial gap in voter turnout in targeted communities and overturning racially unjust gerrymandered districts which has led to progressive leaders of color being elected. www.accessstrategies.org

Instrumental in the launch of the 501(c) (4) League of Education Voters of America in 2005, Greg led the recruitment of the founding board. The League's mission is to create the political will to transform the nation's public education system by holding public officials accountable for serving the needs of all children. www.leagueofeducationvoters.com

At the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), a leading high school redesign organization, Greg co-chaired the Strategic Direction and Oversight Committee, and recruited ISA's first President, a former Superintendent-of-the-Year. These leadership changes facilitated ISA transforming large high schools into small inclusive learning communities with tremendous student outcomes. www.studentachievement.org

As a founding Board member, Greg helped manage the original research, recruit the leadership and launch the Alliance for Excellent Education -- now a highly effective national advocate for public high school policy. http://www.all4ed.org

Similarly, in partnership with Teacher's College at Columbia University, Greg helped launch The National Academy for Excellent Teaching to improve teaching in urban schools. http://nafet.teacherworks.net

He is the founding chair of Progressive Majority's Leadership Circle, which is highly successful at electing bold state candidates committed to racial and economic justice, public education and health care. www.progressivemajority.org

Greg is a founding executive board member of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's One Voice PAC, which is successful in electing diverse progressive federal candidates who have strong platforms on public education, racial and economic justice and global responsibility. www.onevoicepac.org

Greg founded the CMP Media Foundation, served on the corporate board of CMP Media and currently serves on committees of six investment portfolios.

In 2007, Greg was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the Massachusetts' Readiness Project Leadership Council, specifically as a member of the Long-term Funding subcommittee.

As the son of immigrants who escaped Nazi persecution, Greg lives the commitment of fighting for fairness and social justice. He is driven by the fundamental belief that excellence is the result of inclusion not exclusion. Greg has been dedicated to educational excellence throughout his career. Early on he worked as a high school English teacher, then he trained adult literacy teachers, and more recently he has worked to increase political access for disenfranchised populations. He has a Master's degree from Teacher's College, Columbia University and more than 25 years of education, public policy, media, community organizing and leadership experience. He is a powerful speaker on the topic of "Strategic Philanthropy."

Lilo Leeds

Lilo J. Leeds created the first on-site Day Care and Infant Care Center on Long Island at CMP Media Inc. She also started an After School on-site Center and a summer day camp for CMP Media Inc. employee’s school aged children.

Lilo Leeds is co-founder and co-chairperson of the Institute for Student Achievement, a non -profit organization committed to economic and social change in disadvantaged communities through education and youth programs. She and her husband Gerard, created the Manhasset-based Institute in 1990.

Corporate entrepreneurs, Gerard and Lilo Leeds, co-founded CMP Media Inc., a leading publisher of business newspapers, magazines and information services specializing in high technology. Lilo Leeds is one of the founders and directors of The Schott Foundation for Public Education, an organization devoted to developing and strengthening the movement for equity in education and childcare.

Lilo Leeds is a member of the Child Care Council of Nassau County, the Great Neck/Manhasset Community Child Care Partnership, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Arnold and Joan Saltzman/Hofstra Child Care Center.

Lilo Leeds was an Associate Trustee of North Shore University Hospital and is on the Board of the North Shore Child & Family Guidance. Lilo Leeds serves as an honoree of Women on the Job, was named “Woman of the Year” by the Long Island Association, was an honoree of the National Organization of Women and received the Barbara Kramer Memorial Award from the Port Washington Children’s Center. Mr. and Mrs. Leeds were recognized as Honorary Citizens of Roosevelt for their work with the STAR program for the Roosevelt High School, and for the “Writing to Read” Program for kindergarten and first grade, in Westbury.

Mrs. Leeds is a refugee from Hitler Germany and came to the US in 1939. She holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Queens College and an M.A. from SUNY at Stony Brook. She received an honorary doctorate from both institutions. Mrs. Leeds is a long-time resident of Long Island and has five grown children.

Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen, the Publisher of ColorLines magazine and Communications Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC), has a rich history of organizing, writing and lecturing on issues of race, gender and activism. She started her organizing career as a student activist at Brown University, fighting race, gender and class discrimination on campuses. She received a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Brown University in 1988 and is currently pursuing a M.A. in Journalism at Columbia University. She has written extensively about immigration, community organizing and women’s lives for a wide variety of publications including Third Force, AlterNet, Race, Poverty, the Environment, Amerasia Journal and Colorlines. She edited We are the Ones We Are Waiting For: Women of Color Organizing for Transformation published by the Urban Rural Missions of the World Council of Churches in 1995. She was the principal investigator on research projects for the Ford and Ms foundations. Her latest book, Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing, a guide for community organizations of all orientations was released in the fall of 2003. The book is a finalist for the 2004 Nautilus Book Award in the social change category.

Michelle Coffey

As Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Michelle works closely with the New York Office Director to manage and lead Tides’ philanthropic service delivery. Her areas of focus include Criminal Justice Reform, Arts and Culture, HIV/AIDS and International grant making. Michelle Coffey joined Tides as a Program Officer in 2001. Prior to joining Tides, Michelle served as a Program Officer for the New York Foundation for the Arts and is grounded in the arts and culture community. Her professional affiliations and board memberships have been with the Grantmakers Without Borders as co-chair, The Schott Foundation for Public Education, Funders Concerned about AIDS, and the National Association of Artists’ Organizations.

Andrew Gillum

With a passion for public service, and the ability to motivate and mobilize people to action, Commissioner Andrew D. Gillum is known in his home state Florida and nationally as an emerging leader. At the age of 23 and still a student Florida A&M University (FAMU), he became the youngest person ever elected to the Tallahassee City Commission in February 2003. In August 2004, Commissioner Gillum was re-elected by the citizens of Tallahassee, to serve for a full four-year term as one of four on the Tallahassee City Commission.

In November of 2004, Gillum was elected by his fellow City Commissioners to serve in the one-year term as Mayor Pro Tem. Additionally, the joint body of City and County Commissioners, known as the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency, elected him to serve as their chairperson for a year in 2005.

Following the 2000 Presidential election, he addressed the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on election violations in the State of Florida. Subsequently, he was instrumental in organizing the historic March on Tallahassee in protest of Gov. Jeb Bush's executive order to abolish Affirmative Action in state university admissions and state contracting. As a result of his advocacy efforts, the national Center for Policy Alternatives (Washington, DC) recognized him as the country's top student leader in 2001.

His impact on the local community spread statewide when he accepted the position of Field Organizer with People For the American Way Foundation (PFAWF), Tallahassee Office. In 2002, he organized and led the largest get-out-the-vote campaign - titled "Arrive With 5" - in Florida's history. In 2003, the Florida Democratic Party recruited Gillum as its Deputy Political Director; but his passion for organizing get-out-the-vote campaigns led him back to PFAWF as the statewide Director of the "Arrive With 5" program.

In June 2003, he received the "Emerging Leaders Award" from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (Washington, DC) for educating and motivating young adults to become more politically involved and for being an "invaluable source of guidance and inspiration to this generation of leaders." Ebony magazine's February 2004 edition featured Gillum as one of "The Fast Track 30 Leaders Who are 30 and Under." Tallahassee Community College also spotlighted him in their 4th Annual African-American History Calendar that recognized achievers who have made significant contributions to Leon and surrounding counties.

As National Director of the Young Elected Officials Network with PFAWF, Gillum spearheads a program that seeks to unite elected officials age 35 and under in a network which supports them with leadership and personal development training and public policy support. Gillum was instrumental in inaugurating this PFAWF project initiative in January 2006. With Gillum at the helm, in May 2006, the program evolved into a national network that links young elected officials across the country and helps identify solutions to the challenges facing our communities and states.

Gillum serves on the Board of Directors of the Black Youth Vote Coalition, a program of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (Washington, DC); is a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and a member of the Community of Faith Church. He holds a number of other board/committee memberships.

Gerard Leeds

Gerard Leeds is a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Student Achievement, Inc., which he founded with his wife, Lilo, in 1990.

In 1971, prior to establishing the Institute, Gerard and Lilo Leeds founded CMP Media Inc., a major publisher of business newspapers, magazines, Internet and other information services for the high-tech industries. The company's socially responsible policies placed it in Fortune Magazine as one of the 100 best companies to work for, and in Working Mother, as one of the best companies for women workers. The company instituted a major on-site childcare center, a strong diversity program, and an active employee-run foundation.

In 1988, Gerard and Lilo Leeds transferred the management of the company to the next generation and Michael Leeds took over as President and CEO. The Leeds made the challenge of educating children at risk their principal focus. In addition to founding the Institute for Student Achievement, they are on the boards of several other organizations working on education issues. These include the Alliance for Excellent Education, located in Washington, DC, whose goal is to make excellent education for all children a reality, and the The Schott Foundation for Public Education in Boston, which focuses on early care in education and funding for quality education.

Gerard and Lilo Leeds are both immigrants to the United States, and consider their work in education a way to return to society some of the business and personal success that America has allowed them to achieve.

Gerard and Lilo Leeds are recipients of a large number of civic awards, including Socially Responsible Entrepreneurs of the Year, LIA Humanitarian Award, outstanding Philanthropists of the Year for NSFRE/L.I., were honored by the Urban League of L.I., the NYS Chapter of NAACP, the NYS United Teachers Association, and the American Jewish Committee. They were cited by Newsday in its report on "100 Who Shaped a Century".

Mr. Leeds holds a Bachelor of Arts and Science and an honorary doctorate from Adelphi University, and a Masters of Arts and an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Stonybrook. He has taught management at Long Island University and Hofstra University, and lectures annually to MBA students on socially responsible business management.

María Jobin-Leeds

Raised by politically active parents, María Jobin-Leeds has always been an active member of her community. She lived in Puerto Rico as a child, and she visited her parents home in the Sudan as a college student. There began her education about the privilege of class, race and gender. As an adult her extended family is multiracial, bilingual and multicultural.

She started her political career as a high school biology and health teacher in an inner-city parochial high school in Boston. Frustrated by the many crises her students faced, she spent the next decade doing AIDS education. She worked for the state, then a service organization with youth and adults. She provided prevention education, and designed and managed education programs. There she learned from her colleagues, that only by addressing the root causes of the problem, would they have any success in curbing the epidemic. She notes the disease continues to run rampant in politically marginalized communities.

In her position as director of the Access Strategies Fund, she is finally able to address the political root causes of economic and social powerlessness. Access Strategies funds and assists community organizations that work to make their voices heard in the creation of equitable public policies in Massachusetts.

María has a Master’s Degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is on the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Coalition, which cultivates progressive political power and The Schott Foundation for Public Education, which improves the quality of urban public education. She’s raising three children through the Cambridge Public Schools.