Kevin Jennings

Author
Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation

Kevin B. Jennings is the Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation and has made a long and distinguished career as an educator, social justice activist, teacher and author. He served as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration, heading the department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools where he led the Administration’s anti-bullying initiative. Kevin began his career as a high school history teacher and coach in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. During this time he served as faculty advisor to the nation’s
first Gay-Straight Alliance, leading him in 1990 to found the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national education organization tackling anti-LGBT bias in U.S. schools, which he led for 18 years.

Kevin earned a BA (magna cum laude) from Harvard College, a Master of Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College, from which he received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has been honoured for his leadership in education and civil rights by the National Education Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Independent Schools and numerous
other organizations. He is chairman of the boards of The Ubunye Challenge and First Generation Harvard Alumni. Kevin also serves on the board of Marjorie’s Fund and the Council on Foundations. His seventh book, One Teacher in Ten in the 21st Century, was published in 2015. Along with his partner of 20 years, Jeff Davis, he is the proud dad of a Bernese Mountain Dog, Jackson, and a Golden Retriever, Sloane.