AchieveMpls CEO Catherine Jordan to Leave Organization, Join Bush Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AchieveMpls announced today that Catherine Jordan, the first president and CEO of AchieveMpls, the nonprofit Local Education Fund dedicated to supporting Minneapolis Public School students as they succeed in school and become productive members of society, will be leaving the organization to join the Bush Foundation. She will join the Foundation's Leadership and Community Engagement Team starting in November, 2009.

Formed of a merger of Youth Trust and the Minneapolis Public Schools Foundation in January of 2002, AchieveMpls has thrived under Jordan's leadership. Over the past seven and a half years, AchieveMpls has become a trusted partner of the school district and its partner organizations, providing financial and programmatic support crucial to the overall success of Minneapolis Public School students.

"For more than seven years as a Board member, I've watched Catherine juggle the diverse and sometimes conflicting constituencies that AchieveMpls tries to serve: students, parents, teachers, school administrators, school board members, and business and government officials devoted to student achievement, among many others," commented Peter Lancaster, member of AchieveMpls' Board of Directors. "She did it with remarkable energy and patience and with encyclopedic knowledge of the people and issues AchieveMpls encounters."

Jordan helped raise over $35,000,000 for the Minneapolis Public Schools during her tenure at AchieveMpls. Together with her staff, she directed the use of these funds to improve the physical fitness of second through eighth graders; increase teenagers' enjoyment of reading by refreshing two high school libraries; reduce ninth grade dropout rates by connecting freshman to caring adults in their high schools; bring the power of the arts into kindergarten through twelfth grade classrooms to energize learning in science, literacy and other subject matter; place over 2,500 youth in meaningful and paid summer internships through the City of Minneapolis' STEP-UP Summer Jobs Program; and motivate and support thousands of students to investigate and prepare for higher education and future careers.

Jordan merged the Youth Trust and Minneapolis Public School Foundation into AchieveMpls; established Career and College Centers in all seven Minneapolis public high schools and contract alternatives; took over fundraising for Arts for Academic Achievement after the Annenberg grant was complete, raising over $500,000 per year to integrate the arts into the K-12 curriculum; contracted with the City of Minneapolis to deliver the STEP-UP program and received the Vision Award from Positively Minnesota in 2007.

"While we are sad to see Catherine go, we know she will always be a vital supporter of the Minneapolis Public Schools and we look forward to working with her in her new role at the Bush Foundation," said Superintendent Bill Green.

"Catherine has developed and provided stability in private philanthropic and civic partnerships while the Minneapolis Public Schools moved through a series of leadership changes. In her seven and a half years of service, Catherine has done a remarkable job of continuing to leverage the goodwill toward the Minneapolis Public Schools that has long existed in the community. She compelled us to move forward in developing resources for our schools as we moved through change. She has demonstrated a unique ability to seek out innovation and approach resource development with an entrepreneurial spirit. Her leadership has also been characterized by an appreciation of history and the importance of strengthening relationships with our foundation, corporation and community partners. We are profoundly grateful for the mark she has left on our school community."

Susan Doherty has been named Interim President and CEO. Doherty is currently the Director of the Career and College Initiative and has served AchieveMpls since 2005.

SOURCE AchieveMpls

RELATED LINKS
http://www.achieveminneapolis.org