Good to Great: Continuous Improvement

Margo Roen is Education First’s Principal of Innovative Systems and Schools, where she works with school districts, state education agencies, foundations, researchers, and nonprofits across the country to create conditions where innovations to solve systemic issues of inequity can flourish. Her current portfolio of work includes supporting SEAs and LEAs across the country, including supporting the Texas Education Agency’s System of Great Schools Network and multiple districts within that Network through a Chief Innovation Officer Workshops; coaching SEAs & CMOs through an Equity by Design approach to innovate in state assessment; and developing a district Chief Innovation Officer Toolkit in partnership with The Broad Foundation and NewSchools Venture Fund. Prior to serving at EdFirst, Margo was a founding member of Tennessee’s Achievement School District, where she started the organization’s new schools work and grew to oversee the strategy, policy, and portfolio management functions as the Deputy Superintendent. She has sixteen years of experience in public education, and is devoted to equity and impact for kids and families. Her background includes working as an educator at the school (charter and traditional), city, and state level; as a teacher, administrator, and policy maker; and in Memphis, where she lives, and across the country. Margo holds a masters of public policy from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and undergraduate degrees from Tulane University. She serves on boards of multiple nonprofit boards, including as Vice Chair of The Memphis Lift.