Welcome ConnectED’s New President!

Colleagues,

On January 1, Dr. Ash Vasudeva became ConnectED’s new President and CEO. We are thrilled to have him take over the reins and provide the leadership for ConnectED to take our mission and organization to the next level. To reiterate what we shared when we announced his appointment in October, Ash brings to ConnectED a deep commitment to growing the number of underserved students that make it to and through college prepared for success in work, family, and life. With a long history of organizational leadership in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors, Ash combines expertise as a science teacher, researcher, policy analyst, non-profit leader, improvement-network developer, and published author. He is a skilled communicator, collaborator, and consensus builder— ready to lead ConnectED and our dedicated staff to the next stage of service to educators, students, parents, employers and key community stakeholders building systems of high-quality college and career pathways.

Ash comes to ConnectED from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where he has served as Senior Vice President since 2022 and Vice President from 2016-2022. At Carnegie, Ash worked with the President and Board of Directors to prioritize improving educational outcomes and advancing social and economic mobility for all students. To address these goals, Ash launched national networks of districts, schools, and community partners to improve instruction at scale. He also initiated improvement-networks with higher education institutions and K-12 systems to build more robust and effective leadership pipelines into public education. You can reach Ash at avasudeva@connectednational.org.

It has been an honor to serve as ConnectED’s founder and president for more than eighteen years. I have learned so much from my colleagues and the community partners who have taken up the challenging work of recreating educational systems that seek to prepare all students, especially those historically underserved, for lasting success in college, career, and life.

Although I am stepping down as president, beginning January 1, I will be staying on with ConnectED as a Senior Fellow. My immediate goal is to fulfil some ongoing obligations to our community partners and funders. Additionally, I’ll be available to help Ash make a fast and successful transition and to assist with organizational development.

I could not be more pleased to have Ash take on the leadership of ConnectED and have complete confidence in his ability to advance ConnectED’s mission with vision, energy, and consummate competence. Please join me in welcoming him to ConnectED!

Gratefully,

Gary