Kevin Jennings

Kevin has a distinguished career as an educator, social justice activist, and author. He served as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, heading the department’s Office of Safe & Drug-Free Schools where he led the Obama Administration’s anti-bullying initiative. Kevin began his career as a high school history teacher 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 NYU’s Stern School of Business. He has been honored for his leadership by the National Education Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Independent Schools. He chairs the boards of The Ubunye Challenge and First Generation Harvard Alumni and serves on the board of Marjorie’s Fund and the Council on Foundations. His seventh book, One Teacher in Ten in the 21st Century, will be 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.