Hosanna Mahaley Jones

As State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia, Hosanna Mahaley Jones directs statewide public education policy for early childhood education, K-12, and higher education. She implements accountability systems and manages federal funding to support educators, oversees transportation to school for District children with special needs, engages stakeholders and prepares students for success both within and beyond the classroom.

State Superintendent Mahaley Jones has over 20 years of executive leadership experience in leading efforts to promote student achievement. Since being appointed by Mayor Vincent C. Gray in February 2011, Washington DC has become a noteworthy leader in state-level education during her tenure, rising to first in the nation in categories including pre-kindergarten enrollment and spending, childhood summer nutrition and school breakfast participation, where a 35% increase allowed the District of Columbia’s US ranking to jump from 20^th to 1^st in one year.

The former Chief of Staff at Chicago Public Schools under then-CEO and current US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Executive Officer of New Schools, was responsible for coordinating day-to-day operations for over 600 schools and established the Renaissance Initiative, a comprehensive plan to overhaul low-performing schools with new 100 community-based education models that consistently outperformed traditional schools on multiple academic measures. She also served as Education Advisor to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, where she created and led numerous citywide programs.

With a commitment to access and excellence in education, State Superintendent Mahaley Jones has been lauded for her innovative leadership. Her professional career began as an award-winning middle-school mathematics teacher, later ascending to President of the Atlanta Education Fund, serving as executive point of contact among corporate partners and elected officials and raising $20 million within six months for school improvement and student programming. Following that, she was the Executive Director of Social Justice at Wireless Generation.

She is the Past Vice-Chair of NACSA and member of the Executive Committee of Education Sector.

State Superintendent Mahaley Jones earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from Marquette University, Master’s degree in Middle School Education from California State University, a Master’s degree in Education Leadership from the University of Illinois-Chicago and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is also one of the inaugural members of the Harvard Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) and has served as a facilitator for the program for the past 5 years.