CEO

Jon Schnur serves as Chief Executive Officer of America Achieves — a national nonprofit organization that incubates and supports large-scale initiatives to advance economic opportunity, mobility, and pathways to good jobs and careers – including for low-income and other underserved populations and communities. Since 2011, Jon has also served as Bloomberg Philanthropies’ lead outside advisor on education and skills.

With Jon’s leadership, America Achieves has incubated and rallied highly successful initiatives impacting economic mobility at scale – including Merit America, Matriculate, CollegePoint, Results for America, GripTape, and others. With Jon’s leadership, America Achieves also advances federal and state public policy in workforce development, higher education, career pathways, K-12 education, and inclusive economic growth. Jon and the organization have also convened dozens of foundations to promote collaboration, dialogue, learning, and grantmaking – including a focus on workforce development. America Achieves also partners with federal and state agencies and provides technical assistance to federal funding applicants and grantees. Jon has extensive experience in nonprofit, government, and philanthropy. He also co-founded New Leaders for New Schools — a national nonprofit ensuring high academic achievement for every student by attracting and preparing outstanding school leaders — and served as its CEO from 2000 until 2011.

Jon served as co-chair of education policy for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and then as a senior advisor to the presidential transition team and U.S. Secretary of Education. Jon previously served as an education advisor during the Clinton administration, as President Clinton’s Associate Director for Educational Policy, Senior Policy Advisor on Education to Vice President Gore, and Special Assistant to U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley. Jon is a board member of New Leaders. He recently has served on the Visiting Committee to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Aspen Institute’s Jury for their Prize for Community College Excellence, and as a member of the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force.

Jon, his wife Elisa, and their three children live in Montclair, New Jersey.