Jean Desravines

Jean serves as the president of the The Wallace Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan research foundation focused on the arts, school leadership, and youth development. As the former CEO of New Leaders, he worked to develop transformational school leaders who are committed to the success of every child, growing its national network of over 8,000 leaders serving nearly 2 million students across 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Before joining New Leaders, he held a number of leadership roles at the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) in the Bloomberg Administration.

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Jean is a member of several boards including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), KinderCare, America Achieves, and St. Francis College in Brooklyn. He is the co-founder of Innovation for Equity and the co-chair of the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund. Jean recently served on Mayor Adam's education transition committee with Chancellor Banks. He also served as a member of Governor Cuomo’s Education Reform Commission and was named to Forbes “Impact 30,” recognizing the world’s leading social entrepreneurs from across the country.

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Jean has been featured in The Hechinger Report, EdWeek, The New York Times, The 74, Comcast Newsmakers, and Forbes, among others. He co-authored two books: Breakthrough Principals and The School Leadership Playbook. Jean earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. Francis College and a master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University.