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Southern Education Foundation President to Chair IEL Board

  • 11/23/15

Washington, D.C. — IEL announced C. Kent McGuire, president of the Southern Education Foundation, as the ninth chair of the organization’s board of directors. McGuire succeeds S. Decker Anstrom, who will remain a member of the board.

McGuire joined IELs board in October 2002 and is a 1981 alumnus of IEL’s Education Policy Fellowship Program. As president of the Southern Education Foundation, he leads the Atlanta-based organization to advance equity and excellence in education in the American South.

“We are thrilled to have Kent McGuire lead our board,” said Martin J. Blank, president of IEL. “He is a longtime friend of IEL. As the leader of an influential and respected organization that works to advance equity and education for all students in the South, Kent lives the cross-boundary leadership tenet that IEL so strongly believes in.”

Prior to his current role at the Southern Education Foundation, McGuire served as dean of the Temple University College of Education and was a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. He also served as senior vice president at MDRC, Inc., and as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He worked in education programs at the Pew Charitable Trust and the Lilly Endowment. McGuire has also written and co-authored various policy reports, book chapters, and papers in professional journals. He currently serves on the boards of The New Teacher Project and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

“IEL has a really important history and is contributing a great deal to improving outcomes for children, youth, and their families,” stated McGuire. “IEL’s work on creating pathways for youth with disabilities, its work on family and community engagement, and its efforts to support a strong national coalition on community schools is both timely and impactful. I’m honored to serve the organization as its work makes these important contributions to the field.” 

“Kent is the perfect person to chair and lead IEL to the next level, working with our board, Marty, and his team,” said Anstrom, IEL’s former board chair. “His long experience with IEL, and his leadership, passion for educational opportunity and excellence, and deep personal relationships in the education community will be invaluable.”

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