America's Promise Alliance - Making the promise of America real for every child

Good afternoon Friend,

John Gomperts, President & CEO of America’s Promise Alliance, announced today that he will step down from the position at the end of the year. Gomperts, who has led the organization since May 2012, will remain with America’s Promise as a senior advisor, focusing on key projects and assisting the Board of Directors in the transition.

“Over the summer, I shared with the board leadership that I would like to step down by the end of the year,” said Gomperts. “America’s Promise is working with our large alliance to spearhead powerful initiatives that improve the lives and futures of children and young people. We also have a terrific leadership team that is developing big ideas for the future. All that makes this a good opportunity for the organization to attract a new leader, and for me to explore new ways to participate in the causes that have always animated me.”

“John Gomperts has played a pivotal role in the history of American’s Promise, all the way back to its founding at the 1997 Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future,” said America’s Promise Board Chair, Gregg Petersmeyer. “As CEO, John has been an exceptional leader, with his deep understanding of the issues, strategic sense, and the close relationship he has built with our partners. He has helped APA lead successful campaigns, while sharpening its focus and deepening its impact for children in communities across the country.”

Under Gompert's leadership, APA has achieved a number of key milestones:

GradNation:

Helped an additional four million young people graduate from high school, increasing the graduation rates from 72% to 84%;
Held 208 GradNation summits in communities around the country; and
Produced groundbreaking research on the reasons that young people leave school before graduating.

Center for Promise:

Opened the Center for Promise research institute, housed at Boston University, which focuses on deep research into experiences, perspectives and ideas of young people; and
Produced a series of highly influential reports including Don't Call Them Dropouts, Don't Quit on Me, Barriers to Wellness, and I Came Here to Learn, all of which injected youth voice and perspective into the work of the Alliance, practitioners and policymakers across the country.

The Alliance:

Grew the Alliance substantially to now include 500 national organizations and 250 community partners.

Powerful new projects:

Grew the organizational footprint and reach by expanding from a single flagship project (GradNation) to four major initiatives on critical issues for children and youth: GradNation; Every School Healthy; the YES Project (on youth employment); and How Learning Happens (on a whole child approach and social emotional and cognitive development).

“I’m enormously proud of the progress and contributions that America’s Promise has made over the past several years,” said Gomperts “Leading America’s Promise through this period has been a tremendous honor. My experience has always been that when we love a job, we do it for the rest of our lives – so I expect to remain closely connected to America’s Promise for many years to come.”

Petersmeyer said that America’s Promise will launch a search for a new CEO immediately. He also announced that Dennis Vega will become the Interim CEO when John steps down.

“We have great faith in Dennis’s leadership and know that the organization will be in good hands during this transition,” said Petersmeyer.

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