Square Pizza Podcast

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week we interviewed Rachael Tutwiler Fortune, the President of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, where she leads the organization to help ensure every student in Duval County attends a high-quality school.

Rachael began her career as a Duval County Public Schools teacher at S. P. Livingston Elementary School through Teach for America – Jacksonville. Afterward, she led JPEF’s community mobilization efforts, launching the ONE by ONE campaign to mobilize stakeholders to develop a shared vision for local schools.

Rachael left Jacksonville to pursue a master’s degree in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership from Stanford University. Upon graduation, she served as an Education Pioneers Fellow at the Oakland Unified School District to improve community-school strategic planning across the district. Rachael was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow and served as a Program Officer at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC, where she managed a portfolio of multi-million-dollar Race to the Top grants during the Obama Administration. Following her fellowship, she joined the senior leadership team at  America’s Promise Alliance as a Senior Director responsible for leading the GradNation Campaign. She returned to Jacksonville and JPEF in 2017 as Executive Vice President before stepping into the President role in November 2018.

Jacksonville Public Education Fund is a research-driven independent nonprofit organization that is working to close the opportunity gap for low-income students and students of color in Duval County.

Tune in as we cover:

– Rachael’s strong ties to Jacksonville and why in her opinion it’s the best place to be

– If robots will replace teachers

– Innovative approaches to partnering and supporting families

You can find more about Rachael and JPEF’s work here: https://www.jaxpef.org/