LaVerne Evans Srinivasan is the vice president of the Corporation’s National Program and the program director for Education. She oversees grantmaking and other activities aimed at engaging parents and communities, improving teaching and leadership for learning, advancing innovative learning environment designs, providing K–12 pathways to college and career success, and fostering integrated approaches to innovation and learning in the field of education.
Srinivasan has extensive experience with senior-level leadership roles in the areas of urban district change, nonprofit education reform, and educational technology. As deputy chancellor of the New York City Department of Education from 2003 to 2006, she directed and managed the long-term strategic planning of the Human Resources division and the Student Enrollment Planning and Operations division, and launched the Parent and Community Engagement division. She designed and implemented Project Home Run, a strategically redesigned and streamlined system for recruiting, hiring, and placing teachers and school principals that greatly increased the teacher talent available to high-needs schools, a program that has been replicated nationwide.
In 2006, Srinivasan became president of New Leaders for New Schools, where she led and managed day-to-day strategy and operations. In addition, she oversaw the organization’s growth and expansion into six new urban school systems, its launch and development of the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC) awards program, and the doubling of its network of community and staff.
As president of Time to Know, an educational technology company, Srinivasan worked to provide teachers with a suite of integrated tools for curriculum planning, classroom management, and student assessment designed to foster deeper learning by students through writing, project work, problem-solving, and creative activities. She later cofounded FieroNow, a technology company created to equip education organizations with meaningful and actionable feedback from their stakeholders, as well as with the data needed to respond.
Srinivasan began her career at law firm Shearman and Sterling LLP. In 1993, she joined BMG Entertainment as senior director of legal and business affairs, rising to senior vice president of legal and business affairs and general counsel worldwide. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Srinivasan serves on the board of trustees of ETS, as well as on the advisory boards of College Promise Campaign, EdTech Evidence Exchange, Education Equity Lab, Global Science of Learning for Education Network, and Reach Higher and on the governing boards for Grantmakers for Education (GFE) and ETS.