The U.S. Program (USP) is advancing a recently updated division-wide strategy to accelerate equitable upward mobility through educational attainment. Guided by the belief that every person should have the opportunity to achieve their full potential, the division works to ensure that education is a true engine of opportunity and economic mobility in the United States.
To realize this vision, the U.S. Program is focused on doubling the growth rate of credential attainment among 18–34-year-olds, resulting in 10 million more learners attaining credentials that reflect their skills and knowledge and deliver sustained economic value. Delivering on this vision requires a step-change in how the division makes decisions, allocates resources, and translates evidence into action across a complex, interdependent portfolio.
The U.S. Program advances this goal through an integrated strategy spanning K-12 Teaching and Learning, Postsecondary Learning and Navigation, Data and AI Infrastructure, and Advocacy and System Improvement. Working with educators, institutions, students, families, policymakers, employers, researchers, technology leaders, community organizations, and other partners, the division identifies, develops, and scales evidence-based solutions that improve outcomes and reduce inequities across the education-to-workforce continuum.
The President, U.S. Program, leads the foundation’s U.S. education strategy and the division’s long-term effort to make education a true engine of upward mobility. This role sets and stewards the division’s vision, strategy, operating model, culture, talent, partnerships, investments, and impact in the field.
The President leads a complex, multi-disciplinary division through a period of significant strategic and organizational evolution, moving from strategy design to disciplined implementation and execution. Success in this role requires exceptional people leadership, including the ability to build trust, develop leaders, foster accountability, and guide a high-performing organization through significant change and transformation. The President builds and empowers a strong leadership team, creating the clarity, ownership, and decision-making authority needed for leaders to drive the division’s work forward. The President is responsible for ensuring that the U.S. Program’s structure, capabilities, decision-making, resources, and partner ecosystem are aligned to the division’s long-term ambition and near-term 2030 milestones. These include learning acceleration, gateway course completion, postsecondary enrollment, credential completion, learning mobility, AI and data infrastructure, public goods, state policy, funding, communications, and engagement.
The President brings deep knowledge of U.S. education, workforce and economic mobility, philanthropy, public systems, policy and advocacy, product development, and AI-enabled innovation. They combine strong programmatic judgment with enterprise leadership, public credibility, disciplined management, and the ability to lead through ambiguity, complexity, and change. The President represents the foundation externally, serves as a strategic partner to the CEO and Chair/Board, and as an active member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributes to the leadership and direction of the foundation. The President ensures the U.S. Program advances measurable impact while modeling the foundation’s values.