Margaret Fortune is President/CEO of Fortune School. In 2010, under Fortune’s leadership, the organization launched a network of K-12 public charter schools in Sacramento and San Bernardino counties with the mission to close the African American achievement gap. The network currently includes seven public charter schools with a combined enrollment of more than 1,500 students. Fortune also operates the Rex & Margaret Fortune School of Education, a graduate school that credentials teachers and school administrators for over 50 public school systems with the goal of addressing the state’s teacher shortage by producing quality, diverse teachers in high-need subject areas. The graduate school’s charter school leadership program has also been critical in developing a pipeline of strong educators in the movement. In 2017, Fortune opened an early college high school in partnership with Cosumnes River College and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math. Students are able to earn a high school diploma and associate’s degree upon graduation. Fortune is a state and nationally recognized education advocate. She led the efforts that resulted in the State of California budgeting a new $300 million block grant in 2018 for the lowest-performing students. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Fortune served as education adviser to two California governors. Fortune is a Trustee Emerita of the California State University, a Pahara-Aspen Fellow and board chair for the California Charter Schools Association. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for her substantial contributions to the field of education.
