Overview
Ursula L. Wright is a tri-sector executive with approximately 20 years of experience shaping systems improvements within public education. As Senior Vice President of K–12 Systems and a member of WestEd’s executive leadership team, she is responsible for leading and supporting organizational efforts that foster field coherence, equity, and impact.
Wright’s immediate past position was with FSG, a global consulting firm, where she co-led the firm’s Education and Youth practice. In that role, she was responsible for talent development, field building, and leadership of strategy and systems change engagements that involved private philanthropy, community foundations, national nonprofits, and local governments.
Prior to working at FSG, Wright was a senior member of the Obama administration, serving as the appointed deputy in the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. In this capacity, she served as the Department’s policy lead on place-based initiatives and the federal Charter Schools Program, and she led special projects for the White House.
Before her government service, Wright was an executive at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the charter school movement. Wright started her career in corporate America.
Education
- MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
- BA in economics, Spelman College
- Coursework in executive education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Honors and Awards
Wright has further contributed to public education through her board service, including tenures with The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing, certifying, and supporting people who want to improve their communities by becoming a teacher, and Achievement Preparatory Academy, a charter school in the most economically disadvantaged ward of Washington, DC. Wright has also served on the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery (Maryland).
