Leading education reformer and former chancellor of DC public schools Michelle Rhee has joined Equal Opportunity Ventures as a venture partner. Rhee, who was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people and has appeared on its cover as well as Newsweek’s, will focus on investing in promising education startups and companies that create pathways for jobseekers into quality jobs with increased economic mobility.
Started by Harvard economist and MacArthur Genius winner Roland Fryer and Bill Helman, former Managing Partner at Greylock, Equal Opportunity Ventures invests in early-stage businesses that increase economic mobility in America. Currently deploying $100 million in capital from its third fund, EO invests across healthcare, housing, workforce development, education, fintech, and other sectors, assessing potential companies’ social money multiplier (the amount of expected income given back to society for every dollar invested).
“Michelle is an American hero in how she has advanced education reform – finding data-driven solutions that have vastly improved learning and opportunities for students. We first worked together when Michelle was chancellor of D.C.’s public schools, and I was so impressed by her entrepreneurial spirit as we tested a better way to encourage academic achievement,” Fryer, EO’s Founding Partner and a Professor of Economics at Harvard, said. “I’m excited for how Michelle will bring her deep expertise to investing in promising educational and workforce development startups that are expanding opportunities to students of all backgrounds.”
“It’s easy to be skeptical about changing the education system, but I’m very bullish about the work Bill, Roland and the EO team have been doing, diving into how market forces can increase economic mobility. Working together I believe we can support the founders and innovations that will transform education and workforce training,” Rhee said. “Already at EO, we’ve met with founders who have a keen understanding of the need for better training and upskilling programs to land people without a college degree in high-demand, high-growth jobs. I’m excited to be part of this work and see huge potential.”
Prior to EO, Rhee co-founded BuildWithin, a workplace learning software startup that made apprenticeships accessible to more companies and workers. She previously served as CEO of StudentsFirst, a nonprofit education advocacy organization that passed more than 140 education bills across 18 states. Rhee served as chancellor of DC’s public school system – 50,000 students, 144 schools, and 7,000 teachers – from 2007-2010. She successfully negotiated a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement that implemented performance pay for teachers and a first-of-its-kind evaluation system in which 50% was based on the academic growth of students. Under Rhee’s leadership, DCPS became the fastest growing urban school district academically and was the only school district in the country that saw double digit gains in reading and math in tested grades in her first two years in office.
About Equal Opportunity Ventures
Founded by Harvard economist and MacArthur Genius winner Roland Fryer and Bill Helman, former Managing Partner at Greylock, Equal Opportunity Ventures invests in early-stage businesses that increase opportunity in America. Guided by the best evidence and leading research on what drives economic mobility, they invest in people and ideas that can succeed in and transform those markets.
