About IRRE

Board of Directors

IRRE's board reflects our commitment to addressing the complex challenges that face young people in diverse communities. Board members bring practical and academic expertise from the fields of K-12 and higher education, youth development, advocacy, finance, law, community change, and organizational development.

Anne C. Kubisch, Chair

Director, Roundtable on Community Change, The Aspen Institute

Anne C. Kubisch is the Director of the Roundtable on Community Change at The Aspen Institute, which distills lessons learned and works on cross-cutting problems facing policymakers, practitioners, funders, and researchers in the field of community change. Ms. Kubisch directs a number of Roundtable projects, has been the lead author of five books published by the Roundtable, and has written numerous papers and articles about promoting change in distressed communities. She serves as the Roundtable’s lead facilitator and trainer, and frequently gives public presentations on the Roundtable’s work. Previously, Ms. Kubisch spent 10 years at the Ford Foundation, initially working on Latin American programs, then as Representative in Nigeria, and finally as Deputy Director of the Urban Poverty Program.

Victor C. Young, Vice-Chair

Executive Director, Cornerstone Literacy

Victor C. Young has worked as both a professional and volunteer, providing leadership, strategic thinking and definitive actions to develop high-quality, effective schooling for all children. Over the past twenty years he has worked to constructively impact schooling, social systems, and public policies through the power of private philanthropy. Mr. Young currently serves as the executive director of Cornerstone Literacy, a national project of the New York Institute for Special Education, created to help dramatically improve the literacy skills of public primary-school children in high-poverty schools. He is the founder and current chairman of the Center for Collaboration and the Future of Schooling, an organization with a history of working with major foundations and governments to improve the quality of schooling, at scale, for disadvantaged peoples. In the area of philanthropy, Mr. Young served as the Senior Consultant in the School Reform division at the Rockefeller Foundation, founding director of the Stark Education Partnership in Canton, Ohio, and program officer for pre-collegiate education at the Cleveland Foundation.

James Walker, Treasurer

C. Kent McGuire, Ph.D.

Dean, Temple University, College of Education

C. Kent McGuire currently serves as the Dean of the College of Education, and is a tenured Professor in the Educational Administration Program, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, at Temple University. Previously Dr. McGuire was a senior vice president at the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, where his responsibilities included leadership of the Education, Children and Youth division. From 1998 through 2001, Dr. McGuire served in the Clinton administration as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, where he was the senior officer for the department's research and development agency. As the education program officer for the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts from 1995 to 1998, he managed Pew's K-12 grants portfolio. From 1991 to 1995, Dr. McGuire served as Education Program Director for the Eli Lilly Endowment.

Ray Daniels, Ed.D.

Senior Associate, Cross & Joftus, LLC

Ray Daniels was the superintendent of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools from 1998 to 2005. He led the district’s implementation of First Things First and oversaw a remarkable increase in student achievement, graduation rate, and attendance across 43 schools. During his tenure, the achievement gap between white and Hispanic students virtually evaporated. Mr. Daniels also led an effort to build community support for schools, which resulted in the successful passage of a $120 million bond issue, the first successful bond issue for the district in 30 years. Prior to his tenure as superintendent, Mr. Daniels served as the district’s director of personnel and the assistant superintendent for personnel services. He also served as a junior high and high school English teacher, basketball and track coach, and high school assistant principal.

Todd M. Hixson, MBA

Associate Executive Director, Metropolitan Hospital Center

Todd M. Hixson is Associate Executive Director at Metropolitan Hospital Center, a 360-bed hospital serving primarily the East Harlem area of New York City. Mr. Hixson was previously the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer and is now responsible for hospital-wide deployment of the operating methods of the Toyota Production System, also known as the Lean Management System or Lean Thinking. Mr. Hixson has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Community Premier Plus, Inc., a prepaid health services plan, and was Assistant Vice President at New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, where he was responsible for financing major capital projects with revenue bonds and capital leases.