ERS Announces the Appointment of Kira Orange Jones to the Board of Directors

Kira brings a wealth of experience in the education sector and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Teach Plus, a nonprofit organization that develops teachers as leaders to transform our education system. Alongside ERS, Teach Plus is a core member of the Coalition to Reimagine the Teaching Job.

Prior to her role at Teach Plus, Kira served as Senior Vice President at Teach for America (TFA). Among her many accomplishments during her time at TFA, Kira founded the Systems Impact Lab, where she managed 10 regional teams across the Midwest and South and advised TFA regions nationwide on strategy and systems change.

“I am honored to join the board of an organization that brings such critical expertise to the work of ensuring that students have access to the outstanding education that they deserve,” said Orange Jones. “I believe that ERS cares deeply about transforming education to ensure that students and educators thrive, and I am thrilled to contribute to its progress."

In 2011, Kira was elected as the District 2 Representative on Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). She was reelected to two more terms in 2015 and 2019. In her role as a state policymaker, she helped increase teacher pay, strengthened the state’s public charter schools, expanded quality early childhood education for families, and grew the number of students prepared for post-secondary success. She later served as BESE’s Vice President as part of the board’s first-ever all female leadership officer team and was reelected by her fellow Board members in December 2021 to continue in that role.

“Kira's experiences at all levels of the education ecosystem—from classroom teacher to state-level policy lead to her national work with educators have prepared her well to be a board member of ERS,” said Jean-Claude Brizard, ERS Board member and CEO of Digital Promise. “Much like the work of ERS, Kira connects these experiences in ways that offer schools and school systems the levers needed for transformation. I am ecstatic to have her as a colleague on the board of ERS.”

Kira began her career as an elementary school teacher and documentary filmmaker in Louisiana. In 2002, she founded Right Quick Productions, a nonprofit dedicated to telling the stories and amplifying the voices of African American youth.

Kira was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015. Other honors Kira holds include Louisianian of the Year by Louisiana Life Magazine, Woman of the Year by the New Orleans City Business Journal, the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership presented annually to outstanding Teach for America alumni, and Distinguished Alumna of Wesleyan University. Kira is a Moderator for the Pahara Fellowship, a member of the Aspen Global Network, and a founding leadership committee member of Education Leaders of Color (EdLOC). 

She holds a Master of Education degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University.