Founders, Board & Team

Meet The ReadyCT Team

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Roots are important. It is from our roots that we can grow.

That’s why we remain incredibly grateful to the committed men and women who brought our organization to life.

A brief history

In 2010, Gov. M. Jodi Rell commissioned a task force to examine the achievement gap — the difference in academic performance between Connecticut’s low-income and non low-income students. At the time, Connecticut had one of the worst achievement gaps in the country, largely because our low-income students were performing in the bottom third of the nation.

That task force was led by Steven J. Simmons, who went on to chair the ReadyCT Board of Directors which today includes four other original task force members. When the task force submitted its 2011 report, the members deemed their findings so valuable that they formed a nonprofit — the Connecticut Council for Education Reform, now known as ReadyCT — to pursue the policies it recommended.

Download the 2011 Task Force Report

Founders & Board Members

Since the beginning, our founders and board members have steered us toward success. ReadyCT has been involved in nearly 80 separate legislative efforts to improve education in Connecticut, with over half of them reaching implementation! This happened because of the dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly to ensure opportunity reaches all Connecticut public school students.


 

 

Board of Directors


Jeff Auker – Chair

Associate Vice President – Head of Innovation and Delivery, Infosys (Hartford Hub)


Rick Sharma – Vice Chair

Chief Legal Advisor, Bridgewater Associates 


Marinka Natale – Secretary & Treasurer

CEO & Founder, HealthLynxIQ 


Andrew Bond

Vice President, Human Resources, General Dynamics Electric Boat


William T. Brown

Associate Vice President for Strategic Economic & Workforce Partnership Development, Connecticut State Community College


Tracy Church

Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Hartford 


Chris DiPentima

President/Chief Executive Officer, Connecticut Business and Industry Association


Donna Galluzzo

President (ret.), The Corridor Group


William W. Ginsberg*

President/Chief Executive Officer, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven


Jason Howey

President/Chief Executive Officer, Okay Industries, Inc.


Jeffrey A. Klaus

Regional President, Berkshire Bank


Fran Rabinowitz

President, Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS)


Beth Regan

Mohegan Council of Elders at Mohegan Tribe


Mark Scheinberg

President, Goodwin University


Alan Schnitzer

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Travelers


Jason Trujillo

Vice President, Advanced Manufacturing, Stanley Black & Decker


Melissa Turner

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Yale New Haven Health


Ron Utterbeck

Chief Information Officer, Eversource


Michael Van Leesten

Director, Organization Development & Stakeholder Engagement, Social Venture Partners – Connecticut

*founder

Founders

Steven J. Simmons


Ramani Ayer


David E. A. Carson


Roxanne Coady


William W. Ginsberg*


Carla Klein


Yvette Melendez


Peyton Patterson


Steve Preston


John R. Rathgeber


Dudley N. Williams, Jr.

*current Board of Directors member

Creating a ready Connecticut is our passion, and maybe it is yours, too.

Please know we welcome your input!
Reach out to speak with us about the work!