Our Team
President and Chief Executive Officer
Judy Peppler is President and Chief Executive Officer of KnowledgeWorks, leading the social enterprise that is working in more than 30 states to improve the numbers of students who graduate ready for college or career. Peppler is a graduate of the Broad Superintendent Academy and is the former...
Chief Information Officer
Catherine Allshouse is the Chief Information Officer for KnowledgeWorks.
Previously, Allshouse was responsible for Software Engineering at The Kroger Company, that nation’s largest retail grocer. Her team of 200 developed solutions for Kroger’s stores, customers, distribution centers,...
Senior Director, Strategy and Operations, StriveTogether
Jennifer Blatz serves as Senior Director, Strategy & Operations for StriveTogether, a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks, where she oversees StriveTogether’s strategy for accelerating the progress of cradle to career partnerships. This includes providing strategic guidance and oversight to the...
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
As the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Holly Brinkman is responsible for all aspects of the finance and accounting functions for the Foundation and subsidiaries and management of the investment portfolio. Her responsibilities include oversight of the...
Senior Officer for the Advancement of Underserved Learners
In this newly created role for KnowledgeWorks, Harold Brown explores and develops opportunities for KnowledgeWorks to invest and partner in initiatives designed to dramatically improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged youth. Initially, Harold is developing and overseeing a statewide...
Vice President, Communications and Marketing
Cris Charbonneau serves as the Vice President of Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining KnowledgeWorks, Cris served as the Deputy Secretary of Communications for the North Carolina Department of Transportation where she led all communication efforts for the second largest...
Managing Director, StriveTogether
Jeff Edmondson is Managing Director of StriveTogether, a national cradle-to-career initiative that brings together leaders in Pre-K-12 schools, higher education, business and industry, community organizations, government leaders, parents and other stakeholders who are committed to helping...
Chief Learning Officer
As the Chief Learning Officer of competency-based education work at KnowledgeWorks, Virgel Hammonds partners with national policymakers and local learning communities throughout the country to redesign learning structures to become more learner-centered and based on proficiency, rather than...
Director, Talent Management
As Director of Talent Management, Whayne Herriford helps shape the KnowledgeWorks culture and enterprise-wide talent and organizational performance strategies and programs that support the achievement of organization's business strategies and goals.
Prior to joining KnowledgeWorks,...
Senior Director of Operations
Deborah Howard, Senior Director of Operations, leads KnowledgeWorks' research and development work, concentrating on product design and innovation, evaluation and quality control. She blends her unique knowledge and experience in the field of education, non-profit and corporate sectors to help...
Chief of Staff and Vice President, Talent and Organizational Performance
As Chief of Staff and Vice President, Talent and Organizational Performance, Meredith Meyer is the lead architect of the KnowledgeWorks culture and enterprise-wide talent and organizational performance strategies and programs that support the achievement of organization's business strategies...
Vice President, Policy and Advocacy
Matt Williams currently serves as the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for KnowledgeWorks. In this role, he is responsible for directing both federal and state policy, advocacy and strategic foresight (future of education work) on behalf of the Foundation. Matt assists KnowledgeWorks and...