Keri Randolph, Ed.LD, has been named Chattanooga 2.0 executive director, Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, announced Tuesday.
Dr. Randolph has more than 20 years of experience working and advocating for children and families through diverse roles across the education sector from classroom teacher, to nonprofit leader, to cabinet-level executive of two large school systems in Tennessee. She returns home to Chattanooga to pick up the work she started when she lead the initial Chattanooga 2.0 K-12 working group in 2016 as a Hamilton County Schools employee.
“Keri is a fierce advocate for children and a strong and experienced collaborative leader,” Ms.
Gillenwater said. “Her experience building cross-sector partnerships across multiple stakeholders and complexities to solve problems for children and communities makes her the ideal leader to grow the Chattanooga 2.0 cradle-to-career collaborative to new heights.”
Dr. Randolph most recently served as chief strategy officer for Metro Nashville Public Schools where she oversaw the creation of implementation initiatives and programs that helped students and schools recover from the pandemic. Notable MNPS initiatives include the Navigator program, the Promising Scholars summer program, ESSER spending plan and the district's high-dosage tutoring program.
“We are absolutely delighted that Keri Randolph is returning to Chattanooga to lead this very important work so vital to advancing equity and opportunity in Hamilton County,” said Edna Varner of Public Education Foundation, one of four organizations that founded Chattanooga 2.0 in 2016.
Since living in Chattanooga, Dr. Randolph earned a doctorate of education leadership degree from Harvard University and worked to redesign K-12 teacher and leader pathways during her residency at Tulane University, where she served as director of K-12 Programs and professor of practice. During her time at Harvard, she was a key support to establishing the Hamilton County Children’s Cabinet and current Hamilton County Schools Student Success Plan initiative, officials said.
“Dr. Randolph is well known and respected for her education work in Chattanooga, and she is a great choice to lead Chattanooga 2.0,” said Hamilton County Schools superintendent, Justin Robertson, Ed.D. “Having worked with her during her time at Hamilton County Schools, I know she brings both knowledge and understanding of our district and its needs to her new position. Dr. Randolph’s experience in leading education innovation, developing public-private partnerships, and bringing stakeholders together will serve the organization well as she builds the relationships to help ensure the success of every child in our community. We look forward to welcoming her back to the area and working with her collaboratively to elevate the trajectory of local students.”
Dr. Randolph received her bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Agnes Scott College, and a master's degree in education from East Carolina University.