Kathleen Mathers

Kathleen Mathers has worked with ESG since 2012, leading projects on state implementation capacity, educator effectiveness systems, and college and career readiness. She served as ESG’s project manager for the 2014 CCSSO Career Readiness Task Force and is now leading ESG’s work with CCSSO to support state implementation of those recommendations.

Prior to joining ESG, Mathers served as Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement in Georgia, a P-16 research, policy, and accountability agency. In that role, she led the development of Georgia’s Race to the Top proposal as project manager, annually prepared and published the state education report card for preschools through postsecondary institutions, collaborated on new legislation and policy initiatives to improve student achievement and school completion, and directed research efforts to determine the effectiveness of K-12 practices.

Kathleen has held a range of other positions in K-12 education. She worked for the Georgia Department of Education as the state director of the Math Science Partnership Program and as a professional learning specialist to prepare district administrators and school leaders across Georgia for the transition to rigorous performance standards. She led programming and professional development efforts at a non-profit children’s science center, and she taught at the elementary level for eight years in Atlanta.

Kathleen earned a Master’s Degree from Georgia State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Education and Math from St Mary’s College.

Why are you in this work?

The combination of my experiences as a classroom teacher, non-profit education leader, and state policy professional has given me a unique perspective on teaching and learning that only confirms for me that achievement gaps do not have to exist. By designing and executing systems change – through thoughtful state and local policy, strategic implementation, and a watchful eye on progress to inform course corrections – we can do so much more to help all kids achieve at high levels in ways that set them up for long-term economic and career success and satisfaction.

Why ESG?

ESG has uniquely allowed me to leverage my collective set of professional experiences to help states, districts, and philanthropic organizations put meaningful college and career readiness reforms in place. As a small firm, ESG is nimble and focused, giving every team member a voice and role in meeting the diverse needs of educators and policy makers. It consistently gives me opportunity to lead a range of meaningful, impactful projects from design to build to evaluation.