Jonathan Schorr

Jonathan Schorr is a partner in the San Francisco office of the NewSchools Venture Fund. Jonathan leads NewSchools’ field-building efforts, including the annual Summit and the Community of Practice, and oversees NewSchools’ policy advocacy, publications and public relations, as well as data analysis. In addition, like other Partners, Jonathan has responsibility for investment strategy and management. Jonathan brings to NewSchools experience in both entrepreneurial education reform and in communications. Prior to joining NewSchools, Jonathan served as Director of New Initiatives at the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Foundation, a network of high-performing inner-city public schools. There, he led the Foundation’s work in elementary schools and high schools, and its services to its alumni nationwide. Jonathan has worked as an author, journalist and teacher. Schorr’s critically acclaimed first book, titled Hard Lessons: The Promise of an Inner-City Charter School, was published by Ballantine Books in the fall of 2002. The book was written under a fellowship from the Open Society Institute, where Schorr was a fellow. Previously, Schorr was an education reporter with Oakland Tribune, and also has written on education in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Education Week, The Nation, Teacher Magazine, the Washington Monthly, Salon.com, and other publications. His writing has won numerous awards, including a national education writers award and the Outstanding Young Journalist prize from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Jonathan graduated from Yale University with a degree in sociology in 1990. He taught public high school for three years in Southern California as a member of the founding corps of Teach For America before moving to Oakland, California, where he has lived since 1994.