Megan Chernin, Chair & CEO

Megan Chernin is the founding CEO of The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education. The LA Fund is an independent, non-profit organization working to raise private money to identify, implement, and scale programs to transform Los Angeles’ public schools, and in turn, improve student achievement.

Ms. Chernin has devoted her time, energies and resources to education reform efforts in Los Angeles for more than twenty years. She has volunteered for numerous programs and has served on a variety of non-profit boards.

Most recently, Ms. Chernin was Chair of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder of LA’s Promise (formerly MLA Partner Schools) from 2006 to August 2011. Under her stewardship, LA’s Promise has become one of the leading education reform non-profits in Los Angeles dedicated to the social and academic success of approximately 8,000 students (in two high schools and one middle school)in one of the city’s most challenging neighborhoods. LA’s Promise transforms underperforming public schools and re-makes them into community hubs that offer comprehensive support services for students and families. LA’s Promise also screens and manages more than 60 partners who support these school communities by providing over 200 wraparound services. LA’s Promise model of success is evident with some of the highest attendance rates in LAUSD, consistent academic performance growth (gains in API and CAHSEE scores), and more than doubling college attendance of its high school seniors. Ms. Chernin stepped down as chair of LA’s Promise in August 2011 but remains a member of the board.

Previously, Ms. Chernin served as chair of the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership (LAMP), a coalition of mentoring agencies serving greater Los Angeles. During her tenure, Ms. Chernin created programs such as Go for College, Power Lunch and Career Day to address some of the difficult challenges high school students face. She also produced national public service announcements to promote the broad social and academic impacts of effective mentoring programs. Prior to LAMP, she served on the board of the Fulfillment Fund and was a mentor to high school students.

Currently, Ms. Chernin is a trustee of the Southern California Public Radio Board of Trustees and on the Advisory Board of the Harvard School of Public Health’s National Mentoring Project. An attorney, she has a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law and earned a B.A. in English from Manhattanville College.