Chris Rush serves as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Innovation and Director of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. He also co-founded New Classrooms Innovation Partners, a nonprofit focused on new instructional models including the School of One personalized learning program, named one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Inventions of the Year. There he has served as Chief Program Officer overseeing model design, build and nationwide school implementation as well as de facto COO/President overseeing strategic and day to day organizational activities. Most notably, Chris previously worked in the Office of Accountability at the NYC Department of Education to co-lead and salvage the troubled design and development of NYC’s $95MM+ Achievement Reporting and Innovation System; Launched an ed-tech consulting services practice at Amplify Education; Specialized in financial management & IT development services at IBM; Founded a pair of tech startups during the dotcom bubble; & taught earth sciences for the Upper Dublin (PA) School District at Robbins Park Environmental Center.
Chris is a Pahara Fellow alum of the Aspen Institute, a recipient of the Robin Hood Heroes award, and holds a M.S. in Information Technology & B.S in Management Science and Information Systems. He is a recurring university guest lecturer at Stanford & Harvard Business Schools and sits on a number of boards for national social impact organizations. Chris splits his time between NYC & DC with his wife and two children.