Empower Schools

Prior to launching Empower Schools, Brett ran the New Initiative group at Massachusetts 2020.  Previously, he led the Greater Boston and New England region for Education Pioneers, a national nonprofit focused on developing leaders for the education sector. His work in the private sector includes designing and leading the corporate social responsibility efforts for Revolution Health, an early-stage venture backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case.  Brett began his career as a classroom teacher and taught in public and private schools at the elementary and secondary levels before helping to start a think tank focused on youth civic engagement in Washington DC.  Brett graduated from Middlebury College and earned his master’s in education from Brown University.

Chris has been at the forefront of several movements to expand educational opportunity and improve schooling including his long time leadership of the Massachusetts and national movement to expand learning time for disadvantaged students.  In addition to leading Empower, he serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, and is a lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. He is also a Partner Emeritus at Bessemer Venture Partners where he helped entrepreneurs build biotechnology and healthcare companies and began his business career as the founder and CEO of GMIS, a medical software company that became the leader in its field and a publicly traded company.  Chris has been active in civic and political life in Massachusetts including winning the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor in 2002 and coming in second in the Democratic primary for Governor in 2006.  Chris and his wife live in Boston where they have raised five children, the oldest of whom is now an elementary school teacher in the Hartford, CT public schools.