Communications Strategist and Education Reform Veteran, Chad Colby, Joins Achieve's Team

Sunday, November 6, 2011Printer-friendly version

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

Sandy Boyd, (202) 419-1542, sboyd@achieve.org

Chad Colby, (202) 419-1570, ccolby@achieve.org

WASHINGTON – November 7, 2011 – Achieve announced today that Chad Colby, a communications expert and veteran of three state education agencies, has joined its Washington, D.C. team as director of strategic communications and outreach. In this position, Colby will be primarily responsible for overseeing the organization's communications efforts to advance its mission to help states raise academic standards and high school graduation requirements, improve assessments and strengthen accountability.

"We are excited to welcome Chad to the Achieve team," said Mike Cohen, President of Achieve. "His communications and policy expertise makes him ideally suited to help Achieve advance its work with states to ensure all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and career."

Colby brings more than 15 years of experience to his new post. His prior work in three state education agencies included assisting New Mexico's secretary of education with the adoption of new education reform initiatives; serving as the Communications Director at the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education; and working as an assistant to the Florida Commissioner of Education, where he worked on the implementation of then-Governor Jeb Bush's "A+ Plan." Colby also worked at the U.S. Department of Education and served as the deputy assistant secretary for media affairs and strategic communication from 2007-2008. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Colby graduated from Florida State University.

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Created in 1996 by the nation's governors and corporate leaders, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform organization based in Washington D.C. that helps states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability. Achieve is leading the effort to make college and career readiness a national priority so that the transition from high school graduation to postsecondary education and careers is seamless. In 2005 Achieve launched the American Diploma Project Network. Starting with 13 original states, the Network has now grown to include 35 states educating nearly 85 percent of all U.S. public school students. Through the ADP Network, governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders and business executives work together to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning high school standards, assessments, graduation requirements and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers. For more information about the work of Achieve, visit www.achieve.org.