State Education Policy Expert Margaret Horn Joins Achieve's Team

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

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

WASHINGTON – February 4, 2010 – Achieve announced today that Margaret Horn, a former senior education policy advisor to Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, has joined its team in Washington, D.C. As director of state leadership and policy development for Achieve, Horn will primarily be responsible for overseeing the organization's work with states in developing, enacting and sustaining college- and career-ready education policies.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Margaret to the Achieve team," said Mike Cohen, Achieve's president. "Her experience in Tennessee makes her uniquely qualified to guide states as they work to accelerate progress on the college and career-ready agenda. We could not have found anyone more talented than Margaret to advance Achieve's mission of ensuring all students graduate from high school college- and career-ready."

Prior to joining Achieve, Horn served as Gov. Bredesen's chief education policy advisor, leading Tennessee's involvement in the Tennessee Diploma Project, the College & Career-Ready Policy Institute, and, most recently, coordinating the state's "Race to the Top" proposal. She has also worked as a product content manager for Bredex Corp., an educational software company, as a program officer for Tennessee's AmeriCorps, and as executive director for a higher education service learning program based at Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies. Horn holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Vanderbilt University and a master's in medical anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"My work in Tennessee afforded me the opportunity to work closely with Achieve's talented staff, and I am thrilled to join them and continue the critical work of preparing all students for the challenges they will face after high school graduation," said Horn. "The states have led the way on the college- and career-ready agenda, and I look forward to working with all our current and future partners as we work to make college and career readiness a reality for all students."

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. To make college and career readiness a priority, 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.