Equity-Focused, Improving Student Outcomes
The Academy for Urban School Leadership is a nonprofit organization that provides equity-focused programming to improve educational outcomes for students in underinvested communities.
Twenty years ago, Mike Koldyke envisioned that aspiring teachers in a year-long residency program would stay in our city’s most under resourced schools. In partnership with former CPS CEO Arne Duncan and experienced westside CPS principal Don Feinstein, a new model for teacher preparation was developed.
Through our nationally-recognized Teacher Residency Program, AUSL recruits and trains diverse teachers with the passion and skillset to serve long-term in under-resourced communities. Through AUSL Advisory Services and their Liberated Way approach, we leverage two decades of success transforming schools to help schools and school districts across the country.
Management Team
Shane Caterino
Managing Director, External Relations
Donald Feinstein, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Michael Whitmore
Managing Director, Teaching & Learning
Board of Directors
Lindsey Axel*
Bantam Capital
Zaid Abdul-Aleem*
Managing Director at Moelis & Company
Jennifer Chuang
James E. Cowie*
President & Chief Executive Officer, Collegis Education
Brian Doyal*
Co-Head of Global Investment Banking, Robert W. Baird & Co.
Donald Feinstein, Ph.D.*
Executive Director, AUSL
Munu Gandhi*
President and Chief Operating Officer, ITsavvy
Craig Goesel
Senior Vice President of Management Liability, Alliant/Mesirow Insurance Services
Jackie Jodl*
Senior Vice President of Global Youth and Education, Special Olympics
Martin J. Koldyke*
Founder and Chair Emeritus, AUSL
Robert E. King***
Salt Creek Ventures, LLC
Liz Lefkofsky**
Lefkofsky Family Foundation
Anthony Miller*
Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
Steve Pemberton
Anna Piepmeyer
Director, Community Impact, Aon
Cardelle Spangler*
Chair, AUSL
Chicago Managing Partner, Winston & Strawn LLP
Greg Wasson*
President and Co-Founder, Wasson Enterprise
* Members of the executive committee
** Honorary Director
*** Emeritus
Our core values
Accountability
Collaboration
Excellence
Initiative
Urgency
AUSL’s History
In 2001, Martin (Mike) Koldyke worked with Arne Duncan and Dr. Donald Feinstein to develop the Chicago Teacher Residency, an innovative model of teacher training
This program provided Chicago Public School with high-quality teachers prepared to succeed within the demanding conditions of under-invested schools. In 2006, to better serve the needs of Chicago’s students, AUSL expanded its operations to include school management. CPS selected AUSL to implement a revolutionary model of whole school transformation at Sherman Elementary located in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s southside. Today, Sherman is a Level 1 school, on the district’s School Quality Rating Performance score, and they’re not alone. AUSL now manages schools on the city’s south and west sides.
