About Jay Altman
Throughout his career in education and nonprofit leadership, Jay Altman has focused on creating equitable education opportunities for young people. He led the founding of Leading Educators in 2008, and he was co-founder of FirstLine Schools, a charter management organization serving 3,500 students across New Orleans, where he served as CEO from 2008-2019.
Through board service, Jay also works with SELF (Special Education Leader Fellowship), Catalyst-Ed, and the New Orleans Career Center. From 2005 to 2008, Jay worked in London as Director of Education for ARK Schools, developing a network of academies. Prior to this he was co-founder and a school leader of New Orleans Charter Middle School and co-founder of New Orleans Summerbridge, now Breakthrough New Orleans. He is currently serving as senior advisor to New Schools for New Orleans’ E3 (Executive Education Experience) program for aspiring charter management executives.
Through board service, Jay also works with SELF (Special Education Leader Fellowship), Catalyst-Ed, and the New Orleans Career Center. From 2005 to 2008, Jay worked in London as Director of Education for ARK Schools, developing a network of academies. Prior to this he was co-founder and a school leader of New Orleans Charter Middle School and co-founder of New Orleans Summerbridge, now Breakthrough New Orleans. He is currently serving as senior advisor to New Schools for New Orleans’ E3 (Executive Education Experience) program for aspiring charter management executives.
Leading Educators is continually refining its approach to better answer the question, ‘How do we improve instruction and at the same time build long-term distributed leadership capacity and advocate for the conditions that enable school success?’
