Jack Elsey
Founder
Jack Elsey has been a results-oriented educator for nearly two decades. In 2022, Jack founded the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative (MEWI), an organization committed to addressing the teacher shortage crisis and building a more robust educator pipeline for the the state, and serves as its CEO. MEWI’s first major project, Talent Together, an innovative set of teacher pathway programs led by 48 Michigan Intermediate School Districts, is one of the largest collaboration between school districts of its kind in state history. To date, Talent Together has over 900 candidates who will begin a pathway to teacher certification this fall. Before establishing MEWI, Jack was Partner & CEO of the Detroit Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that works to improve public school quality in Detroit. Under his leadership, DCF’s impact grew to directly serve over 28,000 students, impact over 130 of Detroit’s schools, and improve the practice of more than 12,000 teachers and principals. Prior to this role, Elsey served as a school district leader in Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. As chief of innovation and incubation at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Elsey led the charge for equitable funding for charter and alternative schools, tripled the number of seats for out-of-school youth, supported a highly-regarded school quality rating system, and streamlined charter school authorizing practices. During his tenure, charter school performance significantly improved, moving all 12 schools out of the bottom performance tier. Elsey has served as assistant superintendent of Detroit Public Schools and a regional leader for Teach For America New York. He has also coached executive leaders for district and non-profit systems, supported the development of school accountability systems and developed autonomous schools around the country. In 2022, Elsey was selected by the Detroit Regional Chamber as a Harvard Young American Leader Fellow. Elsey is a Future Chief with Chiefs For Change, an Empower Schools Senior Fellow, and Broad Residency alumnus. He began his career as a Teach For America corps member, teaching middle school in the South Bronx. Elsey serves on a number of boards, including Black Leaders Detroit Ally Council, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Detroit Board Leadership Program, the University Liggett School Alumni Board of Governors, the Diploma Equity Project, and the Michigan Department of Education’s Diversity and Equity in the Educator Workforce Advisory Group, and Teach For America-Detroit. He has a BA in Philosophy and History from Wake Forest University, a Master’s in Teaching from Pace University and a Master’s in Education Leadership from the Broad Center at the Yale School of Management.
Jack Elsey has been a results-oriented educator for nearly two decades. In 2022, Jack founded the Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative (MEWI), an organization committed to addressing the teacher shortage crisis and building a more robust educator pipeline for the the state, and serves as its CEO. MEWI’s first major project, Talent Together, an innovative set of teacher pathway programs led by 48 Michigan Intermediate School Districts, is one of the largest collaboration between school districts of its kind in state history. To date, Talent Together has over 900 candidates who will begin a pathway to teacher certification this fall. Before establishing MEWI, Jack was Partner & CEO of the Detroit Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that works to improve public school quality in Detroit. Under his leadership, DCF’s impact grew to directly serve over 28,000 students, impact over 130 of Detroit’s schools, and improve the practice of more than 12,000 teachers and principals. Prior to this role, Elsey served as a school district leader in Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. As chief of innovation and incubation at Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Elsey led the charge for equitable funding for charter and alternative schools, tripled the number of seats for out-of-school youth, supported a highly-regarded school quality rating system, and streamlined charter school authorizing practices. During his tenure, charter school performance significantly improved, moving all 12 schools out of the bottom performance tier. Elsey has served as assistant superintendent of Detroit Public Schools and a regional leader for Teach For America New York. He has also coached executive leaders for district and non-profit systems, supported the development of school accountability systems and developed autonomous schools around the country. In 2022, Elsey was selected by the Detroit Regional Chamber as a Harvard Young American Leader Fellow. Elsey is a Future Chief with Chiefs For Change, an Empower Schools Senior Fellow, and Broad Residency alumnus. He began his career as a Teach For America corps member, teaching middle school in the South Bronx. Elsey serves on a number of boards, including Black Leaders Detroit Ally Council, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Detroit Board Leadership Program, the University Liggett School Alumni Board of Governors, the Diploma Equity Project, and the Michigan Department of Education’s Diversity and Equity in the Educator Workforce Advisory Group, and Teach For America-Detroit. He has a BA in Philosophy and History from Wake Forest University, a Master’s in Teaching from Pace University and a Master’s in Education Leadership from the Broad Center at the Yale School of Management.
