Judy Peppler

Judy Peppler President and Chief Executive Officer Areas of Expertise: strategy, nonprofit management, community engagement “I believe there has never been a greater need to innovate and transform the education system to make sure we are serving every student well and putting them on a path to success as life-long learners.” Judy leads KnowledgeWorks in their efforts to dramatically improve the number of students who graduate ready for college or career. The former Chief Transformation Officer for Wake County Public Schools, the country’s 16th largest school district located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Judy is merging a successful business career with a passion to change student achievement outcomes. She previously served as the state president for Qwest Communications in Oregon and worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 23 years. Over the course of her career at Qwest, Judy advanced through numerous positions, including network operations, human resources, lobbying, media, government and community relations. Prior to her work at Wake County Public Schools, Peppler was deeply involved in education issues in Portland. She served on the Board of the Portland Schools Foundation and was Co-Chair of Portland’s Cradle to Career Council the predecessor to Portland’s StriveTogether partnership now known as All Hands Raised. Judy believes students need learning environments that empower them to think critically, solve problems and prepare to compete in a global environment – and that communities must be fully engaged in their success. Through KnowledgeWorks’ policy work, innovative work with schools on the ground and research on the future of education, Judy hopes that the organization will play a critical role in helping students be prepared for college and the careers of tomorrow. Judy is a graduate of Arizona State University and holds a master’s of business administration from Boise State University. She is also a graduate of the Broad Superintendent’s Academy.