Chris Barbic

Chris Barbic led Tennesse's efforts to turn around the state's lowest performing schools. Barbic was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of YES College Prep, a network of charter schools. He oversaw all of the senior management and school directors of YES Prep Public Schools. YES Prep exists to increase the number of low-income Houstonians who graduate from a four-year college prepared to compete in the global marketplace and committed to improving disadvantaged communities. In 1995, he earned Houston ISD’s Outstanding Young Educator. Chris has earned a number of awards for his contribution to the educational reform movement, including The Do Something Foundation’s Do Something Brick Award in 2000. In 2001, he was selected by President Bush to serve on the President’s Commission on Excellence in Hispanic Education and in 2006 was awarded Vanderbilt University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.