Kevin Jennings Biography

Kevin Jennings is the CEO of Be the Change, a nonprofit that creates national issue based campaigns on pressing problems in American society. ServiceNation, the first campaign launched from Be the Change, Inc.'s platform, helped to achieve the strongly bi-partisan Kennedy Serve America Act -- the greatest expansion of national service in our country in 60 years. OpportunityNation, our second campaign launched in 2011, promotes thoughtful, practical and bi-partisan solutions to increase opportunity and economic mobility in America.

From 2009-2011 Kevin served as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, heading the department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS). In this role, Mr. Jennings led federal efforts to promote the safety, health and well being of America’s students. Kevin led the Obama Administration’s anti- initiative, which culminated in March 2011 with the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention keynoted by President Obama.

Kevin began his career as a high school history teacher and coach, first at Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I., from 1985 to 1987, and then at Concord Academy in Concord, Mass., from 1987 to 1995. At Concord, he served as the faculty advisor to the nation's first -Straight Alliance (GSA) leading him in 1990 found the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national education organization bringing together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and straight teachers, parents, students, and community members who wanted to end anti-LGBT bias in our schools. Jennings left teaching in 1995 to build the all-volunteer GLSEN organization into a national force, serving as its founding Executive Director until 2008. Under his leadership, GLSEN programs such as Gay- Straight Alliance, the Day of Silence and No Name-Calling Week became commonplace in America’s schools. GLSEN’s advocacy was key in passing comprehensive safe schools laws in eleven states, increasing the number of students protected from anti-LGBT discrimination from less than 900,00 in 1993 (less than 2% of the national student body) to 14.3 million by 2008 (nearly 30%).

Kevin became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he received his B.A. magna cum laude in history from in 1985. He also hold an MA in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business. He has received the Human and Civil Rights Award of the National Education Association, the Distinguished Service Award of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Diversity Leadership Award of the National Association of Independent Schools, and was elected Chief Marshal of the 2010 Harvard Commencement as the member of his class who has had the greatest positive impact on the world since graduating. He is a Board Member of the Harvard Alumni Association and Union Theological Seminary. He is also Board Chair for the Tectonic Theater Project, which created .

Mr. Jennings has authored six books, with his latest, Mama's Boy, Preacher's Son: A Memoir, being named a Book of Honor by the American Library Association in 2006. He also helped write and produce the documentary Out of the Past, which won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary.

Mr. Jennings and his partner, Jeff Davis, a senior executive at Barclay’s, celebrated their 17th year together in 2011. They are the proud "parents" of a golden retriever, Amber, and a Bernese mountain dog, Ben, and also have a "granddog" in Ben's son, Jackson, born in March 2009.