CAMBRIDGE, MA [July 21, 2022] – iCivics, the nation’s leader in civic education, today announced that finance and philanthropy expert Chuck Harris has joined its board of directors.
After more than 20 years of leadership in the banking industry, Harris retired as co-head of Corporate Finance in the Americas at Goldman Sachs to take on a new and ambitious endeavor—amplifying the impact of philanthropy on some of our nation’s most pressing and complex challenges.
Harris refocused his business acumen to help innovate the nonprofit sector, most recently serving as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Meridian Partners, where he continues to serve as a special advisor. There, he planned and oversaw the execution and advancement of Blue Meridian’s strategy and operations, engaging and supporting new philanthropic partners within the organization’s pioneering model for finding and funding scalable solutions to address poverty and limited economic mobility. Harris spearheaded the effort to establish Blue Meridian as an independent 501(c)(3) and then led a $2 billion fundraising effort using insight and tactics from the best models in both the private and public sectors.
Harris brings his social impact, nonprofit, and financial expertise to iCivics as it continues on an ambitious path toward sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States by providing free, engaging, civic education to all K–12 students.
“I believe civic education is a long-term investment in the strength of our democracy and I look forward to contributing to iCivics’ efforts to lead the growing movement for more and better civic learning on the cusp of affecting real and lasting change at this critical time for our nation,” Harris said.
Known for its engaging games, iCivics has expanded its scope in recent years. It continues to be the leading provider of K–12 civic education content, with hundreds of free, nonpartisan digital curricular resources benefiting more than half of the nation’s students in grades 4–12 every year. iCivics also supports excellence in civics and American history education through high-quality professional learning and its continued leadership as part of the Educating for American Democracy Implementation Consortium. And, through its leadership of the CivXNow Coalition of more than 270 organizations, iCivics also works to advance civic education as a national priority.
“I have gotten to know Chuck during this process and I am thrilled to work with someone of such deep courage and commitment to fundamental values, and to have his partnership to support our mission and these same values that animate our work,” iCivics Executive Director Louise Dubé said. “iCivics is a social impact organization and Chuck brings all of the skills we need to address this enormous social problem: how to train and engage all young people to support our constitutional democracy.”
