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Dear America’s Promise Alliance Partners and Community,

As we continue to navigate this pivotal moment in our nation’s history, the integrity and impact of our organization and the Alliance will rely in large part on bold, honest, and visionary leadership. On behalf of the Board, I am thrilled and honored to share with you that America’s Promise has named a leader who is deeply committed to ensuring this challenging moment translates into the investment, action, and structural change needed to create a more just and equitable world for our nation’s young people.

After a nationwide search, Mike O’Brien, former high school teacher and longtime leader of iMentor, has been named CEO of America’s Promise Alliance. Mike combines a reverence for the strength of the Alliance with exciting new ideas about how to advance our collective mission in this next chapter. His combination of character, expertise, and vision are unique, inspiring, and crucial to moving our work forward. He begins in the role on April 1st.

Mike began his career as a high school teacher and basketball coach in Brooklyn, New York. These experiences helped him understand the role supportive relationships play in educational equity and success and led him to join iMentor as a front-line case manager when the organization was a small startup in New York City. Four years later, upon assuming the position of CEO, he designed a program model that is now generating field-leading postsecondary outcomes, is serving more than 10,000 young people annually, and has expanded to 22 communities across the country.

As a member of the Alliance and a leader and participant of numerous collective impact efforts, he is also acutely attuned to the unique value of our collaborative leadership in the youth-supporting space and the importance of youth leadership in shaping our efforts. Over the past 13 years as iMentor’s CEO, he has cultivated an organizational structure and culture that empowers young people to tell their own stories, elevate their insights, and deploy their leadership—values that are central to the mission of America’s Promise and the work of our partners.

Particularly notable is both the expertise and humility with which Mike approaches anti-racism efforts personally and professionally. He has demonstrated a strong commitment to building an organizational infrastructure and tangible practices that actively and intentionally promote equity and inclusion, and he has a track record of investing in and measuring the impacts of actionable strategies to dismantle oppressive systems.

Our nation is experiencing a time of incredible challenge and opportunity—a time that is profoundly influencing young people’s paths and futures. Mike’s unwavering commitment to equity and justice and his ability to work hand-in-hand with others to establish an ambitious vision and make that vision a reality uniquely equip him to lead the Alliance in meeting this historic moment.

On behalf of the Board, I’d also like to take this opportunity to express gratitude to interim CEO Dennis Vega who skillfully led the organization through a period of national tumult—advancing work across the Alliance’s many campaigns and initiatives while simultaneously spearheading newer youth voice and anti-racism efforts. Dennis will return to his previous role as Chief Operating Officer at America’s Promise. We also want to thank John Gomperts, who stepped down as CEO of America’s Promise last January and has been involved with the organization since its inception. And we’d like to thank the staff and all of you for working daily and diligently to support our nation’s young people.

We are excited to work in partnership with Mike to build on this promising foundation and realize together the power of the Alliance in helping young people lead and thrive. As Mike joins the team in April, his onboarding will prioritize listening to and learning from you about your experiences with America’s Promise Alliance and your aspirations for our future.

We invite you to publicly welcome Mike in his new role by sharing the news across your social media channels using this toolkit ([link removed]). You can also view Mike’s bio ([link removed]) as well as the official press release ([link removed]) announcing him as the new CEO. In the meantime, please join me in offering Mike your congratulations and support as he prepares for this exciting new journey.

In partnership,

AmericasPromise.org ([link removed])

C. Gregg Petersmeyer
Chair, America’s Promise Alliance





1110 Vermont Ave NW Suite 900 | Washington, DC xxxxxx US

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