The Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (OSA) was named as one of Georgia Trend magazine's "2006 The Best and Brightest - Under Forty" executives.  The article reads, "Education was her love, but Jennifer Rippner believed she could best serve the public interest outside the classroom.  And so she has - first in Florida, as director of a new charter school and then as organizer and head of the state's Charter School Accountability Center.  She's now in Georgia, recruited here to work with the state's charter schools program and then moving on to serve as education policy advisor to the governor."  She also serves as Governor Sonny Perdue's education policy advisor and has served in that capacity since June 2005.  She designed the governor's 2006 education agenda and then worked to get it through the legislative and budget process.  As the OSA director, she is a member of the Alliance of Education Agency Heads.

The Georgia Partnership's Board of Directors is comprised of professionals from many different fields but all are united in a common goal: raising student achievement in Georgia.  We are grateful for their governance and service and especially proud when they are recognized for individual achievement.  Here is just a sample of some of their past honors and accolades:

Emily Jennette

Jennifer Rippner

Michael Thurmond

Kathy Ashe

Sally FitzGerald

Ann Cramer

George Israel

Maritza Pichon

VOICES Award Winners

Four of the seven honorees at the first annual VOICES for Georgia’s Children “Big Voice” awards dinner have strong Georgia Partnership ties.  U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, a current Partnership Board member; Tom Upchurch, past president of the Partnership; Mel Kruger, CEO, L.E. Schwartz & Son, Inc., Macon, current board member and one of the Partnership’s founding members in 1990; and Otis Johnson, current Savannah mayor and Board member, were all honored for their tireless efforts on behalf of making children a priority in Georgia.