Background
Evan Coughenour is a partner at Bellwether and leads the organization’s work on organizational sustainability.
Since joining Bellwether in 2014, Evan’s clients have included state education agencies, school districts and charter networks, early childhood organizations and intermediaries, Catholic school networks, postsecondary access and success organizations, and major foundations. Prior to Bellwether, Evan worked as both a consultant and special assistant to the CEO at ASI Government, interned at A Better Chicago, and taught in the District of Columbia as a Teach For America corps member.
Evan holds an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a master’s degree in elementary education from American University, and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in psychology from Yale University. Based in San Francisco, Evan is an outdoor enthusiast, a recovering runner, a lover of all things music, proud husband of a longtime KIPP school leader, and a beguiled father of two.
Why I Do This Work
Teddy Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Strengthening our education system is our generation’s most challenging and worthwhile work. During my time as a tutor and teacher, I was struck by disparities in educational opportunity, the wildly different outcomes of students growing up only a few miles apart, and the degree to which these opportunities and outcomes were determined by geography and family resources — amplified by policy, prejudice, and parochialism. The tight correlation of children’s educational achievement with parental social and economic status belies the American Dream. Our country can and must do better and I am thrilled to contribute in a small way toward rebuilding our most critical institutions — in partnership with my committed colleagues at Bellwether and those at the organizations we serve.
Focus Areas
Artificial Intelligence
District and Charter Systems and Governance
Nontraditional and Out-of-School Learning
Organizational Sustainability
Contact Information
evan.coughenour@bellwether.org
Connect on LinkedIn
