Kathleen Mathers

As a Principal at Education Strategy Group (ESG), Kathleen leads the firm’s career readiness portfolio focused on education-to-workforce pathways as drivers of economic and social mobility. She helps key stakeholders—within state education agencies, school districts, higher education institutions, employer-facing and community-based organizations—assess and strengthen career preparation systems to lead more learners to in-demand, high-wage employment paths. She brings deep experience in designing, managing, and executing projects and programs to strengthen and scale pathways—which include career advising, work-based learning, high-value credentialing, early postsecondary opportunities, and social capital development—to put more learners on an accelerated path to economic and career success.Prior to joining ESG, Kathleen served as Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement in Georgia, a P-16 research, policy, and accountability agency. In that role, she collaborated on legislation and policy initiatives to improve student achievement, and she directed related research to determine the effectiveness of K-12 practices to drive overall systems change from early childhood through postsecondary education and training.In addition, Kathleen led a statewide program to strengthen math and science teacher quality in Georgia; led program development and evaluation efforts at a non-profit science center; and was a classroom teacher for eight years in Atlanta.