Jean S. Desravines
Jean S. Desravines, a veteran education and nonprofit leader, became the third president of The Wallace Foundation in 2025.
The former chief executive officer of the national nonprofit organization New Leaders, Desravines has spent more than two decades working at the forefront of creating learning environments that allow all students to excel. In his 14 years as CEO, New Leaders expanded its national footprint to more than 8,000 leaders serving nearly 2 million students across 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. He helped build the organization’s close to $40 million operating reserve and launched major partnerships with historically Black institutions such as Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, as well as Bank Street Graduate School of Education, to create one of the nation’s largest aspiring principals programs serving leaders who are representative of their communities.
Prior to New Leaders, Desravines held several executive leadership roles with New York City Public Schools, including senior counselor to then-Chancellor Joel Klein and executive director of parent and community engagement. He is also the co-author of two books, Breakthrough Principals and The School Leadership Playbook, and was named to Forbes’ “Impact 30” list of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. He is a member of several boards, including HMH, the largest K-12 learning technology company in the country, and KinderCare, the nation’s largest early childhood education and child care provider.
A proud native of Brooklyn, New York, Desravines credits his success to the support of influential mentors, including his father, a Haitian-born judge, and his high school principal. He holds a bachelor of arts in history from St. Francis College and a master’s in public administration from New York University. Desravines lives with his wife of nearly 30 years, Melissa, and is the proud father of Jalen and Mia.
Desravines is a lifelong basketball fan. Given his enthusiasm for the sport, Jean and his son Jalen have committed to visiting every NBA arena in the country. With a dozen arenas under their belts, a favorite pastime is planning their next NBA travel adventure.
