User Profile

President & Chief Executive Officer, Green Dot Public Schools

Cristina De Jesus has been a member of the Green Dot Team since 2002, and she has served in her current role for the last five years. As President and Chief Academic Officer, she oversees all of Green Dot's academic programs, curriculum development, human capital, and training programs for administrators and teachers and has lead the charge to create Green Dot's nationally-recognized teacher development and evaluation system. She also oversees school operations, human resources, IT, and data systems. She plays an integral role in the collaboration with Green Dot's Board of Directors and Green Dot's Teachers' Union. Most recently, she has been part of the core team working on Green Dot's plans to expand nationally. Cristina joined Green Dot as the founding principal at Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School, Green Dot's second school. Four years later, she became Green Dot's Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction, serving in that role for two years before being named Chief Operating Officer. She was an English and History teacher for seven years in the Santa Monica/Malibu School District and earned National Board Certification in Early Adolescent/English Language Arts, an advanced teaching credential awarded to only a small fraction of our nation's teachers.Cristina earned a M.Ed., a M.Ed. (Administration) and recently earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA. She has helped build the foundation of Green Dot's success with a role in nearly every initiative and undertaking to boost student achievement. Cristina is a Fellow of the 10th class of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.