Yee-Ann Cho

Vice President – Initiatives

ycho@colegacy.org

720-502-4718

As Vice President of Initiatives, Yee-Ann oversees the programmatic activities in Health and Wellness, Colorado Legacy Schools, Educator Effectiveness and Expanded Learning Opportunities.  Previously, she served as the Chief of Staff to the then-Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, Barbara O’Brien.  As such, she was responsible for managing the daily activities of the office, supervising staff, and overseeing initiatives in the areas of K-12 education reform, early childhood, community service, and Indian affairs. Prior to this she was the founding CEO of a new charter school management organization focused on serving Denver students in grades 6-12.  Yee-Ann came to that role from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where as a Senior Program Officer for Education she managed a portfolio of over $200 million in grants to charter school operators, small schools organizations, and school districts.

Her experience also includes working at New American Schools, a national nonprofit education reform organization, and consulting with various education ventures.  Yee-Ann’s passion for education reform started when she helped start Eagle Rock School, a small, alternative, year-round boarding school serving at-risk adolescents in Estes Park, Colorado, that was founded and is fully funded by the American Honda Motor Company.

Yee-Ann earned a BA in international relations from Colgate University, an EdM in policy and evaluation from Stanford’s School of Education, and an MBA from Yale’s School of Management.

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

College:  Colgate University

Major:  International relations

Proudest Accomplishment:  My three daughters:  Anjali, Matreya, and Kalani.  They make me laugh, they make me cry – and they make me so proud for the people they are becoming.

Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird

Favorite Teacher:  This is a tie between two great teachers I was fortunate to have.  The first, John Zola, was my middle school social studies teacher.  He made learning FUN, and he also had the wisdom (and courage) to tell my mom at the parent-teacher conference that I was way too concerned about my grades and not enough about learning and enjoying learning.  I’ve thought back to him countless times since then, especially now that I’m a parent.  The second teacher was Harry Kelleher, my AP English Lit teacher in 11^th grade.  His passion for the material and the way he fostered class discussion was magical.