Elise Darwish

National Board Vice Chair

Elise is the CEO of Ensemble Learning. Her role focuses on strategic vision to improve school quality and remove barriers to achievement for underserved students, particularly English learners.

Previously, Elise was the founding chief academic officer at Aspire Public Schools, where she grew the organization to a high-performing charter management organization with 38 schools in Tennessee and California.  

She was also the founding instructional coordinator at the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, the first charter school in California and the second in the nation.

Elise is an Aspen Pahara Fellow and Oakland School for the Arts Chairperson.