Rich was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. Because English is his second language, as an educator he is particularly passionate about our students who are English Language learners. His career in education began as a High School English teacher and College Counselor in New York City, where he developed a passion for all things teaching and learning. After six years of teaching, Rich served as a principal in Denver, Colorado, where his schools (KIPP: Cole College Prep Academy and Denver School of Science and Technology) showed some of the strongest growth and performance in the state for African American and Latinx students. After leading schools for 6 years, he served as the Chief Academic Officer for Uplift Education in the Dallas/Fort Worth region for 8 years and helped grow a system of charter schools serving 20,000 students. Three years ago, Rich moved to the Bay Area to join the Lighthouse Community Public Schools family with his wife and his two daughters to lead transformative work in the East Oakland community.
Team Members
