About this episode
One thing that is so cool about our Leader Chats is the diversity of those we talk with. We are so fortunate to have access to great leaders that we can all learn from. Jon Hage, CEO of Charter Schools USA, joined us to discuss their vision, hopes, and challenges and all that they have learned along the way. As you will notice, Jon is passionate about the mission of impacting the lives of kids, and his leadership insights can help all of us learn and grow.
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Jon Hage is one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs committed to improving education and life-long learning. He founded Charter Schools USA in 1997 and as CEO, built it into one of the nation’s largest and highest performing education companies with 8,500+ team members educating 76,000+ students in 90+ schools across 5 states. CSUSA-managed schools have produced some of the strongest gains in reading, writing, science, and math in the nation, especially for minority and low-income students. Today CSUSA has over 25,000 students on waiting lists with 96% attending college or technical schools and a 95% parent satisfaction rate. CSUSA was the first Cognia/SACS accredited education service provider in the nation.
Mr. Hage also created and oversees one of the nation’s largest school development companies – Red Apple Development – financing and building over 6 million sq ft of new schools. Mr. Hage and his wife run an innovation incubator, LaunchED, including early learning centers, social emotional learning curriculum, and multiple software solutions. Mr. Hage is quoted and interviewed regularly in the national news and has advised Governors, Legislatures and US Presidents and their campaigns.
In 2013, Mr. Hage was named the Floridian of the Year by Florida Trend magazine. He serves on the board of Pine Crest School and served on Governor DeSantis’s Covid-19/Re-Open Florida Task Force. He’s formerly served as Senate President Appointee to the Community Health Purchasing Alliance, on the Board of NSU’s Huizenga Business School and was Chair of the Broward Sheriff’s Foundation. Mr. Hage served in the U.S. Special Forces/Green Berets and holds degrees from the University of Colorado and Georgetown University. He is a 4th generation South Floridian and graduated from Nova High School. He and his wife Sherry, who is CEO of Noble Education Initiative, a non-profit education organization, have four children and are raising two boys from Haiti. They live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.