President
Say Yes to Education, Inc.
New York, New York

Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey is President of Say Yes to Education, Inc. (Say Yes), a national non-profit foundation committed to changing the lives of inner-city youth through the promise of post-secondary education and the delivery of comprehensive support services. Ms. Schmitt-Carey joined Say Yes from New American Schools (NAS) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in Washington, DC. For the past six years she served as President and CEO of NAS (which was recently merged with AIR). Ms. Schmitt-Carey provided leadership to NAS, enabling the nonprofit organization to grow from a pilot initiative to the model for a national school improvement program called Comprehensive School Reform. During her 11-year tenure at NAS, she also held positions as its COO, Vice President, and Director of Communications and Public Policy. In addition, over the last year she served as Vice President for Public Policy and External Relations for AIR. Prior to joining NAS, she worked for the U.S. Department of Education as Director of the Goals 2000 Community Project, where she created and managed a support network for local communities seeking to improve education. In addition, Ms. Schmitt-Carey has worked in public relations and has held several senior level positions in national political campaigns. Ms. Schmitt-Carey earned her MBA degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2001 and graduated magna cum laude from SUNY Albany in May 1987, earning a BA degree in Political Science and English.