Scott Benson
SCOTT BENSON
The Broad Residency Class of 2008-2010
Current Organization: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
M.B.A., Harvard Business School
B.S., Business Administration and Information Systems, University of North Carolina
“The notion that poverty and race should predispose a child to an inferior education is being challenged like never before in our country. Reform-minded entrepreneurs, educators, philanthropists, politicians, and ordinary citizens are joining forces to rethink and reconstruct an education system that has failed too many children for far too long. I believe that my generation has the compassion, ingenuity, and drive necessary to transform our broken urban school systems into high-performing organizations that positively impact the life outcomes for all students. ”
Scott Benson was recently appointed program officer, next generation models for The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he focuses on making investments that accelerate the development and adoption of new education models that demonstrate innovative ways of structuring learning environments. Benson previously served as director of strategic academic initiatives for the District of Columbia Public Schools, where he was responsible for performance management and special projects in the Office of the Chief Academic Officer. In addition, his team built and maintained intranet sites for principals and educators in an effort to address serious communication and knowledge management challenges. Prior to joining The Broad Residency, Benson served as marketing and strategy intern for Teach For America, where he helped define the organization’s early online marketing strategy. Previously, Benson spent five years at The Home Depot, most recently serving as operations business analyst for Creative Touch Interiors. As part of The Home Depot’s leadership development program, he completed five rotations in areas ranging from corporate strategy to store management, and subsequently managed a national product category for a high-growth startup division. While pursuing his M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, he was drawn to a career in K-12 education during a school-sponsored volunteer project for New Schools for New Orleans, a nonprofit that formed to support public charter schools in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A year after completing the volunteer project, he returned to New Orleans to co-author a business school case about that organization. Benson participated in The Broad Residency in Urban Education Cohort 2008, serving his two-year Residency in the District of Columbia Schools.