On behalf of the EMERGE Board, I am thrilled and proud to announce the appointment of
Dr. Anastasia Lindo Anderson as the new EMERGE CEO, effective April 19, 2022.
Anastasia has a deep and personal commitment to the EMERGE mission and the pursuit of educational equity. She has over two decades of experience in traditional public and charter schools and the non-profit sector and a substantial track record of building, funding, and scaling programs. Anastasia has dedicated much of her career to serving Houston’s most vulnerable students and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role, including volunteer roles supporting college preparation and matriculation for high-achieving underrepresented students.
Anastasia joins us most recently from BakerRipley’s Promise Community Schools, where she was named superintendent in 2016 after serving as assistant superintendent for two years. Before that, she had spent seven years as a classroom teacher, including two as a Teach For America corps member, and then thirteen years in leadership roles as a principal and school improvement officer across the Houston Independent School District.
We are immensely grateful for the transformative leadership of outgoing EMERGE Executive Director Trisha Cornwell, who is relocating to Upstate New York to be closer to family. Under her nearly seven-year tenure, EMERGE grew from one school district serving 350 students to five school districts and 150 colleges and universities serving close to 3,000 students. Trisha helped EMERGE navigate a global pandemic, and despite it being one of the most challenging moments in our organizational history - more than 95% of our students successfully matriculated to a four-year college or university with over 80% graduating from a selective institution within four years.
Your support has been crucial in establishing EMERGE as a leading college access organization, and with your help, we look forward to watching EMERGE continue to grow and flourish under Anastasia’s leadership.