Russell Ramsey (for Tom Gougeon)

Russell Ramsey
Vice President for Education, Gates Family Foundation

Russell Ramsey joined the Gates Family Foundation team in 2024 as Vice President for Education. Russ brings significant experience as a classroom teacher, teacher coach, and school leader in both urban and rural elementary, middle, and high schools in four southern states. He has also worked as an education researcher in various labs studying school turnaround, Algebra instruction, and educational neuroscience, and as a consultant to evaluate and improve school discipline policies and practices.

Prior to relocating to Denver in 2023, Russ led the $20 million annual education grantmaking program at the Houston Endowment and also later served as the organization’s Director of Learning and Evaluation, strengthening organizational impact by managing strategy development and evaluating evidence of progress toward goals. Most recently Russ has been serving as Executive Director of Enrollment and Campus Planning for Denver Public Schools, leading the teams responsible for school choice, planning and analysis, real estate, and facility allocation.

Russ has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas A&M University and a master’s in public policy with a concentration in K-12 education policy from Vanderbilt University. On the weekends you can find him in the mountains with his wife Carrie, their 3 young daughters, and a poorly-trained poodle.