Marin education equity nonprofit names new CEO

Richard Raya, a longtime educational equity specialist in the Bay Area, has been named the new chief executive of the nonprofit Marin Promise Partnership.

Raya, who started in the job Aug. 19, said he plans to build on the countywide network of educators, agencies and community groups created by the former chief executive, Ann Mathieson.

“We’re becoming this convener of holistic solutions to the large-scale challenges that our communities are facing,” said Raya, 54, of Oakland. “We want the academic disparities in Marin County to decrease, in terms of who’s going to college and who’s not. And who’s ready for kindergarten when they show up, and who’s not.”

Marin Promise Partnership, which has a $2 million budget, is a network of about 18 entities that works with more than 100 groups in the county to create equity for all students as part of a “cradle to career” approach to education. The nonprofit has 13 employees at an office on Lucas Valley Road in San Rafael.

Donors include the county, individuals and groups. About $14 million has been raised in the last two or three years, Mathieson said. The organization recently received a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Marin Community Foundation.

Raya, a fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Aspen Institute, is the former head of strategy for the Mission Economic Development Agency in San Francisco. He has more than 20 years of executive-level experience in the field.

Mathieson, a 66-year-old Kentfield resident, founded the organization in 2012. She is a former Kentfield School District trustee and health care business executive.

Mathieson said she is excited Raya will be able to use the collaborative infrastructure that she has developed to “take it to the next level” of academic and career success for many students.

She said she is proud of her success in dismantling the “working in silos” mentality that previously separated education agencies, community nonprofits and parent groups in Marin and instead joining them together in a collaboration.

She said she was inspired to try to change that after attending meetings at the national community engagement group StriveTogether, in which Marin Promise Partnership is a member.

Marin Promise Partnership has focused on four communities where academic disparities are the greatest: Marin City, West Marin, Novato and the Canal area of San Rafael. The nonprofit will continue to track, upgrade and support those communities to influence the entire county, Raya said.

“If we’re going to change the whole system, we need to be closely connected with the four communities that need it most,” Raya said. Tracking them will include such measurements as third-grade reading scores, eighth-grade math scores, college enrollment and college completion, he said.

The nonprofit has already seen results from its work, especially from a partnership between West Marin preschools and the Shoreline Unified School District that the organization helped facilitate in 2021.

Since then, enrollment in the West Marin preschools has tripled, according to Mariangela Morales, a Marin Promise Partnership spokesperson. As of the 2023-2024 school year, West Marin preschools now offer 96 slots, 73 of which are held by low-income students, 42 of whom are students of color. There is no waitlist, Morales said.

Rachel Ruffalo, chair of the Marin Promise Partnership board, said Raya was the right choice and praised Mathieson, who she said will remain “an active champion for educational equity in Marin” as she steps away from day-to-day operations.

“Ann’s efforts and guidance have laid a solid foundation for partners to continue working together and take bold action that transforms systems to better serve all students through each stage of their learning journey,” Ruffalo said.