Bill Oberndorf Succeeds Betsy DeVos as Chairman of American Federation for Children

The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, announced that Bill Oberndorf will succeed Betsy DeVos as chairman of the nation’s leading school choice organization. After founding the Alliance for School Choice and previously serving as chairman, Oberndorf has more than 25 years of experience helping advance the cause of parental  choice and education freedom.
John Kirtley, AFC vice chairman announced the unanimous vote by AFC’s board this morning:
“On behalf of our board, I am pleased to announce that Bill Oberndorf, AFC’s Chairman Emeritus and a founding board member of our organization, has agreed to succeed Betsy DeVos as Chairman. Bill has been guiding the parental choice movement in our nation for well over twenty five years. Under Betsy’s visionary leadership, AFC has more than doubled the number of children and families we serve through educational choice programs. While we regret that Betsy will have to step down as AFC’s Chairman due to her nomination to be the next Secretary of Education, we are incredibly excited about the impact she can now have by leading the fight at the federal level to expand education opportunities across the entire country. We also know that under Bill’s leadership, AFC will continue to have a lasting impact on education in America.”
More than twelve years ago, together with John Walton, Oberndorf founded the Alliance for School Choice, AFC’s predecessor organization. A champion for low-income children who are trapped in underperforming schools, Bill  issued the following statement:
“I’m grateful to follow in Betsy DeVos’ footsteps in our effort to improve our nation’s education system and ensure every child, no matter their ZIP code, can attend a quality school. The sad fact is every 42 seconds a child drops out of school. This is what motivates me to do more to help these children, and provide every child access to a quality education. I look forward to continuing our efforts to further AFC’s mission to positively transform K-12 education outcomes on our country.”
Bill Oberndorf is Chairman of Oberndorf Enterprises, LLC.  In addition to AFC, Bill serves as Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the University of California San Francisco, one of the nation’s leading  medical and research institutions. Bill is  also a member of the board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education and a life trustee of University School in Cleveland, Ohio. Bill has been honored by the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) and the Philanthropy Roundtable for his work in education reform. He is the 2010 recipient of the American Federation for Children Growth Fund’s John T. Walton Champions for School Choice Award. He is a graduate of Williams College where he served as a trustee and the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he served as chair of the GSB Trust. Bill resides in San Francisco with his wife, Susan, who serves as president of their family foundation.