Jon Hanover is the Founder and Executive Director of Roots Elementary. He led the successful application of Roots Elementary to the Denver Public School Board in June 2014 where it received unanimous approval. Roots is a new school that leverages an innovative approach to time, talent and technology to personalize learning for every student. He has led the organization through its early development and is the Executive Director and Principal of the school. Before launching Roots, Jon was a Founding Kindergarten Teacher, Grade Level Chair and member of the school leadership team at Rocky Mountain Prep (RMP). As a teacher, his students demonstrated over 2 years of growth in both math and reading on the nationally-normed NWEA MAP. Prior to joining the faculty at RMP, Jon worked on the investment team at the Charter School Growth Fund where he worked closely with the leaders of the most successful and innovative charter school networks in the county. Over 90% of students at these schools matriculate directly to colleges and universities, and most are the first generation in their family to do so. Jon was responsible for advising the founders and CEOs of these organizations on a wide array of strategic issues. He also evaluated new school models, recommended investments and managed a portion of the Fund’s portfolio of schools. Jon began his career at Bain & Company where he advised clients on strategy, management and operations. While at Bain he worked pro bono with the founder of Rowe Elementary during her planning year, managing financial forecasts, aligning the curriculum with state standards, designing the assessment and data-driven instruction cycle for the school, creating an on-boarding plan for staff and contributing heavily to the successful launch of a high-performing K-8 charter school on Chicago’s west side. Jon graduated with honors from Harvard University.