Leona Christy

Leona Christy is Founder and CEO of Catalyst:Ed, a national nonprofit that helps education agencies and organizations build capacity and deepen their impact by connecting them to the expertise, resources, and hands-on support they need to drive transformational outcomes for students, especially those from underserved communities. As a woman of color and a recent immigrant with no access to networks of power and wealth, Leona had to overcome several barriers as she sought to launch and grow the organization to its national presence. Her experiences have fueled her drive to remove barriers to access, knowledge, and opportunity for all leaders. Leona’s professional experience includes 20+ years in strategy development, scaling up organizations, and leading high-performing teams. Prior professional experiences included Pratham, Safal, the World Bank, and Unilever. Leona has an MPP from Duke University, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and a BA from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi.