Sajan George

Overview

Prior to founding Matchbook Learning CEO Sajan George was a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal ( A&M ) where he led the Firm s Education Practice. In that role he led a diverse group of talented turnaround professionals across the U.S. assisting underperforming education institutions at the Local State and Federal levels. Sajan has applied A&M s industry leading turnaround methodology for turning around troubled companies to turning around several of our nation s largest urban K 12 public school districts including New York Washington DC New Orleans Providence RI Detroit and St Louis. Driven by a passion to realize the dream that all students regardless of background can learn and succeed in our society he has done this by working alongside several of our nation s Governors State Superintendents Mayors Chancellors and School Superintendents and two of the largest education philanthropic investors in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation who are dissatisfied by the status quo in public education in our country to fundamentally change and restructure some of the largest urban K 12 and higher education institutions in the country.Sajan has experience running entire K 12 public school districts employing Lead Turnaround Partner tactics across major urban cities and precedent setting reform efforts from St Louis (2004 first ever district to contract out its entire management to a private management firm) to New Orleans well chronicled successful postKatrina success within days after the levees historically broke in the implementation of new charter and noncharter public schools 2005 & 2006) to New York City (well chronicled turnaround and Broad Prize winner for the most improved school district in the country after our work completed in 2007) to Washington DC (2008 historic mayoral takeover appointment of Michelle Rhee whom we worked closely with) to Detroit (2009 & 2010 historic State takeover and appointment of Emergency Fiscal Manager) with numerous midtier cities in between such as Baltimore and Providence Rhode Island amongst others.Sajan s leadership in some of our nation s largest and most comprehensive school turnaround efforts has been in the role of interim manager and not consultant. These interim management roles in high profile turnaround efforts are most analogous to the Lead Turnaround Partner role and experience sought by States and local school districts for their turnaround schools. Unlike most other consultants Sajan s turnaround experience has involved the willingness to take on risk and execute largely through internal teams of district personnel. Because Sajan has experience executing under conditions of little to declining funding we will leverage our models templates and tools for knowledge transfer and management capacity building to not only increase the capacity of the turnaround schools but also transfer the same capabilities to the remaining schools in the participating local school districts to ensure capacity is built statewide regardless of who receives funding should it be desired.