Leadership Change
Oct 9, 2024
On October 14th, I’ll be stepping away from my role as President of Bezos Academy, and into a new position – Chairman of the Board. As Chairman, I’ll focus my energies on providing advisory support, ensuring strong governance practices, and offering guidance on high-impact decisions to the organization. I’m excited to share that Miguel Roque, Bezos Academy’s Chief Operations and Technology Officer, will serve as Bezos Academy’s next President. Miguel was one of the first people I hired at Bezos Academy. He’s an incredibly capable, fungible, and high character leader who has my full confidence. Miguel has played a key role in our growth, and I know he’s the right person to lead our organization going forward.
About six years ago, Jeff Bezos offered me a new kind of career opportunity. It was the chance to build a nonprofit organization from the ground up—one that would launch and operate a network of tuition-free, year-round preschools in underserved communities. The goal was to give thousands of children access to the leg up that high-quality preschools provide. I was inspired by the mission, but technically in retirement. I also wasn’t sure that I wanted to return to full-time work. I’m very happy that I said “yes.”
As President of Bezos Academy, I had the privilege of seeing us grow from Jeff’s initial Instagram post announcing the creation of the Bezos Day One Fund, to an organization running 25 preschools across three states, serving over 1,600 three-to-five-year-olds. We assembled an amazing team of teachers and mission focused professionals and built curriculum and classroom experiences that engaged and inspired children. We launched our own Montessori credential training program, offering passionate teachers the chance to earn certifications on the job at no cost to them. We designed and constructed beautiful school environments that foster creativity, warmth, and joy. And we partnered with incredible organizations—senior living communities, municipal governments, affordable housing providers, and public-school systems—to bring our mission of accessible preschool education to life.
As proud as I am of all we achieved, I find myself needing more time for personal priorities. I want to hang out with my mom and dad, who live across the country. They’ve been married for over 64 years. Since 1997, it has been impossible to spontaneously drop by. I also want to travel more with my wife, spend time with my “boys,” and see more of the folks that I love. All of this led me to the decision to exit my role as President of Bezos Academy. As you can imagine, it wasn’t an easy choice.
From left to right: Douglas Bigley (Ikaika ‘Ohana), Mike George (Bezos Academy), Kahu Wayne Higa (Kaʻahumanu Church), Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke
When I think about Bezos Academy’s future, I get excited. Even though we’ve accomplished a lot, we’re just getting started. By 2027, we’ll be running 43 tuition-free preschools, with over 750 educators serving more than 3,000 students. We’ll expand our footprint in Florida, Texas, and Washington and enter Arizona, Hawaii, and Kentucky. We’ll continue developing tools and programs to help our teachers personalize lessons to meet the needs of each child that we serve. And we’ll better understand our impact as more of our students graduate and continue into elementary school.
It has been an honor working alongside all of you on such an amazing mission. Thanks a ton for your dedication and support.
Child First, Always … mike
