Jeff is the founder of Amazon.com and the aerospace company Blue Origin, and the owner of The Washington Post. In 2018, he founded the Bezos Day One Fund, which focuses on funding nonprofits that help homeless families, and on creating a network of tier-one preschools in low-income communities. Jeff graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and he was named TIME’s 1999 Person of the Year. Jeff’s favorite children’s book is Mr. Pine’s Purple House.

Katie’s communications career was sparked over 20 years ago by her belief in the role communications plays in increasing educational access for low-income communities and students of color. She has worked for education advocacy organizations, political campaigns, state government agencies, technology companies, and foundations. Katie holds a bachelor’s degree in French from Duke University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Acting in a volunteer capacity, she has advised and raised money for her local school district, where her two children have attended the public schools since preschool. Katie also volunteers with her neighborhood swim team and her church. Whether running, hiking, biking, swimming, or camping, Katie always feels grateful for the Seattle area’s natural beauty. With her children now older, Katie misses nights filled with bedtime stories and when Llama, Llama Red Pajama spoke to her.

Mike has spent his career building and leading innovative businesses and services that change how we shop, live, and work. Mike spent more than 20 years at Amazon, where he led customer-loved businesses, including the Echo, Alexa, and Appstore. Earlier in his career, Mike spent over a decade in the newspaper business, including at USA Today and The Baltimore Sun Company. Mike is passionate about the mission of Bezos Academy and excited to apply his skills to help expand access to early childhood education. Mike’s favorite children’s book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Jamie is passionate about developing teams and organizations where people thrive. Jamie joined Bezos Academy because of her fundamental belief that every child deserves access to a high-quality education. She has spent her career in the human resources field, taking on new challenges in a variety of roles at Target, Amazon, and, most recently, Juno Therapeutics. Jamie earned her undergraduate degree, with dual majors in Marketing and Psychology, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and executive coaching certification from the Hudson Institute. She is a Midwesterner at heart but loves living in Seattle with her husband and two Maine Coon cats. Jamie enjoys cooking, yoga, traveling to new places, and exploring the great outdoors. One of her favorite childhood books was The Giving Tree.

Miguel is a creator with a track record of imagining, building, operating, and scaling products and businesses. Prior to Bezos Academy, Miguel spent nine years at Amazon, where he launched and operated several successful products. Prior to Amazon, Miguel worked in the video game industry for four years as a product and tech leader. Miguel started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked on PwC’s management consulting team for 11 years. When he is not building schools or spending time with his family, Miguel coaches youth sports, plays guitar, and mountaineers across the Pacific Northwest. His favorite children’s book is Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Liz has built her career leading teams and organizations that turn ambitious ideas into lasting impact. Throughout her career, Liz has focused on building systems, structures, and teams that make meaningful change possible. Before joining Bezos Academy, Liz spent seven years at Amazon leading large-scale operations teams and driving innovation in e-commerce fulfillment. Earlier in her career, she served 13 years as a U.S. Army Logistics Officer, graduating at the top of her commissioning program before deploying. A former collegiate athlete, Liz earned her undergraduate degree from Eastern Oregon University. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her wife and two children, and exploring new adventures on her motorcycle. One of her favorite children’s books is I Am Enough, which reminds her of the power of self-acceptance and representation.

Pawan is a technology leader with over 25 years of experience building and scaling products and businesses. Before joining Bezos Academy, she served as Chief Technology Officer at Thrasio and Glossier, where she led the development of demand and supply optimization systems and omni-channel commerce platforms. Previously, she spent 14 years at Amazon, playing a key role in launching large-scale consumer products spanning e-commerce, food delivery, and Alexa’s AI and voice services. Pawan began her career as a software engineer at i2 Technologies (now Blue Yonder), developing supply chain planning systems. Throughout her journey, she has remained passionate about applying technology to solve complex problems, craft delightful customer experiences, and drive meaningful impact. Having grown up in a family of educators, Pawan is deeply inspired by the mission of Bezos Academy, and is excited to bring technology-driven innovation to early childhood education. Her favorite children’s book is The Little Engine That Could.

Will is passionate about serving organizations that consciously, systematically, and sustainably serve communities in need. As General Counsel, Will develops and oversees all legal, regulatory, risk-management, and compliance work for the organization. Prior to joining Bezos Academy, Will was a partner at Lane Powell, a prominent Seattle-based law firm. In this role, he successfully built and led teams that solved complex legal problems for early childhood education, non-profit, and technology businesses. Will graduated Phi Beta Kappa in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and summa cum laude from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. In his free time, Will enjoys trail running with his Australian Shepherd and cooking plant-based meals with his partner. Will’s favorite children’s book is Wacky Wednesday.

Grace has dedicated her career to the mission of achieving educational equity for all children, regardless of their circumstances. Before joining Bezos Academy, Grace taught middle and high school math and was an assistant principal in underserved areas of the United Kingdom for eight years. A graduate of the University of Oxford, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Grace earned a master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of Warwick in England. She applies her understanding of the education landscape in support of improving access to a high-quality, preschool education. In her free time, Grace enjoys spending time in the great outdoors with her husband and daughter. Her favorite children’s book is The Elephant and the Bad Baby.