EveryoneOn’s founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Zach Leverenz has announced that he will step down as CEO and join the non-profit’s board of directors. This transition will be effective at the end of January. Chike Aguh (Chee-kay Ah-Goo), currently EveryoneOn’s chief programs officer, will be stepping into the role of CEO.
Under Leverenz’s leadership since 2012, EveryoneOn has made significant strides in connecting low-income Americans and driving national awareness around the issue:
- Around 200,000 households (and growing) across 48 states have been connected to Internet access directly through EveryoneOn’s platform of national and local partnerships with 80 percent retention rates on average.
- All of EveryoneOn's Internet Service Provider partners have increased year-on-year adoption rates for the past two years, and adoption increases over the last year have been as high as 65 percent for some partners.
- EveryoneOn has been tapped to help lead the design and implementation of ConnectHome and ConnectED, two national digital inclusion initiatives launched by the White House, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Specifically, Leverenz has:
- Secured more than $7 million in private and philanthropic funds to support EveryoneOn’s current and future digital inclusion work through 2018.
- Advanced the national conversation on digital inclusion and broadband adoption solutions as a speaker at major industry and public sector venues, including SXSW EDU, CES, Washington Post Live, the FCC and Discovery Education, and through coverage in national media outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Economist.
- Led EveryoneOn’s regional growth to seven markets, including Los Angeles, CA, Miami, FL, Camden and Newark, NJ, Charlotte, NC, Macon, GA, and San Jose, CA, with expansions to five additional regions planned for 2016.
Aguh has served as EveryoneOn’s inaugural chief programs officer since July 2015. Previously, he served as an education policy official in the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a New York City 2nd grade teacher and Teach For America corps member, a Fulbright Scholar, and director at the Advisory Board Company, where he worked to launch technology products to help at-risk students graduate on time. He holds degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.M), the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPA), and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (MBA).
Aguh will also be joined in leadership by EveryoneOn veterans Vin Menon and Norma Fernandez. Menon will continue to lead all aspects of national operations and provide oversight to regional programs as president and chief operating officer (COO). Fernandez will be moving into the role of senior director for strategic partnerships after 2 ½ years leading the launch and growth of EveryoneOn’s work in Los Angeles and a number of other locales. In her new role, she will oversee management of our partner platform, including the addition of new low cost offers and the increased effectiveness of existing offers. Rounding out the national leadership will be a new chief programs officer. EveryoneOn is conducting a national search with an expected hire by early March 2016.