Marina Walne
CEO / EduStart LLC
Dr. Walne is currently CEO of EduStart LLC, a consulting practice specializing in start-up education and philanthropy ventures. Dr. Walne is a consultant to the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation for the foundation’s Galveston initiatives. She is a Vision Galveston Board members and a board member of The Learning Accelerator, an organization committed to scaling up blended learning in school districts in the United States.
Dr. Walne was Vice President for Education at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. In this capacity, she was responsible for the development of the foundation investment strategy related to education reform, hiring the initial staff members, and managing a $45 million portfolio of grants. From 2005 to 2010, Dr. Walne was Executive Director of the Institute for Public School Initiatives at The University of Texas (U.T.) System, a start-up organization dedicated to improving college readiness, access, and success. She was responsible for managing an 80-member staff and securing and implementing $100 million in grants.
Dr. Walne has over 40 years of experience in education, including Director of Admissions at Rice University and Athletic Director and coach at St. John's School, Houston. She is well known for her role as Founding Head of The John Cooper School, a K-12 college preparatory school that in six years became one of the fastest growing college preparatory schools in the nation. In 1995, Dr. Walne started a consulting business specializing in start-up education ventures and has consulted on the development of eight other schools and eight nonprofit organizations related to education. As a consultant to the Texas Governor's Business Council Education Task Force, she helped develop several organizations to support charter schools and was active in the Governor’s reading, math, science, teacher quality, early childhood, and high school initiatives. She was also a consultant to the U.S. Department of Education from Dec. 2001- Dec. 2004, working with the Senior Advisor and the Senior Counselor to Secretary Rod Paige on special projects including revising the No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School Award Program
Dr. Walne has served on the boards of The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra (Founder and President), Houston YMCA (Chair, Education and Facilities Committees), Houston Chapter American Red Cross, Education for Tomorrow Alliance (Founder and Vice President), Making Main Street Happen Foundation (Founder), Society for the Performing Arts, the TPFA Charter School Finance Corporation (President), Edvance (President), the Bayou Preservation Association, Houston Tomorrow, and the advisory board the Neuhaus Education Center. She is a graduate of the American Leadership Forum Houston Chapter and a noted speaker, facilitator, and trainer.