Naila Bolus

Naila Bolus is the Chief Executive Officer of Jumpstart, a national early education organization that advances equitable learning outcomes for young children in underserved communities by recruiting and supporting caring adults to  deliver high-quality programming to children and drive systems change through teaching, advocacy, and leadership. Naila joined Jumpstart in October 2011 with more than 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector. During her tenure, Jumpstart has significantly expanded its scale and impact: increasing the number of children served annually by 68%, revising its curriculum to improve academic and social-emotional outcomes for children, and developing new programming to increase the number of high-quality early educators and influence the adoption of policies that promote equitable early education opportunities. Naila has focused on diversifying Jumpstart’s funding base and increasing brand visibility and has worked in partnership with an expanded board of directors to strengthen Jumpstart’s national reputation as a thought leader in the early childhood field. Before Jumpstart, Naila served as Executive Director of Ploughshares Fund, the largest grant-making foundation in the United States dedicated exclusively to security and peace funding. At Ploughshares Fund, she transformed the organization from a small funder to a national, influential policy player. During her tenure, Naila led a successful $25 million endowment campaign and tripled the foundation’s budget and staff. Prior to Ploughshares Fund, she served as co-director of 20/20 Vision, a grassroots organization that sought to promote democracy through helping members communicate with national decision makers. She also helped found the Women Legislators’ Lobby and served as the organization’s political director, successfully recruiting one third of female state legislators to lobby for environmental protection, human services, and peace. Naila graduated from Tufts University in 1987 with a degree in International Relations and is delighted to be living in her home state of Massachusetts with her husband and three daughters after stints in Washington, DC; San Francisco; and Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Latinos for Education (LFE), published a four-part video series highlighting the value of Latino perspectives in education during 2018's Hispanic Heritage Month. As one of LFE’s first partners, Jumpstart was asked to record a video of CEO Naila Bolus sharing why Latino leadership at the board level matters to children and families. Click here for the full interview and video.