The board of directors of Education Opens Doors, a Dallas-based nonprofit that partners with middle schools to train teachers to equip their students with college and career knowledge, has appointed Dr. Jeannie Stone, Drexell Owusu, and Dr. Eric Ban to the board, effective immediately.

The new members bring more than eight decades of public education and business growth experience to Education Opens Doors.

“We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Stone, Mr. Owusu, and Dr. Ban will be joining our board of directors,” EOD Board Chairman Jeff George said in a statement. “Their deep knowledge of district-level needs and incredible experience as educators and business leaders will bolster the EOD Board’s ability to scale its impactful programs, which have served over 80,000 students since our founding in 2012, to even more students as we continue to grow. It is a testament to EOD as an organization that we were able to attract board members of their caliber.”

EOD Chief Executive Roscoe Compton-Kelly said the new members will help the organization grow.

“Their success in educational and business leadership has been transformational for hundreds of thousands of students and families across the region. I am looking forward to working alongside all three as EOD continues to grow and reach new markets,” Compton-Kelly said in a statement.

Decades of experience in educational leadership

Stone served as superintendent of schools for the Richardson Independent School District from 2016 to 2021. Before that, she was an assistant superintendent of Wylie ISD for four years after spending more than 20 years with Mesquite ISD. Stone is board chair at Leadership ISD as well as Economic Mobility Systems, an educational technology spin-out of The Commit Partnership.

“I am delighted to join the Board of Directors of Education Opens Doors,” said Dr. Jeannie Stone. “From starting as an English teacher in 1989 to my time as Superintendent of the Richardson Independent School District most recently, I have seen firsthand the knowledge and opportunity gaps that exist when it comes to college and career readiness. EOD is doing amazing work closing these gaps, and I’m excited to help the organization think strategically about how to reach even more students and families.”

She has taught graduate courses at Texas A&M University and has been recognized for her innovative leadership and commitment to children.

Aiming to reach more students

Owusu serves as the chief impact officer for The Dallas Foundation and before that, he served as SVP for education and workforce for the Dallas Regional Chamber. He served as managing director at Civitas Capital Group, an investment company with over $1.3 billion in assets, where he was responsible for strategy, operations, and administration.

Owusu previously served as vice president of business development at Blockbuster and as a strategy consultant at Accenture.

“The impact that EOD has had across North Texas and beyond makes me proud to be a part of the organization,” Owusu said in a statement. “I see incredible potential for EOD to expand its impact in new markets, and I’m excited to help the organization grow and think strategically about reaching new district partners, ultimately improving the educational opportunities of thousands more students and families.”

He has been a board member of Education is Freedom since 2014 and served on the board at The Kessler School from 2015 to 2018. He earned his BA in History at Rice University, where he was one of 10 Rice-Baylor Scholars and a two-time Track and Field All-American.

Early intervention is critical

Ban is executive director of Economic Mobility Systems, an educational technology spin-out of The Commit Partnership which supports state, regional, and institutional data and system solutions. He previously served as managing director of the Dallas County Promise within The Commit Partnership from 2017 to 2021 and has assisted multiple regions of Texas with developing their postsecondary regional collaborative strategy.

“EOD deeply understands the importance of teaching students and their families about their postsecondary options, and has a proven model for program impact,” Ban said in a statement. “Their early intervention model is a critical piece of the effort to achieve equitable postsecondary and workforce outcomes possible, for all students.”

Ban has also served as the SVP of Program Innovation at Dallas-based Academic Partnerships, where he developed programs and solutions for universities to better serve students through online programs around the world. Previously, he was founder of College Acceleration Network and VP of Program Development at Higher Ed Holdings.

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