Co-founders
Kaleem Caire – Lead Founder
Kaleem Caire was appointed President & CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison in Madison, WI in March 2010.
Prior to the Urban League, Kaleem was co-founder and CEO of Next Generation Education Foundation, a Bowie, Maryland. He has also held executive leadership positions with Target Corporation, Fight For Children of Washington, DC, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). Prior to BAEO, Kaleem held positions with the Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the Madison (WI) Metropolitan School District. He also served as the director of national initiatives for the American Education Reform Council.
In 2001, Kaleem commissioned the nation’s first comprehensive study on High School Graduation Rates in the United States. The results of this study instigated the shift in the nation’s focus from promoting annual dropout rates to identifying how many students graduate from high school in four years and provided a new method for identifying and tracking the ultimate measure of productivity of American K-12 education. In 2002, as a result of his efforts, Kaleem was appointed to the Independent Rules Panel that advised the U.S. Secretary of Education on the evaluation of No Child Left Behind.
In 2003, Kaleem guided the establishment of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Association and the passage of unprecedented federal legislation that has since provided more than $300 million to the District of Columbia for public school reform, charter schools, and the nation’s first federally funded private school scholarship program. In 2004, Kaleem assisted world famous music producer Quincy Jones and his Listen Up Foundation with strategic planning for their international We Are The Future campaign and free public concert in Rome, Italy. In 2005, he led Rockin’ the Corps, a free concert in Southern California attended by 45,000 U.S. Marines, their families, and celebrity guests.
In 2010, Kaleem served as one of 45 expert reviewers for President Barack Obama’s $3.5 billion Race to the Top national education reform initiatives. In this role, Kaleem was responsible for evaluating education reform proposals presented by U.S. states and helped the U.S. Department of Education determine which states should receive funding.
In 2001, Kaleem was the youngest recipient of the City of Madison, Wisconsin’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award and Urban League of Greater Madison’s Whitney Young, Jr. Award. In 2008, Kaleem was selected as one of the first recipients of his alma mater’s Forward Under Forty Award, and was invited to the give the first Distinguished Alumni Lecture by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association. Kaleem presently serves on the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County AVID/TOPS Steering Committee, Coordinating Council of Professionals in Education, Edgewood College Business School Advisory Board and the Nolan Centennial Task Force which is focused on the revitalization and development of Madison’s famed John Nolan Drive.
Kaleem has been married to Lisa Peyton-Caire for 18 years and together they have five children, ages 4 to 17.
Design Teams
Community Engagement/Support Design Team
Charles Ellis
Fawn Bilgere
Joan Sweeney
Joan Duerst
Karin Clark
Kelly Ayala
Kema Williams
Mary Albrecht
Mary Wells
Megan Miller
Nia Trammell
Richard Scott
Tania Ibarra
Torrey Jaeckle
Operations/Leadership Design Team
Annemarie Ketterhagen
Bob Morris
David Cagigal
Dennis McClain
Donna Hurd
John Raihala
Maddy Niebauer
Molly Garner
Nasra Wehelie
Senn Brown
Curriculum and Instruction Design Team
Annemarie Ketterhagen
Cathy Accardi
Ellie Schatz
Gloria Ladson-Billings
Jennifer Conant
Kimber Wilkerson
Mark Childs
Renee Smail
Sean Bielmeier
Stephen Perez
Tania Ibarra
Vanika Mock
Facilities Design Team
Dennis Haefer
Mike Hurl
Paul Cuta
Marc Schellpfeffer
Tami Holmquist
Peter Garson
Rod Zubella
Richard Scott
Carrie Wall
Darren Noak
Pioneers
The Urban League of Greater Madison would like to thank those who assisted Kaleem Caire with pioneering the early model for Madison Prep.
Mr. Khari Brown
Mr. Shomari McCrimons
Ms. Nicole Chestang
Dr. J. Daniel Hollinger
Dr. Thomas Stewart
Ms. Lisa Peyton-Caire
Ms. Mary Williams
Mr. James Woody
