RALEIGH, N.C.—WakeEd Partnership (WakeEd) welcomes four new members to its board of directors, who were approved during WakeEd’s quarterly board. These new members are:

• John Hummel, General Manager, WLFL/WRDC

• Chris Isley, Raleigh Market President, BB&T

• Jamie Royster, Director of Public Sector Sales for the Southeast, Lenovo

• Julie Song, Senior Legal Director, Quintiles

Together the new board members boast decades of experience in newsrooms, banks, law offices, boardrooms and more. In their new positions, the board members will help WakeEd achieve its vision of creating schools where every graduate is prepared to succeed in a global economy.

All new members are deeply involved in education and the Wake County community. Hummel sits on the local board for The Foundation Fighting Blindness. Royster leads a Lenovo team that creates hardware, software, and other services targeted to improve learning outcomes and increase operational efficiency in education. Isley is a native North Carolinian and graduate of NC State, while Song has two children in Joyner Elementary School.

WakeEd’s board is led by Chairwoman Caroline McCullen and Chair-elect Doug Sprecher. The Director of Education Initiatives at SAS Institute, McCullen will lead WakeEd’s board to build a stronger local economy through solid schools. Sprecher is a Senior Vice President at First Citizens Bank and will lead the organization starting in FY 2016.

"Each of our board members brings so much depth to our organization and allows us to reach beyond our walls to extend our impact into the Wake County Public School System," WakeEd President Steve Parrott said. "They are an integral part of what we do and to have new members of this caliber puts us in a position to make our students even more prepared for a brighter future."

About WakeEd Partnership

WakeEd Partnership is an independent, non-profit organization comprised of business and community leaders committed to improving public education. Since 1983, the Partnership has advocated for excellent educational opportunities for all students in the Wake County Public School System. For more information, please visit www.wakeed.org.

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