Zuckerberg taps Shelton to run education effort

SAN FRANCISCO — James Shelton, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, will oversee the education efforts of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced Wednesday.

"Jim has already made an impact working in government, business and philanthropy," Zuckerberg said in announcing the appointment in a Facebook post.

Shelton has led education efforts at the Gates Foundation and was president of an education technology company before signing on to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Zuckerberg says Shelton will focus on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's two educational priorities: technology-enabled personalized learning that allows K-12 students to learn in their own way and at their own pace and reaching underserved communities to remove "barriers to success for the most vulnerable kids," such as poverty and illness.

"I've seen the difference software can make in how we teach and learn. Priscilla's work as a pediatrician and a teacher has taught her how important life outside the classroom is to a child's ability to learn inside it," Zuckerberg said. "And now Jim will bring all of his own experience in improving personalized learning and helping underserved communities."

Shelton says both of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's educational priorities resonate with him personally and professionally.

"This work is personal and passionate for me," Shelton said during a talk with Zuckerberg and Chan on Facebook Live.

"If we want a world that is about merit, equality and equity, we have to say what can we do to mitigate the barriers to learning and children reaching their potential," he said.

Zuckerberg and Chan have pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook shares to tackle some of the world's most complex problems over the couple's lifetime. The pledge is one of the largest philanthropic gifts in history.

The Chan Zuckerberg initiative is set up as a limited liability company, or LLC, owned and controlled by Zuckerberg, not as a charitable trust or a private foundation. The structure gives the couple great latitude and flexibility both in the investments they make, from funding non-profit organizations to making private investments to taking public stands on public policy issues, and in the activities they engage in.

Last summer, Shelton became president of 2U Inc., an education technology company that makes online courses for colleges and universities. Shelton also worked as a program director at the Gates Foundation and as a partner at the NewSchools Venture Fund.

Shelton said he would start his work with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative by "building on the things we have done already" and "doing a lot of listening and learning."