We’re excited to welcome David Jernigan as President & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs Metro Atlanta! In this new role, David will oversee the strategic direction and operation of our organization, supporting 20 Club locations in 9 Counties across Metro Atlanta.
Check out a full overview of his experience and achievements below.
Prior to joining BGCMA, David served as the Deputy Superintendent for Atlanta Public Schools, where he assisted the Superintendent in realizing a bold vision of transformation for a district of 52,000 students, resulting in graduation rate improvement from 59% to 78% and seamless college enrollment growth from 51% to 62% over five years.
Prior to assuming the role of Deputy Superintendent, he was the Executive Director for KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, overseeing the network of eight KIPP schools in Metro Atlanta. David started his school leadership experience in 2003 as the Founding Principal of KIPP WAYS (West Atlanta Young Scholars) Academy. Under his leadership, KIPP WAYS Academy was consistently one of Atlanta’s highest-performing middle schools, and in 2008, it was named the #1 “No Excuses School” in Georgia by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
David came to Atlanta in 2000 through the Teach For America program, where he taught at M. Agnes Jones Elementary School in the West End of Atlanta.
David is a Morehead Scholar and graduate of the University of North Carolina Kenan Flagler Business School and is the recipient of the Business School’s 2003 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. In 2011, David was also honored with the University’s Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. He received his teaching certification through Georgia State University and his Masters in Educational Administration from National Louis University in Chicago. David also completed executive training at the Harvard Business School in 2012.
David was honored with one of ten Outstanding Atlanta awards in 2007. He is also the recipient of the 2011 Dr. Joseph Draper Service Award from the Atlanta Metro Chapter of the Morehouse College National Alumni Association. In the same year, David was selected by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s rising community leaders with its annual “40 Under 40” award. In 2012, David was named the Georgia Charter Leader of the Year by the Georgia Charter Schools Association and in 2013 David was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend.
David completed the LEAD Atlanta program for emerging leaders in 2007, and he was a member of the 2013 Leadership Atlanta class. David was appointed in 2008 to the State Charter Advisory Committee for Georgia, and he was also a member of the Georgia Charter Schools Association Board of Directors and served on the Teach For America Atlanta Alumni Board of Directors. An active member of his community, David also currently serves on the boards of Hands on Atlanta and Breakthrough Atlanta.
From his service in the community to his professional focus at BGCMA, David is passionate about positioning more kids in Atlanta to have choice-filled lives.