The Southern Education Foundation (SEF), a nonprofit organization working to advance equitable education policies and practices that elevate learning for low-income students and students of color in the southern states, today announced that it has hired a new director of communications and marketing and new chief financial officer.

Gretchen Wright serves as SEF’s new director of communications and marketing, effective June 8. She comes to SEF from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where she was director of communications. Wright has nearly 30 years of experience conducting media relations outreach and other communications work for nonprofit organizations, having served as director of strategic communications at the Learning Policy Institute, and prior to that, vice president and principal at PR Solutions, a public relations firm based in Washington, DC that works with nonprofits focused on social justice. Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Michigan and was a Women in Leadership Coro Fellow.

Leighton O’Sullivan, CPA joined SEF as chief financial officer on April 1. Prior to that, he was the chief financial officer at IFS Group, a securities firm. He brings more than 25 years of experience in accounting operations in non-profit and for-profit companies, including serving as associate vice president and controller at Clark Atlanta University and controller and director of accounting services at Yeshiva University. His experience includes oversight and responsibility for the direct management of accounting operations, compliance, financial reporting, and financial audits. O’Sullivan brings to SEF a deep commitment to student success and has served as a mentor for students and young men from underserved communities. He holds a BBA degree, cum laude, in Accounting from Baruch College in New York.

“As we face an unprecedented moment in American history, where equity and education will be more important than ever, I am happy to bring on board two individuals with the skills, passion, and experience to help advance the Southern Education Foundation’s mission of achieving equity in education throughout the Southern region of the United States,” said SEF President and CEO Raymond Pierce.