Ayele Shakur

AYELE SHAKUR is chief executive officer (CEO) at BUILD. She brings almost three decades of experience as an innovator in urban education. Prior to coming to BUILD, she served as the president and CEO of the Boston Learning Center for fifteen years. In 2011, Shakur joined BUILD as Boston’s founding regional executive director. A veteran classroom teacher, she taught for eleven years in the Los Angeles area and in the Boston Public Schools, and co-authored the book Boost School Performance – A Parent’s Guide to Better Grades Fast. She is the recipient of the 2012 Boston Celtics Heroes Among Us Award and the 2007 Nan Bennett Kay Great Friend to Kids Award presented by the Boston Children’s Museum. She was honored with the 2017 Barr Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding nonprofit leaders in Boston, and in 2018 became part of the GK100 Most Influential Black Bostonians. She is a motivational speaker and a blogger for the Huffington Post. @BUILDNational