Byron V. Garrett

An accomplished business executive, government official and humanitarian, Byron V. Garrett is a true renaissance man. One of the most compelling and inspirational voices of our time, Garrett is Chairman of the National Family Engagement Alliance (NFEA), a nonprofit dedicated to transforming education through meaningful family engagement. Garrett is the Visionary and Chief Creative Officer of The Valdecio Collection, a lifestyle luxury brand consisting of clothing, watches, fragrances and eyewear. The former Director of Educational Leadership & Policy for Microsoft serves as a consulting author for Scholastic.

In 2017, Scholastic launched the Byron V. Garrett Social Emotional Learning Collection. Inspired by his bestselling book, The ABC’s of Life (Scholastic 2013), the library was created to equip young people with the skills needed to navigate society, making it a powerful and inspiring resource for today’s classroom.

Currently, he is a Board Member for CircleIn and the CeCe Peniston Youth Foundation, an Emissary for The Guyana Foundation, and was named “Mr. Enterprise” by Black Enterprise on their Modern Man 100 list.

Throughout his career, Garrett has been a visionary agent of change promoting the idea that everyone has an obligation and opportunity to serve the best interests of our nation’s most precious resource— children. Garrett is a HuffPost blogger and former columnist for Parenting, where he served on their Editorial Advisory Board. Lending his talents to prominent platforms to engage the broader public, Garrett served as a lead strategist and planner for NBC News’ Education Nation and produced the 1st Annual Building a Grad Nation Summit for the America’s Promise Alliance.

The former CEO of the National PTA, Garrett has a unique combination of experience from both the nonprofit and governmental sectors, having served as the first Chief of Staff for the Office of Public Affairs at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Prior to this, Garrett served as National Program Leader for the National 4-H Headquarters at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the program’s seven million participants and 90,000 clubs. While at USDA he was appointed by the White House as Co-Convener of the Helping America’s Youth initiative, an interagency effort to address challenges facing youth and to promote successful solutions.

Earlier in his career, Garrett spent a decade in Phoenix as an education advocate and community leader, serving as a Policy Advisor for Faith and Community Initiatives for then Governor Janet Napolitano (former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security). An education commissioner for the City of Phoenix, Garrett is a former K-8 charter school principal and has been a guest on the TODAY show, MSNBC, Fox and the Dr. Phil Show, and featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and JET Magazine. Ebony named Garrett to its “Power 150,” an annual list of “The Most Influential Black Americans.” And he was also named to The Root 100. Author of several books, Garrett has delivered presentations across the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.