Erica Robertson is a Strategic Change Executive who has driven organizational transformation both nationally and internationally. She has returned to her hometown, Detroit, to help break the cycles of intergenerational poverty by disrupting the systems that perpetuate trauma and education inequities in our brown and black communities.
To achieve this transformational agenda, Erica currently serves as CEO of Promise Schools, a non-profit Charter Management Organization radically reimagining PreK-12 education and tackling systemic K-12 education issues to help eliminate the opportunity gap for students of color. A School Quality Crusader, Education Advocate and Status Quo Disrupter, Erica has made a personal commitment to spending the second half of her career driving systemic transformation in K-12 education that will help change the life trajectories of children all over Detroit. Erica believes whole child education is one of the key change levers.
Prior to her executive leadership position at Promise Schools, Erica served as an executive at the Detroit Children’s Fund. In her role as Deputy Director, she focused on setting strategy, building and managing the investment portfolio, and developing key partnerships with education, community, and business leaders. Before returning to Detroit in 2017, Erica was a member of the KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools Executive Team, where she was responsible for Strategy, Data, and Technology for the region. Erica also brings over seventeen years of private sector experience as a former Strategic Change Executive, with a results-driven track record working in the management consulting field with Accenture, driving strategy and operations in private equity. More recently as the European Change Management Director for Nike Inc., Erica helped lead the successful reorganization of Nike Europe. Additionally, Erica successfully launched the Nike Change Management Center of Excellence for Western and Central Europe.
Erica holds a Doctor of Education (Ed. D) from Vanderbilt University Peabody School of Education, a BA from the University of Michigan — Ann Arbor and a Master of Business Administration from U of M. She is the Author of a young adult novel, The Adventures of A Little Black Detroit Girl #Homecoming. Erica is a veteran of the US Navy and native Eastside Detroiter whose mission is to prove the possible for all Detroit children.
Board Positions:
- Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit
- Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michiga