Media Resources

James Rhyu, Chief Executive Officer, joined Stride in June 2013 and became CEO in January 2021. He brings 30 years of operational, financial, and public company experience to Stride.

Prior to his CEO role, Mr. Rhyu served as Stride’s President of Corporate Strategy, Marketing, and Technology, Chief Financial Officer, and President of Product and Technology. In these positions, Mr. Rhyu spearheaded development of new products and services and led the development of marketing and messaging to support market expansions as well as executed on merger and acquisition opportunities that support Stride’s growth strategy.

Before his tenure at Stride, Mr. Rhyu served as CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Match.com, a subsidiary of publicly traded IAC/InterActiveCorp. In those roles, he was responsible for overseeing a broad range of functions, including human resources, legal, information technology and operations, and certain international operations and product development.

Prior to his roles at Match.com, Mr. Rhyu was a SVP of Finance at Dow Jones & Company where he ran the global financial function. Previously, he served for three years as the Corporate Controller of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its predecessor company, XM Satellite Radio, as well as serving in the same role for Graftech International. Mr. Rhyu also spent six years with Ernst & Young LLP in the United States and South America.

Kevin Chavous is a noted education reform leader and innovator with a well-chronicled track record of empowering families with education choice and driving change and opportunity for learners of all ages, backgrounds, and circumstances. Mr. Chavous is the President at Stride. In this role, he leads initiatives to expand the company’s career learning offerings, and increase the accessibility to the services the company provides across the nation.

Mr. Chavous has worked to advance quality education programs around the nation, most notably as the Education Committee Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia, where he helped to shepherd the charter school movement into the nation’s capital. In addition, he was the founding Board President of Washington Latin Public Charter School, the third performing charter school in Washington, D.C., and in 2016, he was inducted into the District of Columbia Hall of Fame.

Beyond his work in D.C., Mr. Chavous has been instrumental in advancing charter school and education choice programs around the country. He is the founder of Democrats for Education Reform and a founding board member of the American Federation for Children.

A prolific writer and inspirational speaker, Mr. Chavous’ opinion editorials have appeared in many major newspapers, and he has given education reform speeches in nearly every state. Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Purdue University president called Mr. Chavous “the most effective advocate for children in America.”

Additionally, as an accomplished author, Mr. Chavous has published six books, including Serving Our Children: Charter Schools and the Reform of American Public Education; Voices of Determination: Children that Defy the Odds; and Building a Learning Culture in America. He is also the author of the Jackson Lowery Trilogy fiction series, which includes three political thrillers: The Plan, The Fund and The Shipment.

Mr. Chavous is also a very successful attorney. For many years he was a senior partner at SNR Denton, LLP, which today is the largest law firm in the world. While at SNR Denton, Mr. Chavous founded and chaired the firm’s highly successful diversity initiative and provided advisory counsel to a number of corporate clients. He has been licensed to practice law in four states and has been an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law at American University.

Mr. Chavous graduated from Wabash College, where he was an NCAA District All-American in basketball. He was inducted into the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. In that same year, he received the distinguished Outstanding Alumni Award from his alma mater, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School in Indianapolis. Mr. Chavous graduated from the Howard University School of Law, where he was president of his graduating class. Mr. Chavous has three adult sons and lives in Vienna, Virginia with his wife, Amber.

Donna Blackman, Stride’s CFO, brings more than 20 years of experience in accounting, finance, and strategic planning. As CFO, Blackman informs Stride’s efforts to lead innovation in education for learners of all ages.  She had previously served as Stride’s Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer.

Prior to joining Stride in 2020, Ms. Blackman served as the SVP of Business Operations at BET Networks, where she oversaw finance, strategy, research, live events, security, facilities, and operations. During her tenure at BET, she also held roles as SVP and Head of Finance, SVP, Financial Planning and Analysis, and SVP Finance and Controller.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Blackman worked for Marriott International and KPMG in a variety of leadership roles in accounting and finance.

Ms. Blackman earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, a bachelor’s degree in accounting from North Carolina State University, and is a certified public accountant.

Dr. Charles “Tony” Bennett, President of Schools, has more than three decades of experience in school management, strategic planning, and operations. As one of the nation’s foremost experts in education policy, he manages and implements a diverse portfolio of initiatives and programs that support, measure, track, and ultimately improve student academic achievement and growth across schools powered by Stride K12.

Dr. Bennett began his career as a high school science teacher and rapidly ascended to leadership roles in two of the country’s pioneering education reform states: Florida and Indiana. He served as Commissioner of Education in Florida before starting TBX2, Inc./Education Reform Strategies, a consulting company that focuses on supporting education reform across the country.

Prior to TBX2, Inc., Dr. Bennett served as State Superintendent in Indiana. During his tenure, the state saw record high-school graduation rates and participation and success rates in Advanced Placement® courses and exams, student achievement on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) assessment rose dramatically, and improvement in the state’s National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) results was ranked among the top three in the United States.

Dr. Bennett previously held roles in Indiana as School Corporation Superintendent for Greater Clark County Schools and Assistant Superintendent for Administration and Operations at New Albany Floyd County Schools. He also served on the board of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the governing board of the Partnership for the Assessment for Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), and was a founding member and former chair of Chiefs for Change.

Dr. Bennett holds a doctoral degree in education and a superintendent license from Spalding University. He earned his certification in secondary administration and supervision, a master’s degree in secondary education, and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University Southeast.

Niyoka McCoy, Stride’s Chief Learning Officer, has decades of experience building strong academic programs, driving initiatives that promote academic equity, and creating professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders.

Prior to her current role, she served as Stride’s Chief Academic Officer and Senior Vice President of Academic Services. In these positions, Ms. McCoy—in partnership with the Regional Vice Presidents of Academics—led a suite of programs and initiatives that tracked and supported achievement and growth among students, administrators, and school leaders. Additionally, she managed the Academic Services organization, including the assessment, special programs, accountability, counseling, and talent development teams.

A published author and former teacher, Ms. McCoy earned a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College, a master’s degree in education from Mercer University, and a post-graduate degree in curriculum and instruction from Capella University.

Valerie Maddy, SVP, Human Resources at Stride, brings more than 20 years of global leadership and innovation in the full range of human resources disciplines. At Stride, Ms. Maddy is leading the development and implementation of new systems, processes, policies, and programs aimed at maximizing every employee’s contribution to student academic success. As part of that effort, she is working with business teams to drive alignment, clarity and competitive advantage across the company and to plan, acquire, develop, and retain the talent required to achieve organizational goals.

Prior to joining Stride, Ms. Maddy was VP, Global Human Resources Operations for Ciena Corporation, a global leader in next-generation network infrastructure. While there, she introduced reliable automation to human resources systems, significantly increasing efficiency levels, and led the human resources due diligence efforts and integration activities of eight acquisitions. Before rising to this position, Ms. Maddy served in a number of leadership roles at Ciena in the areas of Global Total Rewards and Global Risk Management.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Maddy held leadership roles in Human Resources and Finance at Crown Vantage, a specialty paper manufacturer and distributor. Prior to that, she served in Human Resources and Auditing roles at SAFECO and American General, both providers of financial and insurance services.

Ms. Maddy is a graduate of Humboldt State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration. She holds a certificate in Global Benefits Management, a designation from Fellow Life Management Institute, and is also a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist and Certified Internal Auditor.