Dr. Monica Goldson is the first black woman to lead a nonprofit organization that implements equitable, rigorous, scaled and sequenced future-readiness curricula and experiences for school systems to bring unique programming to every student from middle school through high school focused on financial literacy. Junior Achievement of Greater Washington engages global, national and local business leaders in meaningful and authentic interactions with students. We recruit and train thousands of volunteer mentors from our community to provide consistent guidance, insights and support for over 40,000 students in the region every year.

Prior to taking on this role, Dr. Goldson retired from Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) as the Chief Executive Officer after 32 years of service. She began her career as a high school mathematics teacher with plans to become an actuary. Within her first few weeks on the job, she realized that education was her true calling. She steadily moved up the administrative ranks, serving in such roles as principal, associate superintendent, deputy superintendent and chief operating officer, just to name a few, prior to her appointment as CEO. During her tenure, Dr. Goldson leveraged a full-scope alternative financing model to design, build, finance and maintain the internationally-recognized Blueprint Schools construction program to build six new middle schools in two years — the very first U.S. public school system to use a public-private partnership (P3) for construction.  Using a traditional and non-traditional construction program model, Dr. Goldson ushered in 17 new schools that will be built in 5 years. Prior to her departure, she is encouraged by the school district’s progress in working to reverse pandemic-related learning interruptions.  The 2023 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) results show that PGCPS students achieved scores higher than four other school districts in the state on the assessments for English grades 3-8, English 10 and Algebra 1.

Dr. Goldson holds three degrees from HBCUs – a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Florida A&M University, a master’s degree in Elementary and Secondary School Administration from Bowie State University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy from Howard University.  She serves on President Biden’s HBCU Advisory Panel and is currently the Vice President for the Maryland State Board of Education. Beyond the schoolhouse, Dr. Goldson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.