About Kari

Kari has spent the last 12 years in education, serving as a high school English teacher, school founder, and policy advocate. In 2015, Kari graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Education with a Master in Educational Leadership and returned to Los Angeles to launch a new high school built around the needs of foster, homeless, and probation youth. As the Founder, Principal, and Executive Director of Da Vinci RISE High School, she crafted an application that was chosen as one of 10 national winners of the XQ Super Schools $10 million grant. Over the next six years, she led RISE to launch three sites around the city, each co-located with local nonprofits and community organizations to ensure students had access to comprehensive wraparound services. Kari designed the school-wide holistic support system, training all staff on restorative practices, trauma-informed care, and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention. RISE has since served students from every zip code in Los Angeles.