The Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) announced in December that Micah Ali of Compton Unified School District, California, was elected to serve as the council’s chair. Shavonna Holman of Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska, was elected vice chair and Ty G. Jones of Lancaster Independent School District, Texas, elected secretary.

A national leader on education policy, Ali has been at the forefront of efforts to broaden access to education and early care for low-income children, establish school-based health centers in local communities, and expand opportunities for academic excellence in public schools. Ali was first elected to the Compton Unified School District Governing Board of Trustees in 2007. During his tenure, Compton erased a $39 million debt and made historic improvements in graduation rates across the district.

Shavonna Holman joined the school board for Omaha Public Schools in 2017 and was unanimously elected president of the board in January 2020. Since 2013, she has served as an assistant professor of educational administration and the coordinator of the MEd Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Prior to her roles in higher education, Holman dedicated over a decade in the public education sector serving both as an elementary teacher and elementary principal in diverse, urban settings.

Ty Jones serves as the vice president of the Lancaster Independent School District Board of Trustees. An advocate for student outcomes, he also serves as president of the Leadership TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) Alumni Executive Board, is the immediate past president of the Texas Caucus of Black School Board Members, and chair of the Governance in Education Commission of the National and Texas Alliances of Black School Educators. Jones was an educator for over 20 years and served as an elementary school teacher and a central administrator.

Jacinto Ramos Jr., a member of Texas’ Fort Worth Independent School District since 2013, continues in his position as CUBE’s immediate past chair. He is the current president of the Mexican American School Boards Association, serves on the board of TASB, and is on the executive committee for the Council of Great City Schools.