Adeola (“Ola”) Whitney believes that all students deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential in school and beyond and that early literacy is a foundational driver of educational equity. Ola brings 20+ years of education leadership experience to the CEO role.
Since returning to Reading Partners in the fall of 2020, Ola has led the organization through the development of a new strategic plan, the rollout of an online tutoring platform and several new partnerships, an increase in the size and diversity of the national board, and strengthening the organization’s commitment to race equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI).
Ola was named one of the Top 100 Influencers in EdTech in the 2023-24 State of EdTech report, and in 2024 she was invited to be part of the highly selective Pahara Fellowship, a community of leaders working to transform and improve public education for all students. Ola rejoined Reading Partners from iMentor where she led the expansion and implementation of the college-success program and managed executive leadership in the Bay Area, Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City. In a prior role at Reading Partners as chief regional operations officer from 2013-2016, Ola oversaw 85 percent of the organization while managing over a dozen executive directors across the country. Ola has also held leadership and management roles with Playworks, Kaplan, and McGraw Hill. Ola earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in English and African-American studies.
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