Bob Hughes is director of K-12 Education in the United States Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he oversees its work to ensure that it prepares all students for success in college and career. Before joining the foundation, Hughes was president of New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City school network of 70 district schools serving approximately 45,000 students. During his tenure, New Visions created 99 district and seven charter public schools, provided mentoring services to hundreds of new principals, developed school-based certification programs for teachers and principals, secondary curricula now accessed by thousands of teachers, and data management tools to streamline school operations and track student progress toward graduation and college. Hughes has also led or been involved in individual and class action litigation in special education and state school finance. He started his career providing legal representation to homeless parents and students in the New York City public school system and worked extensively with community organizers around education issues. Prior board affiliations include the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Advocates for Children of New York, Fund For Teachers, and Projects in Education, the nonprofit publisher of Education Week.