When, in 1988, the Leeds turned the management of their company over to two of their sons, they turned their attention to philanthropy and in 1990 the couple launched the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA), which works in partnership with low-performing school districts to help at-risk middle- and high-school students.
[1] Hoping to build on the success of ISA and implement it nationally, Mr. and Mrs. Leeds founded the Alliance in December 1999 and hired Susan Frost as the first President in 2001.
As President of the Alliance, Frost helped identify the weaknesses in President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act and recognized key strategies for policymakers to help schools raise student achievement and graduation rates.
The Alliance called on national policymakers to expand the federal role in education to high school students with initiatives in adolescent literacy, teacher and principal quality, college preparation planning, and smaller, more personalized learning communities.
In February 2005 former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise was hired as the Alliance's second President.