Lisa Graham Keegan

Biographical Information

The Honorable Lisa Graham Keegan is a former member of the board of directors of Jobs for America's Graduates, Inc.  This biography is from that website:

Lisa Graham Keegan recently took the helm of the Education Leaders Council as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this position she was Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction. In this capacity she maintained general oversight of Arizona's annual $4.5 billion dollar public education efforts for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. In addition, she served on the state boards for universities, colleges and charter schools.

Ms. Keegan is known for her focus on educational improvement and reform, including efforts for student centered funding, charter schools, expanded school choice and an emphasis on marketplace incentives. She originally developed her policies during her service in Arizona's House of Representatives, where she chaired the Education Committee, and authored much of the reform legislation she now oversees.

Ms. Keegan is a frequent speaker for national policy organizations. She has spoken to newly elected Members of Congress on the education issues before them at the Kennedy School Of Government at Harvard. She has provided testimony to Congressional Committees and addressed the Senate Republican Policy Committee on the federal role in education. She has written for several publications, including the Fordham Foundation, the Pioneer Institute, Chronicles Magazine, IntellectualCapital.com and several Arizona publications. Her work has been cited by others in places such as Forbes Magazine, the Weekly Standard, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

Ms. Keegan is a founding member of the Education Leaders Council, a group of reform-minded education chiefs from seven states. In March of 1999, Ms. Keegan was presented with the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation Award for Leadership in Educational Choice. In May of 1999, she was honored by the Republican Women Leaders Forum as Educator of the Year.

Ms. Keegan was born in Palo Alto, CA.  Her family later moved to Arizona, where she graduated from Scottsdale High School in 1977.  She graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in human language in 1981, and from Arizona State University with a Master of Science in communications disorders in 1983.  She worked as a speech pathologist at Phoenix General Hospital (1983) and the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center (1983-87).  From 1987-90, she directed an ASU early childhood diagnosis and treatment program, which primarily served children on Indian reservations and the inner city.

Mrs. Keegan served two terms in the Arizona House of Representatives from 1991-94.  She was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1994 and re-elected in 1998.  She is married to Peoria, AZ Mayor John Keegan and they have five children.  The Keegans are members of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church.

Education

Masters Science: Communications Disorders, Arizona State University, 1983

Bachelor Arts: Human Language, Stanford University, 1981

Additional Information

LEGISLATIVE FAMILY:  wife of Rep. John C. Keegan (married December 18, 1995 in Hawaii "Political Insider:  Marchers Put Hitch in Primary."  The Arizona Republic, December 15, 1995, p. B1)

Employment

Arizona Legislative Service

Sources

Birth: Arizona Legislative Biography sheet

Education: Jobs for America's Graduates. (n.d.). JAG-Board_ Lisa Graham Keegan. Retrieved March 24, 2017 from http;//old.jag.org/lisa_keegan.htm