John Danner is the CEO and co-founder of Rocketship Education, the nation’s leading network of K-5 charter schools. Rocketship’s mission is to eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetimes. Rocketship opened its first school in 2007, establishing the Rocketship Model that combines traditional classroom instruction with Learning Lab, which enables individualized instruction through online adaptive technology and tutors; a parent engagement strategy that allows for the advocacy of all children and their education; and a leadership development program that creates sustainable careers for highly-effective educators. The charter network operates five schools in San Jose, California serving 2,400 students. With a network API of 868, Rocketship Education is the highest performing low-income elementary school system in California.

Prior to Rocketship, John's experience in education ranged from serving as the Chairman of the Charter School Resource Center of Tennessee for 4 years, founding director of KIPP Academy Nashville, teaching in the Nashville public school system for 3 years, and co-founding Sacred Heart Nativity School in San Jose. Before his work in education, John was founder and CEO of NetGravity, an Internet advertising software company. John holds a Bachelor‘s and Master‘s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master‘s Degree in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University. John is an Ashoka Fellow, a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and the 2010 winner of the McNulty Prize.