Kristin Ehrgood
President & Founder, Sapientis
Director, Flamboyan Foundation

Kristin Ehrgood is president & founder of Sapientis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education in Puerto Rico. Additionally, she is the Director of the Flamboyan Foundation, a family foundation that focuses on improving public K-12 in school time through strategic partnerships in Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.

After earning her Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kenney School of Government in 2001, Ms. Ehrgood and Kennedy School classmate, Vadim Nikitine, started Sapientis in Puerto Rico. Since 2003, Sapientis has improved the leadership skills of over 400 public education stakeholders including outstanding college graduates, teachers, school directors, parents, students, and business executives. By teaching others to exercise leadership, Sapientis is building Puerto Rico’s most informed and diverse network of change agents dedicated to improving the quality of public education on the island. In spring 2005, Ms. Ehrgood’s work at Sapientis was recognized by Ernst & Young when she was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in the area of Social Responsibility.

Ehrgood is also the founder of “The Friends of Public Education” a nonpartisan citizens group in Puerto Rico dedicated to gathering and disseminating fact-based information to help improve Puerto Rico’s public schools. Started in 2006, Friends is commissioning two studies aimed at generating more accurate, publicly available data on the conditions that allow schools to thrive in Puerto Rico and the broader education system.

In 2006, Ehrgood and Nikitine also laid the groundwork for Flamboyan Foundation and in 2007, the organization earned its 501c3 nonprofit status. Still in start-up phase, Flamboyan Foundation intends to be an example of highly engaged and effective education philanthropy with a focus on results.

Ms. Ehrgood attended Bucknell University where she earned a B.A. in International Relations before joining Teach For America and teaching for three years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Trenton, New Jersey. Ms. Ehrgood later joined the Teach For America staff as Executive Director of their New Jersey region and then as Director of New Site Development.

Ms. Ehrgood currently splits her time between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. She lives with her husband, Vadim Nikitine and their black lab, Zubi. She sits on the boards of Sapientis, Flamboyan Foundation, Stand For Children, and Teach For America in Washington, DC.