Russell W. Booker is a lifelong champion of education and community, with 30 years of experience. He leads the Spartanburg Academic Movement, advancing Movement 2030, a bold plan for economic mobility benefiting thousands of children. Formerly Superintendent of Spartanburg County School District Seven, Dr. Booker chairs the StriveTogether Board and serves on boards including Purpose Built Communities, Wingate University, the Mary Black Foundation, and Spartanburg Regional Hospital Foundation. His honors include the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Humanitarian Award, SC Superintendent of the Year, the Order of the Palmetto, and OneSpartanburg Inc.'s 2023 Neville Holcombe Distinguished Citizen Award. A proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi and the SC Liberty Fellowship, he holds degrees from Wingate University and the University of South Carolina, plus two honorary doctorates. He is a past Senior Fellow at Harvard’s EdRedesign Lab in the Graduate School of Education.