Born in January 1958 as Elisabeth Prince, Betsy DeVos is the current Secretary of Education in the United States. She is also a businesswoman and an activist. She has been involved in politics for a long time as a member of the Republican Party. In 1992, she was named Michigan’s Republican National Committeewoman and also served as the chairwoman of Republican Party. Betsy has also worked as chairwoman of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and Acton Institute. She has made a mark in education by supporting the school voucher programs, school choice, and charter schools. In addition to her involvement in the education sector, DeVos has for the longest time been an advocate of the Detroit charter school system and also a member of the board of Foundation for Excellence. Read more about her philanthropy at MLive.com.
In 1989, Betsy together with her husband Dick DeVos founded Windquest Group, an operating company that deals with manufacturing, technology, and clean water. Together, they have also invested in Neurocore, where they are also board members. Neurocore is a group of brain performance centers that provide biofeedback therapy for depression, autism, anxiety, and attention deficit disorder.
The DeVoses charitable giving is evident especially the way that the family has spent their fortune in financing the Republican candidates. They have also donated through philanthropic foundations that they have formed and those around the country. Betsy has extended her donations to Christian education groups like the Ada Christian School Society, Christian Schools International, and the Grand Rapids Christian School Association. She has also played a role in nonprofit organizations, and this reflects their conservative political views and Christian beliefs.
Being a reformer, Betsy DeVos has been involved in political activities, campaigns, and attended political action committees. Another area that Betsy has pursued reform is Education, which landed her an interview with Philanthropy. She says that she is optimistic about the progress and future of educational-choice programs, as seen in the recent years that have registered a major growth in the number of students. Betsy discusses that making visits to Potter’s House Christian School inspired her decision to start supporting individual students whose parents could not afford to pay for tuition fees. Her family still supports the school up to date. She continued her interest in education and started offering scholarships to students from low-income households. Her service to the government has also influenced her to be more involved in the educational choice movement. Read her interview with Philanthropy Table
According to Betsy, Florida has been the best recipient of the educational choice, and the number of students keeps increasing. The students attend the schools of their choosing through the tax-credit scholarship program. Other states that have advanced are Lousiana and Indiana.
Education offers many choices like homeschooling, which parents have opted to choose for their kids if they do not like where they have been assigned. Charter schools are another valid option in the educational choice movement.