Dr. Charles Venegoni is co-founder of Civitas Schools and also serves as Division Head of English and Fine Arts at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, High School District 214. Recently, Venegoni finished a three-year term as a Commissioner on the Brookings Institution’s Educational Panel: The National Working Commission on Choice in K-12 Education. Civitas Schools’ design-based curriculum model and it successes at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, where it was originally developed, have been the subject of numerous conference presentations across the United States and Illinois since 2001. Venegoni co-authored the grant proposal that led to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the Chicago Charter School Foundation (CCSF). His publications and presentations have been in the areas of English literature and theory and English education, as well as in curriculum theory and practice, and educational policy.

Throughout his career, Venegoni has been an avid participant and practitioner in educational reform initiatives, serving as a teacher and administrator in high schools in Chicago and its suburbs. He has also taught English, Education, and Philosophy at the university or college levels. Venegoni holds a Ph.D. from Loyola University in Chicago.