Kaleem Caire is the founder and CEO of One City Schools, the operator of two preschools serving ages 1 through kindergarten that are focused on getting young children ready for school success. Prior to One City, Kaleem was the President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison in Madison, WI and chair of the National Urban League’s Education Committee. Prior to the Urban League, Kaleem held other executive leadership positions with Target Corporation, Fight For Children of Washington, DC, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), American Education Reform Council, Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY) and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. In 2008,
Kaleem was among the first recipients of the University of Wisconsin’s Forward Under Forty Award and in the same year, was named a Distinguished Alumni by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association for his work in education and community development. He was also the youngest recipient of the City of Madison’s (WI) Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award in 2001 and the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Whitney Young Jr. Award (2001), and has received numerous awards and recognition for his work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Kaleem’s life commitments are to create opportunities in places where people need them the most, to move people from poverty to prosperity and to raise strong and caring children in his own home. His work in education has been chronicled in news articles, research papers and books over the last 20 years.
Kaleem is married to Lisa Peyton-Caire and together, they have five children ages 12 to 26. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has a Grassroots License with the United States Soccer Federation and is a part-time volunteer coach with the Wisconsin Rush Soccer Club. He is also a Pahara-Aspen Institute Fellow.
