Executive Director
CARRIE RACHEL DEAN
Rachel is a proud product of South Carolina Public Schools and a graduate of Clemson University. She has been active in political campaigns and community organizing since she was eight years old. Rachel moved to New York City upon graduation from Clemson and began working with Native American Tribes across the country, assisting them with economic endeavors and public relations.
In 2003, she formed Carrie Dean Events and Public Relations and began offering consulting services to non-profit organizations ranging from 9/11 family groups to after-school programs. Her client list includes the East Harlem Tutorial Program, Tuesday’s Children, Jewish Home & Hospital, Helen Keller International and Gilda’s Club Worldwide.
After a decade in New York, Rachel came back to South Carolina in 2006 to serve as Executive Director of the anti-voucher group Choose Children First. Fearful of what pro-voucher groups were trying to do to public schools in her home state, she felt compelled to do her part to protect them. Under Rachel’s leadership, Choose Children First was an active advocate for South Carolina’s public schools during the 2006 election cycle, registering more than 20,000 pro-public education voters through their “GOAL: 100%” campaign.
With her enduring commitment to public education, Rachel enthusiastically took on the challenge of RISE SC, working to foster a ground swell of grassroots support for the kind of the sustained reform and long-term improvement South Carolina’s education system needs and our children deserve.
She continues to serve her clients in New York, as well, splitting her time between Manhattan and Columbia.
