Rachael Tutwiler Fortune is President of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF), Jacksonville's high-capacity local education fund, where she leads efforts to ensure every child has access to a high-quality public education by activating community support, connecting partners, and advancing effective ideas for student success. A nationally recognized education leader, she is known for building bridges across sectors and bringing communities together to create opportunities for young people.
In addition to her role at JPEF, Rachael serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Leadership at the University of North Florida.
Rachael previously served as Senior Director of the GradNation Campaign at America's Promise Alliance and as a Program Officer in the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the United States Department of Education during the Obama Administration. In these roles, she managed multi-million-dollar Race to the Top grants and supported state and local efforts to advance education reform and improve student outcomes.
Before returning to Jacksonville, Rachael served as an Education Pioneers Fellow in the Quality, Accountability, and Analytics Department at Oakland Unified School District, where she helped strengthen strategic planning for community schools. Earlier in her career, she led JPEF's ONE by ONE campaign, engaging more than 1,600 stakeholders to create a shared vision for public education in Duval County. She returned to the organization in 2017 as Executive Vice President and was appointed President in 2018. Her career began as a Teach For America charter corps member at S.P. Livingston Elementary School in Jacksonville.
In addition to serving as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, Rachael serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville. She also serves on the boards of Baptist Health and City Year Jacksonville and on the Florida Education Funders Steering Committee of the Florida Philanthropic Network. In addition, she holds advisory roles with Jacksonville University's Public Policy Institute and the University of North Florida's College of Arts and Sciences.
Rachael holds a master's degree in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of North Florida.
Recognized for her leadership and commitment to educational opportunity, Rachael is a 2026 Pahara Fellow. She was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council in 2023 and one of the First Coast's 40 Under 40 by the Jacksonville Business Journal in 2020. She is an alumna of Leadership Florida's Education Class of 2018 and Leadership Jacksonville's Class of 2022.
Rachael is married to Emmanuel Fortune and is the proud mother of three children, Nicholas, Elle, and Riley.