Margaret Trimer-Hartley
Margaret Trimer-Hartley is the chief external affairs officer for University Prep Schools, which includes two of Detroit’s highest performing public charter school districts. Trimer-Hartley is the founder and former superintendent of one of those districts, University Prep Science & Math Schools (UPSM).
Prior to that, Trimer-Hartley was the director of communications for the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the state’s largest teachers union. There, she advocated and lobbied for resources, support and development for the association’s 160,000 public school employees.
While at the MEA she started a non-profit called Your Child.
Your Child is credited with revealing Michigan’s lackluster culture of education and conducting a major public relations campaign designed to spur improvement. The data and the campaign were used to drive the State Board of Education to adopt the rigorous Michigan Merit Curriculum and enhance Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s efforts to double the number of college graduates in the state.
