Courtney Sale Ross is an innovative leader in education who has founded several schools including the Ross School, Ross Global Academy, and the Ross Institute. Over the past 16 years, she has worked to expand best practices in K-12 education and develop models to transform education. She is also active in her community through philanthropic work supporting education, the arts, and international relations.

1. Courtney Sale Ross Philanthropist

2. Courtney Sale Ross Courtney Sale Ross has been an innovative leader in the field of education for over 16 years. Courtney Sale Ross recognized that preparing students to meet the challenges of the 21st century requires pioneering models that will transform education. Aided by the research of many educational pioneers and leading thinkers, she set out to expand upon some of the best practices in K-12 education. Today Courtney Sale Ross is the founder of Ross School, Ross Global Academy, and Ross Institute.

3. The Ross School Founded in 1991 by Courtney Sale Ross and her late husband, Steven J. Ross, Ross School serves over 560 students in Pre-Nursery through grade 12 on two beautiful campuses in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, New York. Ross School is committed to offering the highest quality education to the broadest range of students and developing, as part of the Ross Institute, a model for 21st century education that can be applied to transform education in public school settings world-wide. The global, integrated curriculum at Ross School combined with on-site learning, peer teaching, mentoring, and technology ensures that students will have the skills and frameworks essential for the 21st century.

4. The Ross School Starlight Ball Ross School's "Live at Club Starlight" is dedicated to raising funds for the School's programs and for the Steven J. Ross Scholarship Fund which has been in place since the School's inception in 1991 Created by Courtney and Steven J. Ross to ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive an outstanding, world-class education, the SJR Scholarship Fund enables 25 percent of the student body to receive financial assistance. Each year, the Starlight Ball celebrates the students at the heart of the Ross community with special celebrity performances, student ambassadors, and live and silent auction items donated by committed parents, countless trustees and friends, and local and national organizations.

5. Courtney Sale Ross at Starlight Ball This year's Third Annual Starlight Ball, attended by a sold-out audience of over 350 parents from Ross School, community friends, numerous Morris Center parents and supporters from the New York metropolitan community, was a huge success, netting $275,000 for scholarships for children who depend on need-based financial aid to attend the Ross School. Ross School Founder, Courtney Sale Ross, said, "Due to the dedication and hard work of our parent committee volunteers, our staff, and the support of the entire community, this year's Scholarship event effort tripled the revenue generated by our first Starlight Ball in 2003. We are extremely grateful to everyone who attended, and to our Honorees”

6. The Ross Institute Founded in 1996, Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education was established to promote understanding of the implications of globalization for pre-collegiate public education. The Institute brings together leading scholars, educators and policy-makers in support of innovative research and practices in global education. Ross Institute also actively fundraises to support Institute projects such as Ross School. The work of the Institute focuses on three major areas: providing professional development for schools who would like to adopt the Ross Model, growing worldwide community of Ross Network Schools committed to 21st century education and catalyzing research in order to improve pedagogical practice.

7. Ross Global Academy In 2006, Courtney Sale Ross founded the Ross Global Academy in collaboration with New York University's Steinhardt School of Education and New York City's Board of Education. Ross Global Academy is an innovative public charter school, located in New York City, that serves lower and middle school students. Ross Global Academy provides a holistic education, based on the Ross School model, to enable students to develop a global worldview. RGA aims to serve students from diverse cultural backgrounds with varied learning styles while cultivating in all students an engagement in life-long learning and well-being.

8. Courtney Sale Ross & Education In addition to her work with the Ross School, Ross Institute, and Ross Global Academy, Courtney Sale Ross has also given to major universities across the United States, including Harvard University, New York University, the University of Southern California and Skidmore College. Courtney Sale Ross created the Ross Scholarship Fund for minority women at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She also extends to the People's Republic of China and has endowed a number of museums with contributions related to education and research, including establishing the Courtney and Steven J. Ross Multi-Media and Communications Center at the Shanghai Museum.

9. Courtney Sale Ross & Community Courtney Sale Ross is active in her community and serves on a number of boards, especially those with an emphasis on education, wellness, and international relations. Courtney Sale Ross is a member of the board for the New York University, the Asia Society, the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, the Committee on U.S./China Relations, and the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

10. Courtney Sale Ross & Art Prior to her work in education, Courtney Sale Ross founded a contemporary art gallery in Dallas, Texas. Courtney Sale Ross has also produced a number of films, including 'The Big Picture,' as well as a six-part documentary series on New York School artists called 'Strokes of Genius.‘ In 1990, Courtney Sale Ross was executive producer for 'Listen Up! The Lives of Quincy Jones'.

11. Charity Events – Aretha Franklin Concert Franklin is enamored of the East Hampton private school founded 15 years ago by Courtney Sale Ross. She donated her time in 2006, and gave another concert in August 2009. For the second time, an Aretha Franklin Scholarship will be awarded to a current Ross student with an interest in the performing arts.

12. Broadway Musical Review Event A musical review was given by such Broadway stars as three-time Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara, currently of South Pacific, Tony winner Laura Benanti of Gypsy, and Daphne Rubin-Vega from the original cast of Rent. The event was held on the night of August 18 and benefit the Ross School theater program. Tickets were$500. All proceeds from the event go straight to the theater program at Ross School.

13. Other Philanthropic Activities In order to help underprivileged women, Courtney Sale Ross established the Courtney Sale Ross Scholarship Fund at the Tisch School of New York University. She endowed the Courtney and Steven Ross Chair in Interdisciplinary Studies to Skidmore College. There is also a professorship for education and globalization bearing the Courtney Sale Ross name at the Steinhardt School of Education in New York University. Courtney Ross is also interested in strengthening U.S.-China relations. Institutions in China benefit from her funding, such as the Shanghai Museum, where a state-of-the-art theatre is named in her behalf. Since 1996, Courtney Ross has been at the helm of the Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education, a nonprofit research entity designated to search for innovative measures for education at the pre-college level. For the most part, the Ross Insitute aims to assimilate the best features of globalization in pre-collegiate education.

14. More Information For more information on Courtney Sale Ross and her philanthropic activities, please pay a visit to the following links. Courtney Sale Ross A Month of Benefits Faces of Philanthropy