RECY BENJAMIN DUNN
Recy is a longtime advocate of American education, families, students and educators. Recy is also the CEO of Ascend Public Charter Schools, a network of K-12 public schools in Brooklyn dedicated to providing all students rich and joyful learning experiences that empower them to live a life of boundless choice.
Recy brings more than two decades of leadership experience in education and high-performing public schools. Prior to joining Ascend in 2021, Recy served as the chief strategy officer for the Division of the First Deputy Chancellor at the New York City Department of Education (DOE), where he worked with system leadership to ensure an aligned vision, strategic planning, and system-wide coherence for assessing schools’ needs and providing tailored supports aligned to those needs. Prior to this role, Recy served as one of the DOE’s nine inaugural executive superintendents. As executive superintendent for Affinity Schools, his portfolio included more than 85,000 students in 160 secondary schools—a third of all high school options across the city.
Before returning to the DOE, Recy was chief operations and growth officer at YES Prep Public Schools in Houston. Previously, he has served as regional director for New Leaders and led major initiatives within the DOE as executive director of the Office of Early Childhood Education and later the Office of Charter Schools. Recy also held critical roles with Prince George’s County Public Schools and the District of Columbia Public Schools, where he completed The Broad Residency in Urban Education.
Recy has an MBA and an MA in Education from Stanford, and undergraduate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, he completed the School District Leadership program at Bank Street College. Recy lives with his wife and two children in Brooklyn.