Purple America is a national initiative of Values-in-Action Foundation to re-focus the American conversation to a civil, productive and respectful dialogue around our American shared values.
Values-in-Action Foundation empowers students and adults to build communities of kindness, caring and respect through programs that teach, promote, and provide skills and tools to enable individuals to make positive values-based decisions every day. To learn more about Project Love, our school-based, character-development initiative of Values-in-Action Foundation, visit www.viafdn.org


Dr. Eugene Sanders, now retired, most recently served as chief executive officer of the Cleveland Municipal School District. During his tenure, he embarked on the mission of guiding the state’s largest school district toward greater academic progress, initiating a five-year Strategic Plan designed to move the district to continuous improvement or higher. Dr. Sanders came to Cleveland from the Toledo Public Schools, where in six years as superintendent, he moved the district to its highest academic achievement ranking to date, and propelling Toledo to be one of the few urban districts in the nation to meet the No Child Left Behind guidelines for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The recipient of many prestigious awards, he received his doctorate graduate degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Bowling Green State University, has authored a textbook on urban school leadership and written many scholarly articles on achievement and organizational improvement in schools.
Dr. Eugene Sanders
Vice Chair, Purple America, Former Cleveland Schools CEO - Cleveland, Ohio