Chief Executive Officer

Russell W. Booker is a devoted champion of education and community service, bringing 30 years of diverse experience in the field. His passion centers on empowering students for lives of leadership and service. Under his leadership, Spartanburg Academic Movement is driving an ambitious integrated economic mobility plan, Movement 2030, aimed at providing thousands of children in Spartanburg a pathway to upward mobility.

Having retired as Superintendent of Spartanburg County School District Seven, Dr. Booker has left an indelible mark on the local education system. He currently chairs the StriveTogether Board of Directors, serves as a board director of Purpose Built Communities, and holds roles as a trustee at Wingate University, the Mary Black Foundation and the Spartanburg Regional Hospital Foundation.

His contributions have led him to be recognized with the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Humanitarian Award, South Carolina Superintendent of the Year recognition, and induction into the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Athlete Alumni. In 2020, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor, acknowledging his years of dedicated service in education. He was most recently given OneSpartanburg Inc.'s 2023 Neville Holcombe Distinguished Citizen Award.

A proud member of the Spartanburg Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity Inc., and the South Carolina Liberty Fellowship, Dr. Booker is deeply rooted in his community. He earned his B.S. degree in Education from Wingate University and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Currently, he serves as a By All Means Senior Fellow at Harvard University's EdRedesign Lab in the Graduate School of Education. He holds two honorary doctorate degrees.

Russell and his wife Sheryl reside in Spartanburg and are the proud parents of two sons. Grant graduated from the US Naval Academy and commissioned as a US Marine Corps officer in 2023, and Maxwell is a member of the Harvard College Class of ’26.  They are members of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church.