Isral DeBruin

Isral DeBruin is Director of Capacity Building at City Fund, where he leads the systems, programs, and communications that help local education leaders grow more skilled and more connected. He draws on a background spanning education, communications, fundraising, nonprofit strategy, and policy to strengthen the organizations working to transform public education for students and families.

Prior to joining City Fund, Isral played a key role in launching and leading City Forward Collective, an education advocacy organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As the organization’s leader in strategy, communications, and fundraising, he advanced initiatives to improve educational opportunities in the region. Earlier in his career, Isral taught at a Milwaukee charter school through Teach For America, where his students achieved the highest math and reading gains of any classroom in the school.

Before transitioning to education, Isral was an award-winning education reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s NOW Newspapers. His journalism and opinion writing have been featured in numerous local and state publications in Wisconsin.

Isral holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and an M.Ed. in Educational Policy and Leadership from Marquette University. He resides in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood with his wife and daughter.