Leadership & Board

Tonika Cheek Clayton

Tonika Cheek Clayton is a results-focused ed tech investor and accomplished business leader with a proven track record of success and commitment to underserved communities. She is also a trusted CEO advisor; an experienced board member; an effective leader and manager; and a strong proponent of diversity and equity.

As Managing Partner for NewSchools’ ed tech fund, Tonika Cheek Clayton founded the NewSchools Ignite fund focused on ed tech entrepreneurs developing products to increase equity outcomes for Black and Latinx students. She led the execution of a “challenge” model to source the best ideas from innovators creating tech solutions designed to support the academic and social needs of students. She invested $15 million across 85 for-profit and nonprofit companies developing technology to support Pk-12 student learning.

Prior to becoming an investor, Tonika spent eight years in various executive leadership roles in sales, customer success, and product management with P&L responsibilities in a growth stage venture (Wireless Generation/Amplify) that was ultimately acquired by NewsCorp. Tonika is a strong proponent of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). She’s worked to increase Black and Latinx representation across company leadership, employees and boards. She believes that the best tech products will arise from teams who reflect the populations they aim to serve, and she strives to help companies achieve this goal. She continues to examine and advise companies on what DEI practices within product design, organizational culture, user testing and research will lead to tech products that can better serve communities.

Tonika graduated from Harvard College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. She currently resides in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children.