We are excited to share the story of an extraordinary leader in the charter school space—Thuy Wong, CEO of CharterSAFE—whose impact extends far beyond the classroom.
A safe ecosystem for charter schools just didn’t happen. It had to be made.
CharterSAFE CEO Thuy Wong has been one of those great CharterFolk who has helped make this vital part of the healthy and safe ecosystem.
Thuy attended The Preuss School UC San Diego, a unique charter middle and high school for low-income scholars who strive to become the first in their families to graduate from college. Located on the UC San Diego campus, nearly 100% of The Preuss School’s graduates go on to higher education. Thuy was in the fourth graduating class of the school.
Translating Complexity into Clarity
Thuy’s early experience shaped how she would come to understand both the extraordinary potential of charter schools and the unique vulnerabilities they face.
As a high school student, she worked in a university chemistry lab, getting rare firsthand exposure to the scientific process. She loved the intellectual challenge, but by the time she graduated college, she realized that what truly inspired her wasn’t lab research—it was helping others understand complex systems.
“What I loved most about the sciences was taking something really complicated, extracting the core of it, and explaining it in simple, layman’s terms. I took that and ran with it—and in my role now, it’s the same,” said Thuy.
In college, Thuy interned in the scholastic department of an insurance brokerage firm, and that’s where everything clicked. She discovered the intricate, behind-the-scenes work that enables schools to function—and how charter schools in particular were often at a disadvantage. Without the centralized infrastructure that traditional districts rely on, charter schools had to figure out risk management, compliance, and crisis response on their own.
“I went from understanding one single charter school to working with charter schools across the nation, and that was fantastic to understand the needs of the charters, realizing for myself that while I would not make the best educator, but I could really do some work to support the educator,” said Thuy. “Insurance and risk management can feel like a whole new language, but I love breaking it down so people really understand what they need and why it matters. And now can I make sure I’m part of the movement in a way that is supportive and that is relevant.”
Legacy of Innovation: Born from Necessity
In the early days of the charter school movement, the insurance industry didn’t know what to make of this new breed of public schools. Charter schools didn’t fit into the standard risk categories, and commercial providers didn’t know how to assess them. Many refused to offer insurance at all. Those that did charged prohibitively high premiums—diverting precious dollars away from where they belonged: classrooms and teachers.
Caprice Young, then CEO of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and now a CharterFolk board member, saw how deeply this problem cut. Without insurance, schools couldn’t lease buildings, hire staff, or stay open in a crisis. And with excessive rates, already-lean budgets were drained further. But Caprice also understood the power of public sector innovation. She knew about Joint Powers Authorities (JPAs)—a model used by school districts to pool resources and secure cost-effective insurance coverage.
She asked a simple but transformative question: why not charter schools?
With her vision and leadership, CharterSAFE was born—initially under the umbrella of CCSA. The idea was bold: build a dedicated JPA designed from the ground up to serve charter schools and their distinct needs. Over time, as CharterSAFE’s footprint expanded and its expertise deepened, it made sense for the organization to spin off and become a completely separate, independent entity.
That decision allowed both organizations to thrive. CCSA remained focused on what it needed to be great at—policy and advocacy. Meanwhile, CharterSAFE was free to provide insurance and risk management to schools that were fundamentally different from traditional districts—schools that were autonomous by design and required systems tailored to support that autonomy.
“CharterSAFE is the only JPA in California focused on charter schools, and our board is made up of charter leaders,” said Thuy. “That makes a difference.”
The JPA Advantage
JPAs were first created in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during a time when the insurance market had become nearly inaccessible to public institutions. The solution was legislative: allow schools and other public entities to band together and form JPAs that could act as expert intermediaries, securing insurance coverage on their behalf.
What began as a practical workaround to a broken market soon evolved. As JPAs began to integrate risk management and proactive safety strategies, they not only gained better coverage but also built stronger, more resilient institutions.
That same spirit of innovation carried into the 1990s, when charter schools began to take root. The charter movement—born from a need to reimagine public education—naturally aligned with the JPA model. When CharterSAFE was founded in 2004, it extended this legacy into a new era tailored to the unique risks, responsibilities, and aspirations of charter schools.
Thuy sees strong parallels between JPAs and charters. “I actually liken JPAs in the insurance world to charter schools in the public school world—they’re the creative arm,” said Thuy. “They’re willing to take risks, to be front-facing, to bet on themselves.They try something new, and if it doesn’t work, they move on to the next idea.”
At the same time, it’s important to recognize that JPAs aren’t just experimental anymore. What started as innovation is now firmly embedded in the public education infrastructure.
JPAs offer a uniquely stable and resilient model for public sector insurance—one that stands in stark contrast to the volatility of the commercial market. Over the past 40 years, while more than 760 private insurers have become financially impaired, only one JPA has. That’s because JPAs are member-owned, mission-driven, and built on long-term partnerships rather than short-term profits. For charter schools, this stability is essential.
“Insurance may not seem glamorous, but it allows schools to operate and take smart risks—for kids,” Thuy said.
Leadership Beyond the Classroom
Thuy joined CharterSAFE as employee number three. Today, she leads the organization to support more than 300 charter schools statewide, offering tailored insurance and risk management services.
“One of the things that charters really do well is they teach you. Not just the studies, but the ability to connect,” said Thuy who has applied this approach at CharterSAFE. “We’re embedded in the community. We understand the unique risks of charter schools, and we’re able to tailor our support accordingly.”
To Thuy, insurance is more than paperwork—it’s protection that keeps schools open, safe, and resilient. It ensures a school can recover from a crisis, fight an unfair claim, or keep the lights on in the face of legal or operational threats.
“We look at school safety as a public health issue,” Thuy said. “That means being proactive, not just reactive.”
Under her leadership, CharterSAFE has expanded well beyond insurance. It now provides safety training, HR and compliance support, employment law guidance, facilities risk reviews, and cybersecurity services—all designed with charter school realities in mind.
As a thought leader in the insurance market and a trusted partner to charter schools, Thuy has shared her expertise widely—authoring articles on critical topics such as childhood sexual abuse prevention, fire safety, and cybersecurity to help school communities stay informed and protected.
“It’s not just about having insurance,” said Thuy. “It’s about having the right kind of support behind schools that are taking bold, innovative steps to serve students. That’s what CharterSAFE was created to do.”
Protecting the Charter Promise
“When charters started, we didn’t have facilities support, we didn’t have risk support, we didn’t have professional development support. So we built it ourselves,” said Thuy.
As charter schools face increasingly strong political headwinds in California, and other states, CharterSAFE plays a critical role in preventing issues and safety incidents, by identifying important facility safeguards, personalizing and staying on the cutting-edge of staff and teacher trainings and providing that personal connection and relationship charter school communities value. Through CharterSAFE, Thuy is making sure that when schools take bold steps for kids, there’s a strong, smart system behind them—because protecting the charter promise means protecting the people and schools who carry it forward every day.
During the 2008 financial crisis, CharterSAFE noticed a surge in employment practices claimes. “It was clear that HR was a major vulnerability,” said Thuy. “We asked ourselves, how do we help our members through this? Today, we see ourselves in more of a consultative role—helping schools strengthen their practices, reduce risk, and support the broader charter movement.”
That kind of evolution reflects the broader mission: to ensure that when charter schools take bold steps, there’s a smart system behind them. Because protecting the charter promise means protecting the people and schools who live it every day.
CharterSAFE and the Future of the Movement
“Our mission is to help schools understand safety better—to support them in doing whatever they want to do with their curriculum, but in the safest way possible,” said Thuy. “The vision is that if we can take even one hat off a school leader’s plate, they can focus more on the classroom and their students. That’s how I see us serving the movement.”
Thuy says that working with a network of charter schools, she can see the trends, do the analytics, and truly be a safety partner. Through CharterSAFE, Thuy is making sure the charter school movement stays resilient—so schools can keep innovating and serving kids, no matter what comes next.
Hope Through Innovation and Community
That resilience has been tested. When wildfires tore through Paradise and Los Angeles, CharterSAFE was there. The team was able to help provide important information about record keeping, safeguarding valuables and preparing facilities to mitigate damage. From safeguarding valuables and preparing campuses to post-disaster recovery, smoke damage assessment, and temporary relocation, Thuy and her team offered hands-on, real-time support.
As it has done this, it has demonstrated that it makes sense for all sorts of providers to offer insurance to charter schools, both in California and across the country. Such that now, it’s easy to forget that a lack of high-quality insurance options was even a problem.
Through it all, CharterSAFE has remained deeply invested in advocacy. It continues to support the efforts of CCSA and other partners, understanding that without strong advocacy, the charter sector itself would be vulnerable.
“What gives me hope about the future of charter schools—both in California and beyond—is that we’re innovative,” said Thuy. “When you’re forward-thinking, you find solutions even in the hardest moments. I think the charter movement’s greatest strength is its ability to ‘fail forward’—to take risks, learn, and keep going. That spirit of passion and adaptability is what will allow us to keep serving students with all kinds of needs, in all kinds of ways.”