Executive Committee

A nationally recognized leader in franchising and early education and care, Jo Kirchner serves as Chairwoman of the Board for Primrose Schools^®, where she provides strategic guidance for the company’s growth, brand leadership and public advocacy efforts. In fall 2025, she transitioned into the role after more than 25 years as President and CEO.

Throughout her tenure as CEO, Jo advanced the brand’s mission to forge a path that leads to a brighter future for all children. Under Jo’s leadership, Primrose grew from four schools in metro Atlanta to more than 500 schools nationwide. Jo continues to serve as Chairwoman of the Board of the Primrose Schools Partnership for Children℠, (formerly the Primrose Schools Children’s Foundation^®), which she founded and which has donated more than $5.5 million to organizations supporting underserved children and families.

Jo has received numerous honors, including the International Franchise Association (IFA) Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the 2023 IFA Annual Convention. In 2022, she earned two Gold Stevie^® Awards for Female Executive of the Year and Lifetime Achievement and was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year^® National finalist in the resilience category. She has also been recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs and a Women Who Mean Business honoree, and received the IFA’s Bonnie LeVine Award for professional achievement and mentorship of women.

Jo has played a pivotal role in advancing quality standards in early education and child care. Under her leadership, Primrose Schools became the first early childhood education system to earn AdvancED (now Cognia) Corporation Systems Accreditation. She previously served on the Cognia Board of Trustees—the first individual to represent early education on the international board. She is also cofounder and co‑chair of the Early Education and Care Consortium, a national nonprofit alliance of the leading multi-state/multi-site child care providers, key state child care associations, and premier educational service providers serving over one million children. In this role, she helps raise business leaders influence on America’s federal and state government policies to strengthen a quality, mixed delivery early education and child care ecosystem which provides parent choice and empowers the potential of all children. Jo holds an associate degree in marketing from Ohio Career College.