The St. Augustine High School Board of Directors announced today the appointment of Aulston Taylor, the school’s current Chief Development Officer, as interim president and CEO. Taylor will take over from current St. Augustine President and CEO Dr. Kenneth St. Charles, who is leaving the school in the summer for a newly created position of vice president for philanthropy at the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
“I thank the board of directors and trustees for asking me to lead St. Augustine High School into its next chapter as interim president and CEO,” Taylor said. “I am delighted and honored to accept my new role at such a pivotal and challenging time in the history of the nation and our great city of New Orleans.”
“There couldn’t be a better choice than Aulston Taylor,” Darren Diamond, Chairman of the St. Augustine High School Board of Directors, said. “Aulston Taylor is a true Purple Knight – exceptionally capable and unwaveringly committed to his alma mater. As one of the senior managers at the school, he is well-known and highly thought of. His deep knowledge of our operations ensures that St. Augustine will sustain and increase the momentum built over the last several years. Most significantly, Mr. Taylor understands the mission, theology and objectives of the school.”
"I would like to offer my sincere congratulations and personal best wishes to Aulston Taylor on his selection as interim president and CEO for St. Augustine High School", said Dr. Kenneth St. Charles, the outgoing president. "Mr. Taylor has been an integral member of the St. Augustine High School leadership team and he totally understands and is committed to furthering the unique and sacred mission of the school. His dedication and unwavering insistence on excellence for students, programs, and academic endeavors will serve him well as he takes on these new opportunities and challenges. I am extremely optimistic about the future of St. Augustine High School and confident that the school will continue its positive trajectory under the new leadership of Aulston Taylor."
As Chief Development Officer, Taylor has served as principal advisor to the CEO on advancement and fundraising matters. He also managed all alumni relations efforts. In addition to advancement, Taylor has had significant exposure to the full range of administrative operations of the school. Mr. Taylor’s important contributions in the advancement area include upgrading the management of the school’s fundraising pipeline, building strategic engagement with all of the school’s stakeholders, and instituting creative best practices. His most recent accomplishment was securing the largest one-time gift in the school's history of $1.5M from the Start Small initiative funded by Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square. Proving the impact of Mr. Taylor’s effort, this generous gift is being used as a catalyst for a substantial facilities upgrade program currently underway at St. Augustine.
“Over the past two years, I have had the good fortune to work closely with Dr. Kenneth St. Charles to build on the foundation of our institution in several new and exciting ways. Dr. St. Charles has been an inspirational leader for us all and a mentor to me. Working with him and all of my colleagues at St. Augustine has prepared me for the responsibilities and exciting challenges of this position. I am also deeply grateful to Fr. Joseph Doyle, Arthur and Ruby Age, and my mother Avery Taylor-Hunter for their extraordinary sacrifices to ensure I became a graduate of this wonderful school 23 years ago.”
Prior to joining St. Augustine High School, Taylor spent nearly 16 years as a corporate sales and marketing and business development executive with the Walt Disney Company’s owned and operated networks ESPN and Viacom Media Network’s - Black Entertainment Television (BET).
During his tenure with BET Networks, Taylor generated and managed nearly half-a-billion dollars in revenue leaving the company in early 2019 as "New Business Sales Executive of the Year" for 2018. Taylor also managed the sales and marketing summer internship program for nearly half a decade.
Taylor serves on the Executive Board of Preservation Resource Center (PRC) of New Orleans, New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM) as its vice chairman, Associated Fundraising Professionals (AFP) as a board member and the Dream A Dream Foundation (DAD) based in Chicago, Illinois. Taylor is a 1998 graduate of St. Augustine High School. He earned a B.A. in Business from Texas Southern University and an M.S. in Integrated Marketing with a concentration in Brand Management from New York University (NYU).
About St. Augustine High School:
St. Augustine High School is an all-male college preparatory school founded in 1951 by the Josephite priests and brothers, an order dedicated to providing missions and schools for African-Americans in their dioceses. Over the years St. Augustine High School has built a legacy serving as the training ground for leadership through academic excellence, moral values, Christian responsibility, and reasonable, consistent discipline. Today, the school welcomes young men of all backgrounds and remains a leading secondary school for African-American males in Louisiana.
