Caroline Bear Novak is co-founder and President of the A+ Education Partnership, a non-partisan, non-profit organization established in l991 to improve the quality of K-12 education for all Alabama children. A+ works for great schools for every child – and a bright future for Alabama. Caroline worked with the State Department of Education to develop the Alabama Reading Initiative, raised private sector funds to provide the first two years of training and continues to serve on ARI oversight committees. She serves on the State Board of Education's Accountability Advisory Committee, established to develop and monitor Alabama's system for guiding improvements in student achievement. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Governor's Congress on School Leadership and the Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching established to develop and implement policies to ensure that we provide students with effective teachers and administrators.

Caroline is also involved as a volunteer in national and local organizations. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Education Commission of the States and as a member of the Columbia Group, a network of organizations working to improve public education in the southeast. She has served as Chairman of Leadership Alabama, President of Leadership Montgomery and President of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. She currently serves on the boards of the Montgomery Education Foundation and Sterling Bank. She has been honored for her efforts to improve educational opportunities for children by entities such as Mercedes Benz, the National Association of Community Leadership Organizations and the Montgomery County Bar Association. She earned a B.A. in economics from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Caroline is married to Tabor Novak and they are the parents of two children.