Marianne Kountoures is ready to design a new future for Evanston education.

Kountoures, 45, a mother of three and a self-employed interior designer, has already started constructing her new role as a member of the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board.

“If you want to do anything well, you have to devote time and do your homework,” Kountoures said. “I fully expect this to be a major part of my life for four years.”

Like many parents, Kountoures got involved in the school system when her children entered kindergarten. From lunch-room volunteer to co-president of the District 65 Parent-Teacher Association Council, Kountoures has proven her dedication.

After years of tutoring students and watching her own children go through District 65 schools, Kountoures said she witnessed firsthand the obvious gaps in student achievement.

In response, she formed the United Parents for Excellence in Education, a watchdog group for concerned parents.

“She was very dedicated to student achievement,” said Nancy Klaiber, an Evanston resident and the wife of former District 65 board member Greg Klaiber.

“She is very knowledgeable about these issues,” Nancy Klaiber said. “She doesn’t drop the ball on anything.”

Serving on the school board seemed the next logical step for Kountoures.

Her brother, Paul Vallas, the former CEO of the Chicago School District and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 2002, said Kountoures had long contemplated running for the board and finally found the right time.

“Some people seek elected office for the sake of elected office,” Vallas said, “but Marianne ran for the board because she wants to do something.”

Kountoures ran her brother’s campaign last year, then switched gears to focus on her own political career. Although she said she enjoyed the “highly-charged” political atmosphere of Vallas’ statewide campaign, she found her campaign experience just as intense.

“The decisions that your local elected officials make directly impact you,” Kountoures said. “You see your constituents at the grocery store and at the library. With that you have a tremendous responsibility to do it right.”

Kountoures and her three brothers were raised in a household on Chicago’s South Side with several other generations of family.

Being always around adults, Kountoures developed a sense of responsibility at an early age, Vallas said. She started working at her family’s restaurant at age 13.

“At a young age she was driven more by her desire to make a contribution,” Vallas said.

Kountoures also started her education early — beginning school when she was just 3 years old. After getting a degree in interior design and working for several years, Kountoures studied art history at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Now as a board member, Kountoures said she hopes to use her skills as a businesswoman and a parent to help her “be part of the solution to making this an excellent school district.”

“She really has a concern about all kids,” Vallas said. “She has often said that education is the greatest unfinished business of the civil rights movement.”

For Kountoures, her school board experience is an extension of the work she has already done with the district.

“Her commitment is a product of her experience, raising three kids in the school system,” Vallas said. “She is not a Johnny-come-lately to Evanston education.”