Who we are

Transforming the deeply entrenched education R&D ecosystem is a complex and difficult undertaking, but our team is uniquely suited to take this on.

We are education R&D leaders and doers who have worked on and advised a wide range of education R&D initiatives within federal and state government, academia, philanthropy, and curriculum and ed tech companies. We have experience working together on large-scale change and new ways of doing R&D through leading IES’s ATS Initiative, a new set of programs designed to support breakthrough ideas through novel R&D processes and funding structures.  

Our diverse experience across all aspects of this ecosystem allow us to see gaps and opportunities that others miss, and build towards an aligned system that works. Our team is ready to develop the strategy and process to pilot new R&D approaches that will achieve the positive impacts on the education system that those of us in the education R&D space have been striving for for decades. 

Meet the Team

We are education R&D leaders and doers who have worked on and advised a wide range of education R&D initiatives within federal and state government, academia, philanthropy, and curriculum and ed tech companies.

  • has dedicated her career to fostering innovation through research and development (R&D) to improve education for all learners. During her 12 years at the Institute of Education Sciences, Erin managed approximately $240 million in grant funding which supported a wide range of education R&D, including exploratory research on how people learn, AI/ed tech evidence-based product development, innovations in measurement, and evaluation of promising products and programs. She established multiple networks and national R&D centers which provide leadership and outreach on topics such as scaling evidence-based products, using digital learning platforms for research, and AI and education. Most recently, she led the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) Initiative, a new initiative designed to challenge the status quo in education R&D and push towards breakthrough solutions to education’s most persistent challenges.

    Prior to joining IES, Erin had a brief stint as a human factors engineer focused on developing and deploying advanced technologies in aviation.

    She received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from University of Illinois and her BA in Psychology/Cognitive Science from the University of Richmond.

  • is an education R&D strategist advancing the impact of learning science through scalable, evidence-based innovation. She specializes in strengthening the research-to-practice pipeline, fostering multi-sector collaboration, and building the infrastructure needed to accelerate measurable gains in education outcomes. As Senior Fellow for Learning Innovation with the Federation of American Scientists, Katherine was placed at the Institute of Education Sciences to help shape and expand the Accelerate, Transform, Scale (ATS) Initiative — a national program funding high-reward, rapid-cycle R&D.

    At Pearson, she served as lead learning scientist and led the development of Pearson’s Learning Design Principles — a scalable, research-informed toolkit used to design and evaluate digital learning products across global markets. Her background spans academic research, state education agencies, and edtech startups, bringing a systems-level perspective to the design and execution of high-impact initiatives.

    She holds a BA in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester and an MS and PhD in Psychology & Human Development from Vanderbilt University.

  • is working to change how education R&D is done so that it solves real problems for people. In her 20-year career, she developed expertise in rapid cycle learning and program development, conducting research and advising schools, nonprofits, and foundations designing evidence-based programs and policies. Currently, Alex is an Impact Fellow with the Federation of American Scientists, placed at the Institute of Education Sciences to support advanced R&D through the Accelerate, Transform, Scale Initiative.

    Previously she served as a Principal Researcher at Mathematica and a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a focus on iterative learning and incorporating the strongest evidence possible in developing and implementing education initiatives.

    She has a PhD in Public Policy and Economics from the University of Michigan and a BA/MS in Applied Economics and Finance from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

  • champions education R&D that is grounded in how people learn and think.  Career highlights include designing a research-based math instruction that was later integrated into a leading curriculum; co-writing a book for public audiences called The ABCs of How We Learn which was named one of NPR’s Books We Love of 2016; and co-founding the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s learning sciences/education R&D portfolio. She has additional experience in nonprofit leadership and edtech.

    Most recently, before a brief stint with the Institute of Education Sciences, she was an AERDF AdvancED Fellow making the case for students to learn to be adaptive in a changing world while staying anchored in their values and sense of self. 

    She received a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University.  She is a product of the Oakland public schools.

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