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Until mid-2011, Camille Esch was Director of the California Education Program at the New America Foundation. In May of 2011, Camille left New America to join the executive staff of the California State Board of Education, where she is a policy advisor to the Board and the Governor's chief education aide. At New America, she directed the Foundation’s education efforts in California and collaborated with New America’s Education Policy Program in Washington, DC. Ms. Esch developed policy ideas and solutions, provided analysis and recommendations to policymakers, and wrote about education topics for broader audiences—drawing on current research as well as her own experience as an education policy researcher and analyst.

Before joining New America, Ms. Esch worked for several years as an education policy researcher at the Center for Education Policy at SRI International (formerly known as the Stanford Research Institute), where she studied and co-authored a series of reports on California’s teacher workforce. She was also previously a senior policy and data analyst at The Education Trust-West, the California-based branch of The Education Trust, a national policy and advocacy organization that strives to improve educational opportunities for all students. Ms. Esch also served as a policy consultant to the California State Board of Education, a policymaking body that develops education standards and sets policies regarding assessment and accountability. She also worked as a writer and editor for WestEd, a nonprofit education research, development, and service organization, helping the agency communicate its research findings to policymakers and educators nationwide. Ms. Esch holds a B.A. in anthropology and an M.A. in education from Stanford University. She is a lifelong California resident, a graduate of the state’s public school system, and the proud parent of a California public school student.