Jason Delisle and Sara Mead Join the Education Policy Program at New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of Jason Delisle, a former Senior Analyst on the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee, and Sara Mead, an expert in early childhood and elementary and secondary education to its Education Policy Program. As the Education Policy Program’s Research Director, Mr. Delisle will play a lead role in implementing the organization’s Federal Education Budget Project. Ms. Mead will serve as a Senior Research Fellow, a position in which she will help shape New America’s work on early education in the context of the No Child Left Behind Act reauthorization, as well as other children and family issues.
“Jason Delisle and Sara Mead are two of the nation’s top education policy experts under age 40. They generate new, innovative ideas that simultaneously appeal to Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. They’re intellectually rigorous and politically savvy. We’re thrilled to have them on board,” said Michael Dannenberg, New America’s Education Policy Program Director.
Mr. Delisle comes to New America after working two years as a Senior Analyst on the Senate Budget Committee for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH). In that post, he played a key role in developing student loan provisions included in the 2007 Higher Education Budget Reconciliation legislation that Congress approved this month. Prior to joining the Budget Committee, Mr. Delisle spent five years in the office of Representative Tom Petri (R-WI), the last four as the Congressman’s Education Committee Legislative Assistant. For Mr. Petri, Delisle helped draft and championed student loan reform efforts that passed the House of Representatives and won editorial endorsements from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. Mr. Delisle holds an undergraduate degree from Lawrence University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from George Washington University.
Ms. Mead comes to New America after two years as a Senior Policy Analyst with Education Sector, a Washington think tank, where she focused on issues related to early childhood education and increasing choice and diversity in public education, particularly through charter schools. Her work on these topics and others has been featured in The Washington Post and USA Today, and on CBS and ABC News. Previously, she worked for the Progressive Policy Institute, where she remains a nonresident fellow, the U.S. Department of Education, and Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. Ms. Mead serves on the boards of Democrats for Education Reform and the Apple Tree Early Learning Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Vanderbilt University. At New America, Ms. Mead will hold a joint appointment with our Workforce and Family Program.
Related Programs: Education Policy Program
Topics: Education
