Bios - Cisneros Research & Policy Colloquium on Education Part 2
Presenters
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| Wil Del Pilar, PhD Wil Del Pilar, Ph.D., serves as EdTrust’s Senior Vice President. In this role, Wil spearheads EdTrust’s mission to highlight inequities and outline solutions in order to improve access, success, affordability, and completion in higher education for low-income students and students of color. Wil has a wealth of policy, development, and institutional experience. He has served as Pennsylvania's deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education and as the director of development at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Florida's Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program. He has also worked in admissions at universities such as Chapman, Loyola Marymount, and UC Santa Cruz. Wil holds a doctorate in higher education/higher education administration from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree from California State University-Dominguez Hills, and a bachelor’s degree from Chapman University. "Harnessing innovation to improve outcomes and lower costs for college students" |
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| Rachel M. Perera, PhD Dr. Perera's research examines how racial and socioeconomic inequalities develop in K-12 education and the consequences of policies designed to reduce educational inequality. Her current work focuses on civil rights and education, school discipline, and COVID-19 recovery. She also studies the politics of education policymaking, examining issues related to private school choice and charter schools as well as school boards. She earned a Ph.D. in policy analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, where she was a National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow; an M.P.A. from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University; and a B.A. in history and political science from Hofstra University. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Perera spent five years with Teach For America, most recently serving as director of research partnerships. "The US Department of Education's changing civil rights enforcement priorities" |
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| Michelle Asha Cooper, PhD Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., is vice president for public policy and executive director of the Washington, D.C., office for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. A nationally recognized leader and advocate for college access, affordability, and value in higher education, Dr. Cooper has more than two decades of experience spanning policy, advocacy, institutional leadership, and philanthropy. Before joining Lumina, Cooper served as deputy undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education, where she played a pivotal role in overseeing higher education’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, managing $76 billion in emergency aid for students and institutions. Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston, a master’s degree from Cornell University, and a doctorate from the University of Maryland at College Park. "How the gutting of the Department of Education puts students at risk" |
Closing Remarks
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| Trey Johnston Johnston’s research evaluates and complicates the role of citizenship and identities like race, gender, and disability in public administration and social services implementation through mixed methods approaches. Building on his Fulbright work, he also studies the representation of Latinos and the ways language influences identity and well-being, particularly within higher education structures. In addition to his research, Johnston is the Director of the Im/migrant Well-Being Scholar Collaborative and works closely with nonprofit organizations throughout Washington, DC to design leadership and executive training programs that prepare participants for work on and with Capitol Hill. |