Susanna Loeb is a Professor and director of the education policy initiative at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford. She is also the founder and executive director of the National Student Support Accelerator, which aims to expand access to high-impact tutoring to address inequities in educational opportunities. Prior to returning to Stanford in 2023, Susanna led the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, where she was also Professor of Education and International and Public Affairs. Susanna’s research focuses broadly on education policy and its role in improving educational opportunities for students. Her work has addressed issues of educator career choices and professional development, of school finance and governance, and of early childhood systems. Before moving to Brown, Susanna was the Barnett Family Professor of Education at Stanford. She was the founding director of the Center for Education Policy at Stanford and co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education. Susanna led the research for both Getting Down to Facts projects for California schools. She is an affiliate of NBER and JPAL and a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Moffitt’s research focuses on American political institutions and public policy.  Her research examines the politics of information gathering, distribution, and use, with particular emphasis on developing the capacity to implement policy in the fields of public education and public health. Her latest book, Making Policy Public: Participatory Bureaucracy in American Democracy, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014. Her first book, The Ordeal of Equality: Did Federal Regulation Fix the Schools, co-authored with David K. Cohen, was published by Harvard University Press in 2009. Her other scholarship has appeared in The American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, The American Journal of Education, Medical Care, and numerous edited volumes.  

Before joining the faculty at Brown, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in health policy research at Harvard University. She holds a PhD (political science) and a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Stella M. Flores is the John E. Cawthorne Millennium Chair Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. Her research focuses on the impact of U.S. policy—federal, state, and institutional—on the college access and success of low-income, underrepresented, and immigrant students across the K–20 pipeline. 

Dr. Flores employs large-scale datasets and quantitative methods to study topics including demographic change in education, diversity in higher education, financial aid policy, college completion, and the role of Minority Serving Institutions. Her co-authored research was cited in the dissenting opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Gratz v. Bollinger decision (2003) and in multiple amicus briefs related to affirmative action in higher education. Her current projects examine the long-term outcomes of state financial aid programs, the role of immigration and citizenship status in shaping educational attainment, and the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support research and policy analysis in education and workforce systems. 

Prior to her academic career, Dr. Flores served as a congressional evaluator with the U.S. Government Accountability Office and as a program specialist with the U.S. Economic Development Administration. She brings a deep commitment to interdisciplinary research, public service, and mentoring. Her work has contributed to national policy conversations and has been featured in both scholarly publications and major media outlets. She has presented her research internationally—in countries such as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Spain—and at prominent institutions including the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the National Press Club, and policy forums sponsored by the White House.

Skyler Gin (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University and an affiliate of the Annenberg Institute. Her research lies at the intersection of cognitive, developmental, and social psychology, with a focus on how identity and representation shape learning and motivation across the lifespan. Broadly, Skyler studies how race, ethnicity, and gender influence children’s and adults’ STEM engagement both in and out of school. She is particularly interested in how role models, identity formation, and narrative exposure shape the development of STEM identity. Her work aims to inform interventions that address racial and gender disparities in education and professional pathways. Skyler earned her B.S. in Child Development from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and her M.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon. Originally from San Francisco, she brings a deep appreciation for culturally responsive approaches to education and psychological science.

Silvia Robles is passionate about understanding social inequality and how students' decisions around training and education are linked to better jobs and wages. Recently, her research has focused on diversifying access to selective universities; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors; and STEM careers for underrepresented populations, including people from low-income and minority backgrounds. 

Robles brings expertise in the economics of education and causal evaluation methods to the projects she works on. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan. Her research has been published in the Journal of Public Economics and the AEA Papers and Proceedings. Before joining the Annenberg Institute at Brown, Robles previously worked as a human services researcher at Mathematica and a project associate at Innovations for Poverty Action.

Sarah is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Brown University, with affiliations at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Population Studies and Training Center. Her research explores connections between social policy and social inequality among young children and their families.

In her ongoing dissertation research, Sarah examines the evolution of early childhood care and education in the United States, analyzing how changes in access to child care are related to children’s developmental outcomes, and considering how state policy solutions such as Michigan's Transitional Kindergarten program influence local child care markets. 

Sarah also works as a Doctoral Proctor for the Annenberg Institute's Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, a summer internship for undergraduates interested in applied social science and public policy research. In this role, Sarah co-leads a two-week applied research intensive alongside Brown University faculty, overseeing both the instructional and administrative components of program implementation. 

Before coming to Brown, Sarah was a research associate in the Youth, Family, and Community Development program at the American Institutes for Research. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with focus in Applied Statistics from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and a Master of Arts in Sociology from Brown University. Areas of expertise: Social Policy, Social Inequality, Education, Children and Families, Quantitative Methods.

Sarah is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University. Her research interests center on K–12 education policy and educational equity and inclusion. Using multiple methods, she investigates how to improve historically exclusionary systems in schools, such as gifted and special education services, and how to mobilize policy, school leadership, and teachers to enact meaningful inclusion for those historically excluded by race and ability. Having previously served as an elementary educator in Nashville and Los Angeles, Sarah is particularly interested in translating research into actionable knowledge and partnering with practitioners to improve services and outcomes for all students. 

Sarah holds a Ph.D. in Education from Johns Hopkins University, a M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from University of Georgia, and a B.S. in Elementary Education from Greenville University. She also holds a K-12 English Language Learning endorsement and a K-12 Gifted Teaching Standard.

Sam leads the Institute’s operations and research infrastructure. Prior to joining Annenberg, he served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Student Social Support R&D Lab. His work is driven and informed by his experiences in classrooms and schools as a special educator, coach, and leader in his hometown of Washington, DC. 

Sam holds an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.A in Special Education from American University, and a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin. 

When not at work, Sam enjoys spending time with his family and running in the Arnold Arboretum.

Sagen Kidane is a PhD candidate in the sociology department. Her research examines the relationship between race, class, education, and inequality using mixed methods. Currently, Her dissertation project is an interview-based study of transitions into postsecondary institutions with different racial contexts and climates for college students who grow up in predominantly Black suburbs. Another project she is working on looks at the role of school resource officers on student outcomes and school opportunities.