Julia Rafal-Baer, Ph.D., has dedicated her career to the fight for educational opportunity, especially for underserved students. Motivated by her own childhood experiences overcoming adversity as a student and athlete, she translated that experience into a passion to help all children achieve their potential through education.She entered the education field as a teacher, and has continued to build on her experiences working to close gaps for all students in every role since. She is the Chief Operating Officer of Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan network of state and district education Chiefs advocating for change that puts students first. Prior to assuming her current role, Dr.Rafal-Baer was Assistant Commissioner of the New York State Education Department under John B. King, Jr. Her driving passion has been leading and helping others to lead the building of high-performance, high-growth, and high-impact organizations.She also sits on the national board of Blue Engine, a nonprofit that works with teachers in historically oppressed communities.
Dr.Rafal-Baer began her career as a special education teacher in the Bronx and has also worked as a special education content specialist and an instructor in the United Kingdom. She has worked as a consultant to nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, district and state education agencies, and higher education institutions focusing on policy development, strategic planning, crisis management, and operations.
Dr.Rafal-Baer graduated summa cum laude from the George Washington University with a B.A. in Psychology and holds a dual M.S. from CUNY: Lehman College in Special Education and Childhood Education; a Master of Philosophy in Education Research and a Ph.D. focused in comparative education policy from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Marshall Scholar.