For 25 years, Sarah Anderson has brought thoughtfulness, drive, and a collaborative spirit to the pursuit of expanding opportunities and excellence for all young people. She has worked across the educational and youth development sectors, in schools, traditional districts, charters, non-profits, state agencies, and grassroots organizations in New York, Michigan, and Rhode Island. Today, she is the Chief Executive Officer and superintendent of Blackstone Valley Prep (BVP), a network of high performing, intentionally diverse charter schools serving four communities in Rhode Island.

She was previously the Chief Academic Officer at BVP, which she joined from the Office of Transformation and Charter Schools at the Rhode Island Department of Education. There, her work included policy development on school accountability and college readiness, direct support to district leadership teams on school reform, and developing new school leaders committed to advancing educational equity. She spent 10 years as a middle school English teacher, instructional coach, and data specialist in the Grand Rapids, Michigan and in the New York City public schools, where she was part of the leadership team that took a school from “failing” to one of the top ten schools citywide. She is a Cambiar Catalyst Fellow and holds a Bachelor’s in English from Williams College, a Master’s in Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a Master’s in Education Leadership from Western Michigan University.