Dr. Christina Grant

Dr. Christina Grant is the Executive Director of the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University. A scholar, practitioner, writer, and public speaker, Dr. Grant has spent more than two decades at the intersection of education research, policy, and large-scale systems leadership. 

Dr. Grant’s research and writing center on transforming assessment into a tool for learning and equity, integrating artificial intelligence across K–12 systems, strengthening systems leadership in complex public institutions, and redefining the role of the American superintendent. Her forthcoming book, The Superintendent as a Civic Leader (Harvard Education Press), advances a new framework for educational leadership rooted in democratic accountability, community trust, and the moral imperative of public education. She holds dual faculty appointments at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, where she teaches courses on educational leadership and organizational change. 

Before joining Harvard, Dr. Grant served as the District of Columbia's State Superintendent of Education — the most senior education official in the nation's capital — where she directed a $1 billion annual budget and oversaw policy for more than 130,000 learners from birth through higher education. She led the District through the COVID-19 pandemic, orchestrating the strategic alignment of federal and local investments to sustain academic progress under extraordinary conditions.  

Prior to her role in Washington, D.C., Dr. Grant served as Chief of Charter Schools and Innovation for The School District of Philadelphia. She is the founding Superintendent of the Great Oaks Foundation, a multi-state charter management organization operating across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware, and has served as a charter school authorizer for both the New York City Department of Education and the School District of Philadelphia. She began her career as a public school teacher in Harlem. 

In 2025, Dr. Grant was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), where she contributes to K–12 policy oversight for the Commonwealth.  

Dr. Grant is a Pahara Fellow, Presidential Leadership Scholar, German Marshall Fund Fellow, and Aspen Fellow, and represents the United States internationally through the U.S.–Spain Council Young Leaders Program and the French-American Young Leaders Program. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies from Hofstra University, an M.S. in Teaching from Fordham University, an M.Ed. in Organizational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and The Links, Incorporated.