Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress announced that Catherine Brown, a former top domestic policy advisor for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, will join CAP as Vice President for Education Policy.
“Catherine’s commitment to ensuring that all students are afforded the opportunity to obtain a world-class education paired with her extensive background in education policy will be of great value to our work at CAP,” said Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress. “Catherine understands the central role teachers play in the education of children and that we need to do everything we can to support them. We are thrilled to welcome her to the team and look forward to the fresh ideas and energy she will bring to the organization.”
Most recently, Brown served as a senior consultant for Leadership for Educational Equity, where she spearheaded the organization’s flagship policy training program for senior policy, advocacy, organizing and elected leaders, the Policy Leadership Academy, and developed a nonpartisan policy brief series addressing topics ranging from teacher quality to school finance. In that role, she also helped conceptualize and launch the Policy Advisor Fellowship program, which places fellows with elected leaders, and devised a strategy to support the effectiveness of policy leaders.
Previously, Brown served as the vice president of policy at Teach for America, where she provided strategic direction on a range of issues, managed the organization’s successful $50 million Investing in Innovation grant proposal, and represented the organization in meetings on Capitol Hill, at the U.S. Department of Education, and with key partners. Prior to her role at Teach for America, Brown served as the senior education policy advisor for the House Committee on Education and Labor, where she advised Chairman George Miller (D-CA) on academic standards, wrap-around services for students, assessments, and charter schools, among other issues.
As the domestic policy advisor for 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Brown oversaw the development of policy initiatives to provide pre-kindergarten for all children, to promote college affordability and completion, and to address child poverty, adoption, family leave, and job training.
Earlier in Brown’s career, she directed Teach for America’s Early Childhood Initiative and served as a legislative assistant for both Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI). She was also previously a field organizer for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign Committee in Montana and a research assistant at Mathematica Policy Research in New Jersey. Brown received her bachelor’s degree from Smith College and holds a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
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