Sara Schapiro is a former Senior Fellow and Director of Social Innovation for the Federation of American Scientists.
Sara has emerged as a prominent voice in the transformation of American education through innovation and technology. Most recently, Sara served as the Vice President of Education at PBS where she led their efforts to deepen partnerships across the education sector and launched new initiatives that empower and support educators, students, parents and member stations. She expanded PBS’s educational impact through tools like PBS LearningMedia, a digital platform of free, classroom-ready resources from PBS stations and partners, and initiatives such as PBS’s at-home learning offering, which included free broadcast TV programs that support at-home learning for prekindergarten through 12th grade and digital resources that provided educators and families with learning options for new school routines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to PBS, Sara helped found Digital Promise, an independent, bipartisan nonprofit whose mission is to spur innovation and improve all Americans’ opportunity to learn. She launched and led Digital Promise’s flagship initiative, the League of Innovative Schools, a national coalition of public school districts that fosters collaboration among educators, entrepreneurs, researchers and thought partners.
Prior to Digital Promise, Sara worked for the New York City Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools, the New Jersey Department of Education and Pearson on pioneering teaching and learning projects, educational technology initiatives, and teacher and student engagement efforts. She holds a B.A. from Duke University and a Master’s of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies.
Across the country in small towns and large cities, rural communities and the suburbs, millions of young people are missing school at astounding rates.
An analysis of the President’s FY25 budget proposal by the Alliance for Learning Innovation found a lot to like.