Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises Joins the Aspen Institute Education & Society Program as Senior Advisor

Former Baltimore City Public Schools CEO brings a decade of district leadership to the program’s work with the people who run America’s school systems

Washington, DC, September 29, 2026 — The Aspen Institute Education & Society Program (ESP) today announced that Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises has joined the program as a Senior Advisor. Dr. Santelises led Baltimore City Public Schools for ten years, the district’s longest tenure since 1946, and will bring that experience to ESP’s Social Mobility Leadership Network and to the launch of the program’s new District Leadership Network.

“Sonja has done the job that most people in education policy only write about,” said Dr. Janice K. Jackson, Executive Director of the Education & Society Program. “She ran one of the most complex school systems in the country for a decade, and she did it with a clear standard for what children deserve and an honest reckoning with what it takes to deliver. That combination is rare, and it is exactly what this program needs as we take on the hardest questions facing schools.”

At ESP, Dr. Santelises will play a central role in the Social Mobility Leadership Network, where her years as a district leader will inform the network’s work with current system leaders. She will also help launch the District Leadership Network. She joins the program while leading the Richard Haass Center for Education at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she is a vice president and senior fellow, and while serving as superintendent in residence at The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management.

“The Education & Society Program is one of the few places where people who run schools, people who fund them, and people who study them sit at the same table and disagree in good faith,” said Dr. Santelises. “I have spent my career insisting that excellence in urban education is achievable at scale. I am glad to join a program that takes that claim seriously and asks what it would take to make it true everywhere.”

Dr. Santelises served as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools from 2016 to 2026, overseeing a $1.9 billion annual budget. During her tenure the district reduced its number of low-performing schools and opened 24 new school buildings, including Maryland’s first two net-zero schools. It also introduced new K-12 curricula built around students’ lived experiences. Her school-based asymptomatic testing program during the pandemic earned national recognition and allowed Baltimore to be among the first large districts in the country to reopen safely.

Before returning to Baltimore, she served as vice president for K-12 policy and practice at The Education Trust and as an assistant superintendent in Boston Public Schools, where she led a network of 23 pilot schools focused on accelerating achievement for low-income students. She previously served as Chief Academic Officer for Baltimore City Public Schools from 2010 to 2013.

Dr. Santelises has chaired the Council of the Great City Schools and was a founding board member of EdReports. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Her honors include Maryland Superintendent of the Year and the John Hope Alumni Award from Brown University, and she was a finalist for the 2020 Green-Garner Award and for AASA’s 2026 National Superintendent of the Year. She holds a BA from Brown University, an MA in education administration from Columbia University, and an EdD from Harvard University.

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About the Education & Society Program

The Education & Society Program is a pillar of the Aspen Institute Center for Rising Generations and is dedicated to improving public education in the United States. Our vision is that public education affords every student the opportunities and experiences they need to actively participate in civic life, thrive in the world of work, and develop a healthy sense of self, which contributes to social justice and shared economic prosperity.

About the Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org.

Contact: Maura Daley
Director, Communications
Aspen Institute Center for Rising Generations
[email protected]