EdRedesign announces leadership appointments to support next phase of growth and impact

As the organization enters its next phase of growth, the EdRedesign Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is announcing a series of new leadership appointments to deepen support for cradle-to-career place-based partnerships, develop the next generation of field leaders, and advance systems change for children, youth and families.

Over the past decade, EdRedesign has grown from a big idea of founder Paul Reville’s into a national organization with more than 20 team members and dozens of fellows, affiliates, and Harvard students supporting over 100 communities across the country. The organization recently announced its latest Institute for Success Planning Community of Practice cohort and finished accepting applications for the next class of Cradle-to-Career Partnership Leader Fellows. In April, EdRedesign launched The Creator Journalism Project and, in partnership with Fire-Works Film, the DREAM ON YouTube channel, bringing stories about proven and scalable solutions to a national online audience.

EdRedesign is also investing in the field’s future leaders: Reville and Executive Director Rob Watson serve as Faculty Co-Chairs of HGSE’s new Cross-Sector Collaboration concentration, launched this fall to prepare students to lead interdisciplinary efforts to transform youth and family serving systems from cradle to career.

And in August, EdRedesign announced the appointment of Sonali Nijhawan as chief program officer, where she leads the organization’s talent development agenda. A longtime leader in national service and civic engagement, Nijhawan previously served as Director of AmeriCorps from 2021 to 2025 and as California Director of Education Pioneers. Her work with EdRedesign dates to 2019, when she led Stockton Service Corps and participated in the By All Means Initiative, later returning as a By All Means Senior Fellow.

Julie Allen, previously Senior Director of Strategic Communications, Development and Operations, will now serve as Chief Advancement Officer. Nijhawan and Allen will serve alongside Watson on EdRedesign’s Executive Leadership team.

Dr. Chris Shelton has been promoted to senior director and will continue leading the Institute for Success Planning and its Community of Practice. Denisse Arias has been promoted to senior director and will continue leading EdRedesign’s flagship fellowships — the Fellowship for Cradle-to-Career Partnership Leaders and the By All Means Senior Fellowship — while also leading student engagement efforts. Earlier this year, EdRedesign hired Andrea Ricotta as Director of Applied Data and Community Insights to lead program evaluation efforts. Oliver Truog has been promoted to Senior Director, continuing to oversee the organization’s financial health and internal systems.

This summer, Dr. Derrick Holifield joined EdRedesign as the organization’s inaugural postdoctoral fellow for place-based transformation and special projects advisor. A recent graduate of HGSE’s Doctor of Education Leadership program, Holifield is working in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and build local capacity to improve outcomes for children and families.

“EdRedesign is poised to take a major leap forward in its role as a national field catalyst for the cradle-to-career place-based movement. Under the visionary, energetic leadership of Rob Watson, EdRedesign has assembled a world class team of professionals who are deeply committed to realizing our mission of ‘opportunity for all,’” said Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at HGSE. “I am beyond proud of our accomplishments and am eager to see us lead the field’s embrace of a bolder, broader future for the nation’s neighborhoods, families and children.”

“Our strategic planning process made clear that the opportunities ahead require both continuity and new capacity. This talented leadership team gives us greater capacity to support communities, invest in the next generation of field leaders, and connect research, practice, policy, and field-building in service of better outcomes for children and families,” said Watson.