Ary Amerikaner

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Ary Amerikaner is an education policy leader with experience spanning federal and state government, advocacy, and the law.

Ary served in President Obama’s Administration as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Education, where she led efforts to advance equity in school funding and access to excellent educators. Ary’s federal experience also includes the Biden-Harris Transition Team and work on Capitol Hill. In Maryland, she served as the Chief of Staff at the State Department of Education and as an education advisor on Governor Wes Moore’s transition team.

As Vice President for P12 Policy, Research, and Practice at The Education Trust, she and her team supported advocacy coalitions in 14 states while producing original data and policy analysis. Ary's legal experience includes serving as an expert in school funding litigation in Delaware, clerking for a federal judge, and being an editor at the California Law Review.

Ary has a JD and MPP from the University of California, Berkeley, a BA from Oberlin College, and grew up in West Virginia.