Laura A. Schifter

Laura A. Schifter, EdD, is a senior fellow with the Aspen Institute where she founded and directs This Is Planet Ed, an initiative to unlock the power of education as a force for climate action, solutions, and environmental justice to empower the rising generation to lead a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. She is also a lecturer on education with the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she teaches courses on education, climate change, and policy, and she serves on the Committee on Climate Education for Harvard University. Laura has published articles for CNN, The Hechinger Report, and Education Week, and her work with This Is Planet Ed has been featured in national media, including The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, ABC News, and The Hill. Laura co-authored How Did You Get Here? Students with Disabilities and Their Journeys to Harvard and served as coeditor for A Policy Reader in Universal Design for Learning. Previously, she worked as a policy and research consultant with clients including Education 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice. She also served as a senior education and disability advisor for Rep. George Miller (D-CA) on the Committee on Education and Labor, an education fellow for Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and was a fellow with the Century Foundation. After graduating from college, she taught elementary school in San Francisco. Laura earned an Ed.D. in education policy, leadership, and instructional practice and an Ed.M. in Mind, Brain, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in American studies from Amherst College. Laura lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband and three daughters. In 2019, after years working in special education, Laura shifted her career to focus on the intersection of education and climate change.