Democrats for Education Reform, Chief Executive Officer

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Jorge Elorza, JD as the new Chief Executive Officer of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and its affiliate non-partisan think tank, Education Reform Now, beginning in April 2023.

During his two terms as the Democratic mayor of Providence, Rhode Island’s largest city, Elorza undertook bold actions to advance a social and racial justice agenda. This included taking the unprecedented step to engage the state Department of Education to turn around the city’s chronically underperforming school system, creating the city’s Eat, Play, Learn Initiative to expand out-of-school enrichment, and launching a nationally recognized African American Ambassador Group to bring Black leaders into the center of policymaking. Notably, he invested $400 million into repairing school buildings and supported the expansion of high-quality public charter schools.

A leader in and outside City Hall, Elorza was elected by his peers to serve as Trustee for the United States Conference of Mayors, and was an Aspen Institute Rodell Fellow, a member of the New Deal Leaders network, and a member of the inaugural Bloomberg/Harvard City Leadership class.

Elorza was born and raised in Providence and is the proud son of Guatemalan immigrants. A first-generation college student, he attended the Community College of Rhode Island before earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Elorza is co-founder of the Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law, where he previously served as a law professor.

The full press release is linked here.

Katie Rockman led this search with Janette Martinez and Maria Connor.