In her role at the Foundation, Alexia compassionately listens to the experiences of California’s education professionals and beneficiaries and puts forward grant recommendations to advance the missions of both the Stuart Foundation and its grantees. As a former grantee, she understands the value of a strong relationship between a funder and its partners and enjoys serving as a resource and connecting others with shared interests. Recognizing the formative role that relationships play in a young person’s development and future prospects, she is passionate about promoting policies and approaches that develop a strong sense of social connectedness and provide meaningful opportunities for students to contribute to and shape the world around them. Having faced significant hardship while growing up along the Eastern Seaboard, Alexia values the Foundation’s focus on serving students furthest from opportunity and its commitment to realizing a just and equitable public education system that facilitates educational stability and upward mobility.
Before joining the Foundation in 2012, Alexia served as Senior Policy Officer for the College Success Foundation in Washington state. In this role, she worked with K-12, postsecondary and workforce policymakers, practitioners, and youth and young adults to support policy advocacy and implementation focused on underserved students. Alexia’s love of student-centered education models developed while she was earning her Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. Alexia earned a Master’s of Management and Leadership with an emphasis on Systems Thinking in Learning Organizations from Western Governors University (WGU). She selected both Goddard and WGU because of their commitment to breaking down barriers that artificially separate school from real life through the use of innovative business models coupled with holistic pedagogy.
In her free time, Alexia enjoys being with family and friends and sharing meals.
As of January 17, 2023, Alexia has transitioned to a temporary (two-year) position as Strategy Advisor on Special Populations for the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), supporting the Department’s efforts to elevate and address the educational needs of students in foster care, students experiencing homelessness, and those involved with the juvenile justice system.