Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) is pleased to announce that Dean Michelle D. Young is joining PACE’s leadership team as a Faculty Director, representing the Berkeley School of Education.
Over the months and years ahead, PACE will continue working with researchers, policymakers, and educators to improve outcomes for California’s students and to guide pandemic recovery. Dean Young’s research is critical for this endeavor: she focuses on supporting educational leadership, creating equitable systems within educational institutions, and engaging diverse communities to enhance policies and practices that foster belonging and inclusivity. Now more than ever, it is vital to bring research evidence and a renewed commitment to equity into decisions about policy and practice statewide.
Dean Young’s expertise is an important addition to the PACE team. She joins PACE Faculty Directors Ben Domingue (Stanford University), Michal Kurlaender (UC Davis), Julie Marsh (University of Southern California), and Cecilia Rios-Aguilar (UCLA) in providing strategic leadership for PACE in close partnership with Executive Director Heather Hough.
Dean Young replaces former Faculty Director Christopher Edley, Jr., who worked with PACE for many years as a leader and collaborator and passed away unexpectedly on May 10, 2024. Professor Edley had an illustrious career supporting educational equity and excellence nationwide, including having served as Dean of both the UC Berkeley School of Law and the Berkeley School of Education, chaired the Committee on Developing Indicators of Educational Equity of the National Academy of Sciences, cofounded the Harvard Civil Rights Project and The Opportunity Institute, and served in the White House under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. PACE offers deep gratitude to Professor Edley for his important contributions and relentless focus on achieving educational equity in California. He will be sorely missed.