Sophie Fanelli

Sophie Fanelli is president of the Stuart Foundation and an advisor to Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). She leads the foundation’s work to build more equitable education systems where adolescents can thrive. Before becoming president in 2019, she served as the foundation’s chief of programs, program director for education, and senior program officer for education. Fanelli previously directed research and policy at the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she oversaw policy and legislative work on education equity and access, student and parent engagement, and school transformation. Earlier, she was a senior research fellow at the ACLU of Southern California. She serves on the board of the National Center for Youth Law. Fanelli studied law at Aix-Marseille University and international law and legal studies at Sapienza University of Rome. She earned a Master of Laws degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

updated 2026