Sara Keenan

SARA KEENAN

The Broad Residency Class of 2009-2011
Current Organization: Achievement First
M.A., Media, Culture and Communications, New York University
B.S., English Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison

“Through working in a range of schools for the past ten years, I have seen first hand the injustice of an unequal education system. But I have also seen the power of a rockstar classroom teacher and school leader to deliver on the promise of educational opportunity for each child. Our schools will only be as good as the teachers and leaders in them. Just as the Broad Foundation invests in developing district leaders in order to realize large scale education reform, so must we invest in developing our school teachers and leaders who are working everyday to close the achievement gap.”

Sara Keenan currently serves as the director of leadership development with Achievement First, a network of charter schools serving over 4,800 students. In this role, she manages the professional learning for principals, deans and teacher leaders across the network's seventeen schools. Prior to working at Achievement First, Keenan worked as a high school and middle school English teacher, working in both an affluent suburban district and in Chicago Public Schools. While in graduate school, Keenan was an Education Pioneer and worked at the NYC Department of Education in the Office of Accountability on the Periodic Assessment team. Keenan holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a master’s degree in media, culture and communications from New York Uniersity. Keenan is a participant in The Broad Residency in Urban Education (Class of 2009-2011) serving her two-year Residency at Achievement First.