Monica Martinez, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Learning Policy Institute, has spent her career focused on addressing college success from both the higher education and k–12 levels. She started her career in admissions at a public university in Texas and also served as an Assistant Dean at Williams College. She has worked for foundations and intermediaries in various leadership roles on high school redesign. At the XQ Institute, part of the Emerson Collective, she supported a portfolio of innovative high schools. Previously, Martinez wrote the book Deeper Learning: How Eight Innovative Public Schools are Transforming Education in the 21st Century. She is a gubernatorial appointee to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She has served as an Obama appointee to the White House Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, President of the New Tech Network, Vice President for Education Strategy at KnowledgeWorks, and senior associate at the Institute for Educational Leadership.