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LaRena Heath is the director of Professional Education Offerings at the Carnegie Foundation and also serves as a senior associate on the Networked Improvement Science team. Since joining Carnegie in 2018, LaRena has focused on coaching improvement leaders and building the capacity of educators to use improvement methods to tackle problems of practice in their contexts. Prior to joining the Foundation, LaRena spent several years as a middle school teacher in California and Massachusetts. While teaching she also served as an instructional technology coach where she helped teachers effectively utilize digital tools to support diverse student needs. Further, LaRena worked as a senior manager of content and instruction at Actively Learn, an online literacy platform, where she created instructional resources, shared evidence-based practices, and delivered professional development to teachers and administrators. Prior to that, LaRena was a research associate at American Institute for Research where she worked on projects that identified and elevated effective practices that led to student success in high-performing, high-need schools.

LaRena is passionate about equipping educators to be creative problem solvers as they improve systems and pursue more equitable outcomes for students. LaRena co-authored a chapter in Teaching Improvement Science in Educational Leadership: A Pedagogical Guide (2021). She is also certified in adaptive learning engineering and product management and strategy. LaRena holds a master’s in education and a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University.

In her free time, LaRena enjoys volunteering as a middle school tutor and running (albeit somewhat slowly) while pushing a couple of her kids in the stroller.