Val Brown is Director of Future of Learning at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. After spending years as a middle school teacher, Brown pivoted to district-level leadership development and instructional coaching before she worked designing professional learning and leading anti-racist education. Through Future of Learning, Carnegie Foundation is working to significantly increase the number of underrepresented students who have access to engaging, rigorous, equitable, experiential, and effective teaching and learning. It’s an endeavor that is centered in partnerships to expand learning outside classrooms, strengthening connections between schools and civic organizations, businesses, community, and cultural institutions.

Dr. Brown’s career includes time as a middle and high school teacher and in administrative leadership. In 2013, she was named Seminole County, FL Teacher of the Year and was recognized by the White House Initiative of Educational Excellence for African Americans in 2015. Dr. Brown also founded #ClearTheAir, an online international collective of educators, who believe that community, learning and dialogue are essential to personal and professional development.

Over the past decade, Dr. Brown has facilitated conversations, harnessed the power of media, and led engaging presentations with thousands of educators across the country to advance the national conversation about the power of equity in education. Dr. Brown serves as co-host of the Integrated Schools podcast and is a columnist for the Learning Professional journal. Brown is an active presenter at conferences and convenings across the country to scale the work.