Nina Rees is an education leader with vast experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She is currently a Senior Fellow with the George W. Bush Institute and a consultant to several education entrepreneurs and advocacy organizations.
Most recently, Nina served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools for nearly 12 years. During her tenure, she grew the federal funding for charter schools from $254 Million in annual funding to $440 Million while expanding the program’s bipartisan base of support.
Prior to joining the National Alliance, Nina spent 20 years shaping education policy in the public and private sectors. She served as the first Deputy Under Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, she oversaw the administration of nearly 25 grants totaling over $1 Billion and the implementation of the school choice provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act . Before moving to the Education Department, Nina worked in the White House as Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy to the Vice President of the United States.
Nina also served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Knowledge Universe, a leading global education company with investments in early childhood education, before- and after-school programs, and online instruction. In the 1990s, Nina was the Heritage Foundation’s Senior Education Analyst and chief spokesperson on education. She began her career on Capitol Hill, where she worked for then-Congressman Porter Goss.
Nina has been a guest on Bloomberg, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and PBS’s NewsHour. Her articles and opinions have been published in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Washingtonian named her one of Washington DC’s Most Influential People in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Nina currently serves on the board of visitors of George Mason University, board of directors of the PIE Network and the advisory committee of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is also a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
A native of Iran who immigrated to America at the age of 14, Nina earned her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and a master’s degree at George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government. She is also the proud mom of a Davidson College Wildcat.