Spencer Sherman

As Vice President of Policy and Partnerships at the Linked Learning Alliance, Spencer will guide cross-sector work on economic justice, driven by collaboration between K–12, postsecondary, and industry stakeholders. He will also play a focused leadership role in supporting cross-state collaboration across the northeast to advance Linked Learning.

Spencer is passionate about the power of Linked Learning to advance educational equity and economic mobility. He has a proven track record of advancing innovative policies and programs to expand opportunities for all students.

Before joining the Alliance, Spencer served as the Chief for Innovation at the Rhode Island Department of Education, where he led PrepareRI, a statewide cross-agency initiative that prepares young people for success in college and high-paying, high-demand careers. During his tenure, Rhode Island's career and technical education programs expanded to every district in the state, student participation nearly tripled, and Rhode Island posted the largest growth in AP participation and performance of any state in the country.

While at the Department, Spencer also oversaw Rhode Island's middle and high schools, adult education, data, accountability, technology, research, and other strategic initiatives. Under his leadership, the Department launched several new initiatives, including the agency's first unified enrollment system for K–12 course opportunities and adult education, a statewide AI-powered college and career readiness chatbot, a tutoring initiative for COVID recovery, and a partnership with public colleges to help students bypass remediation.

Before moving to state government, Spencer served as an administrator and science teacher at public schools in New Orleans, starting his career as a Teach For America corps member.

Spencer earned his bachelor's degree at Yale University, and his master's in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.