Elson Nash is a student in the Doctor of Public Administration program, with a research focus
on the impact of community organizing on the creation of community benefits agreements
for large-scale real estate development. He is a long term public servant, currently
serving as the director of the School Choice and Improvement Programs Division in
the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education.
For the last nine years Elson has focused his attention on the impact of wrap-around
supports on schools and neighborhoods to close the achievement gap. During this time
he also supported community capacity building using results based accountability and
data systems to target services for those in greatest need. As the director he supervises
the following portfolio of programs affecting thousands of children across the nation:
Statewide Family Engagement Centers, Magnet Schools Assistance Programs, Full-Service
Community Schools, Promise Neighborhoods, and Opportunity Scholarships.
Elson holds a Master of Public Health from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley. He also is an Excellence in Government Fellow from the Partnership for Public Service and is a Real Estate Fellow from the University of Baltimore.