Lauren Morando Rhim is a nationally recognized expert on the complex intersection of equity and choice based on her research and analysis of factors influencing the education of students with disabilities in charter schools. She consults frequently with federal, state, and local advocates, policy leaders, funders, and practitioners regarding pressing issues influencing the education of students with disabilities.
As Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Learner Equity, Morando Rhim provides strategic vision and oversees research, advocacy, coalition development, and capacity-building efforts. She frequently presents at conferences and has served as an advisor to organizations including but not limited to the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, National Center on Learning Disabilities, New Hampshire State Legislature, Special Education Leadership Fellows, True Measure Special Education Collaborative, Tennessee State Charter School Special Education Advisory Board, and the Vermont Special Education Advisory Council.
She previously worked as a senior consultant for Public Impact and an education policy researcher at the University of Maryland. She started her career in education at Peace Corps Headquarters, where she helped grow the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program. In 1994, she was part of a small team of Peace Corps staff detailed to the newly created Corporation for National and Community Service to launch the original Americorps Leaders program.
Morando Rhim is committed to community service and has served on her local elected school board and the board of the Ledyard Charter School, an alternative high school in New Hampshire. She is a founding board member of the Special Education Leader Fellowship in New Orleans and serves on the board of The Family Place in Norwich, Vermont. She holds a BA from the University of Vermont, an MA from The George Washington University, and a PhD in education policy from the University of Maryland.