Jenn Ash

Director, PARABL

As Director of the Policy-Aligned Research Agenda Building Lab (PARABL), Jenn is critical in creating partnerships with state education agencies around the country. She leads our work with education systems leaders to build a roadmap of research questions that are strategically aligned with the pursuit of large-scale systems change. With this work, Jenn is providing a unique service to education policy makers in multiple states. Jenn brings remarkable depth of experience at the intersection of education research and policy. Most recently, she served as Director of the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) at Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research, where she led work with over 100 rural districts nationwide to improve student attendance and college and career readiness through data and evidence. She has also held research leadership roles at Abt Associates, served as Managing Director of the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, and founded Edify Research and Strategy, an education research firm helping clients advance student success. In addition, she has served as a Visiting Fellow at Saint Louis University’s PRiME Center since 2025.