Rita Ferrandino has built an international reputation as one of the most effective strategist and coalition-builders in the education entrepreneurship community.  She is a recognized STEM education expert, an authority on US education policy and politics, and a leader in Future of Work strategies. 

Committed to the transformational power of education, Rita has worked more than three decades to drive opportunity for our educators, students, and communities through innovation. Her professional career has spanned the nonprofit, for-profit, government, political and academic sectors. As a result, she can navigate these different environments and effectively engage with leaders from all sectors to create transformative learning opportunities.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (PennGSE) recruited her to serve as President of the Education Design Studio Incubator in 2016. This effort was funded in collaboration with the Milken Foundation, the private sector, and PennGSE to empower early-stage education companies looking to spark innovation. 

Ferrandino currently serve as the Innovation Consultant at the Catalyst@PennGSE Center, where she brings education stakeholders together to inspire, collaborate and support learning for impact and sustainability.  She works to generate, test, adapt, and disseminate best practices and powerful new tools for educators at all levels.  For three years, she was the lead instructor for the Capstone course at the M.S. Ed Education Entrepreneurship Graduate Program at PennGSE.