Regina Riley Policy Analyst
Regina is a passionate advocate for improving education for all students, and has spent her career advancing education policies and programs to close access and achievement gaps. In her time at Education First, she has honed her knowledge of national, state and local level education policy through her work in providing research, policy and data analysis for Metro Nashville Public Schools/Davidson County's human capital initiative, ASSET (Achieving Student Success through Effective Teaching), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Achieve, the Chattanooga Public Education Foundation and AVID. She has also supported the Tennessee Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee, and helped write Baltimore City Public School's Race to the Top scope of work application.
Prior to joining Education First Regina worked in the Tennessee Comptroller's Offices of Research and Education Accountability, where she served as one of the office's main analysts on a variety of issues affecting P-16 education. She helped provide research and policy analysis for the state legislature on education issues, helped monitor education legislation for the Comptroller's office with the state legislature and the State Board of Education, and was an active member of the Education Commission of the States and the National Conference of State Legislatures' Legislative Education Staff Network. Regina was also the point person on both the Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee, and Tennessee's status for competitive grants awarded through federal stimulus funds, such as Race to the Top.
Earlier in her career Regina worked at Vanderbilt University in the Advancement Communications and Alumni Relations offices, in the Office of Intercultural Affairs and Diversity Education with Student Life, and with the YMCA's Bridge and Project GRAD Nashville programs.
Regina earned her master's in public policy with a concentration in education policy from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and her bachelor's of science in Sociology and Interdisciplinary African American Studies from Vanderbilt University, where she was honored with the Trailblazer Award in Leadership. She has served on the boards of the Nashville Vanderbilt Club and the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni. Regina resides in Nashville, Tennessee.