Elizabeth M. Chu

Liz is the Executive Director of CPRL and Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer of Law at Columbia Law School. As Executive Director, Liz oversees all aspects of the organization’s operations and strategy with a focus on growing CPRL’s efforts to build the leadership capacity of current and aspiring education sector leaders. Through her research and project leadership, Liz has developed deep expertise in systemwide innovation and transformation, school systems as participatory democracies, evidence-based instructional materials and professional learning, and innovative approaches to educator workforce governance. Her ideas and research have appeared in numerous publications including American Journal of Education, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, TC Record, Education Week, Learning Forward, and Forbes. 

Before joining CPRL, Liz was an Assistant Professor of Practice at Relay Graduate School of Education, where she taught general pedagogy courses, designed and managed internal data collection systems, and performed research on school discipline, teacher preparation, and social-emotional learning. Liz began her career in education as a middle and high school English teacher in the South Bronx. She earned her Ph.D. in education policy from Columbia University, an M.S. in teaching secondary English from Pace University, and a B.A. in English language arts and literature from Yale University.