Alicia Garcia

Alicia N. Garcia is a managing director at AIR. She has more than 16 years of experience in education law and policy. Garcia is the deputy director of the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest, a research center funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education. 

Garcia recently served as project director for the What Works Clearinghouse Statistics, Website, and Training project, which focused on assisting IES in methodological discussions, training, and dissemination, and helped facilitate deliberations about the WWC Standards and Procedures across all WWC contracts. Before that, Garcia served as co-director of the State Support Network, a technical assistance contract funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The Network focused on supporting the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act in all states by providing a variety of technical assistance opportunities to state education agencies and school districts, including communities of practice, peer-to-peer exchanges, and individualized technical assistance focused on topics identified through needs-sensing efforts with states and districts. 

Garcia also previously served as director of the Midwest Comprehensive Center, a technical assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In her role as director, she managed a core staff of 26 to build the capacity of state education agencies in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to design, sustain, and implement reforms that support student success.  In addition, Garcia was previously deputy director of REL Midwest and director of a network for school improvement in Long Beach Unified School District, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is focused on using continuous improvement cycles to improve outcomes for students who are Black, Latino, and from low socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Before joining AIR, Garcia was a practicing attorney in the field of education law.