Meet Erica Doherty, QUALITYstarsNY’s new Senior Director!
Erica has worked in education for the last 20 years, starting as a Teach for America corps member and elementary school teacher in Baton Rouge. She worked in schools there and in Harlem for nine years—teaching, coaching, and supporting families in high-need communities. It was during this time that literacy and equity became the north stars in her career, which ultimately led her to other related spaces, like the New York City Public Schools’ Office of Policy and Evaluation (OPE). During her six years in OPE, she led the development of many of the city’s K-12 literacy assessments, including those for World Languages, Gifted and Talented, teacher evaluations, New York State Education Department-related programs, and more. It was there that she got her sea legs with project management, data analysis, and working cross-functionally with a variety of expert professionals.
Most recently, Erica served as the Director of Program and then the Executive Director at a literacy-focused nonprofit, where her team provided services for high-impact tutoring, family engagement, educator workshops, and general consulting to elementary schools across New York City.
Outside of work, you can find Erica gardening (at least giving it her best attempt), hanging out with her family at soccer fields near and far, hiking in the Hudson Valley as much as she can, and visiting relatives in Queens, plus Iowa and Michigan when possible.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining this team, a group that is clearly full of early childhood experts. The work the Institute does in support of New York’s littlest learners is extremely impressive and enormously important, and I’m honored to join you on our mission of ensuring families across New York State have access to excellent early childhood programming.” – Erica Doherty, QUALITYstarsNY Senior Director
