About Us

Marguerite Roza

Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., is the Director of the Edunomics Lab and a Research Associate Professor at Georgetown University. Dr. Roza’s research focuses on quantitative policy analysis, largely in the education finance arena.

Her recent research traces the effects of fiscal policies at the federal, state, and district levels for their implications on resources at the school and classroom levels. Her calculations of dollar implications and cost-equivalent trade-offs have prompted changes in education finance policy at all levels in the education system. As part of her groundbreaking work on weighted student funding, Dr. Roza devised a “%SBA metric,” enabling an apples-to-apples comparison of total district funds in a WSF formula. This metric is now commonly recognized as the foundational measurement of WSF formulas nationwide. She has written extensively on financial transparency and the opportunity toward equity and productivity.

Dr. Roza has led projects including the Institute for Education Sciences multi-year study of weighted student funding, the Finance and Productivity Initiative at the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and the Schools in Crisis Rapid Response Paper Series. She served as Senior Economic Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her work has been published by Education Sector, the Brookings Institution, Public Budgeting and Finance, Education Next, and the Peabody Journal of Education. Dr. Roza is author of the highly regarded education finance book, Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go? Dr. Roza earned a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Washington. Prior, she served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy teaching thermodynamics at the Naval Nuclear Power School. She holds a B.S. from Duke University and has studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Amsterdam.

Laura Anderson

Laura Anderson is the Associate Director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Previously, Laura was an Associate Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation working closely with US Program Advocacy team members on grant development, grants management and project management. She has also worked as Capital Campaign Director for Overlake Hospital managing a $15million campaign and served more than twelve years executing national fundraising campaigns for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She earned her B.A. in Communications from Washington State University.

Debra Britt

Debra Britt is the Strategic Communications Manager at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Previously she was the Communications Director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, where she led the development and execution of branding, outreach, media relations, web and social media strategy, and publications. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and a Certificate in Editing, both from the University of Washington.

Anthony Drew

Anthony Drew is a Research Associate at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Previously, Anthony worked as an engineer in the power industry managing complex multi-million dollar projects. Following his interest and passion for education, he obtained a Master of Education Policy from the University of Washington. His roles in the education field have ranged from an enrollment planning analyst at Seattle Public Schools to classroom tutor. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the educational non-profit organization University Tutors for Seattle Schools. Anthony received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University.

Katie Hagan

Katie Hagan is a Research Associate at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Prior to joining the Edunomics team, Katie worked as a Policy Fellow at Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina, where she researched and advocated for high-quality state assessment and accountability systems. Katie has also been a classroom teacher in both traditional public and public charter schools, and was a 2011 Teach For America corps member in Las Vegas, NV. She holds a Master of Public Policy degree from Duke University, a M.Ed. from the University of Nevada, and a B.A. from Virginia Tech.

Hannah Jarmolowski

Hannah Jarmolowski is an Education Pioneers Fellow and Research Analyst at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Previously, Hannah was a Policy Analyst at the National Council on Teacher Quality where she worked on district and state-level human capital policy. She also taught 7th grade Reading at a Houston charter school as a Teach For America corps member. Hannah earned her B.A. in Public Policy from Vanderbilt University and her M.Ed in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Evan Mirolla

Evan Mirolla is a Research Specialist at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Prior to joining the Edunomics team, Mirolla was the Director of Coaching & Partnerships for Teach For America (TFA) in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. With TFA, Mirolla also served as an instructional coach while he was a Manager of Teacher-Leadership Development and served as a pilot-program manager while he was a Manager of Secondary Partnerships. Mirolla has been a high school classroom teacher in Fort Worth ISD and was a 2011 TFA Corps Member. Mirolla is earning his M.Ed. from the University of Washington in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies for K-12 Systems; he holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley.

Liz Ryan

Liz Ryan is a Research Associate at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. Previously, Liz has worked to develop, implement, and evaluate professional development programs for educators through roles with the National P-3 Center, The Seattle Public Library, and, most recently, University Tutors for Seattle Schools in partnership with Seattle Public Schools. As Program Director for University Tutors, she also managed 19 school partnerships and oversaw the placement and work of over 80 tutors supporting K-12 educators in the classroom. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher internationally and in the Washington, DC area. She holds an M.Ed. in Education Policy from the University of Washington, and a B.A. and a Master’s in Teaching from the University of Virginia.

Jordan Tollefson

Jordan Tollefson is the Education Director at Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. She previously worked for BNSF Railway’s Federal Government Affairs team in Washington, DC and relocated back to Seattle in 2018 to assist with Public Affairs for the Northwest Division. Jordan also has experience as a political fundraiser at both the state and national level.  She earned her B.A. in History from Washington State University.