Sade Bonilla

Dr. Sade Bonilla is an education policy scholar whose work focuses on local and state policy innovations, including curricular reforms, community college and financial aid policies, and K-16 career and technical education (CTE). She examines how education policies can drive transformative change for marginalized youth, shaping their pathways from high school to college and the workforce. Dr. Bonilla collaborates with practitioners to develop research that directly informs and benefits schools and policymakers.

Dr. Bonilla’s expertise in the economics of education reflects her dedication to creating equitable educational opportunities. She holds a PhD in Economics of Education from Stanford University and currently serves as an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.

Her contributions to the field have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 2019 Outstanding Predoctoral Fellow award from the Institute of Education Sciences, the 2018 Spencer/NAEd Dissertation Fellowship, and the 2016 APPAM Equity and Inclusion Fellowship. Dr. Bonilla continues to advance knowledge on policies that shape educational success and economic mobility for underrepresented communities.