Ariette Agnew

Ariette is the Advocacy Manager at America Forward. She focuses on policy and advocacy related to early childhood education, K12 education, whole-learner education, and national service. Ariette helps to lead the America Forward Advocacy Institute where America Forward’s 100+ Coalition members learn to be better, bolder advocates.

Before joining New Profit, Ariette held a variety of roles working to support low-income children and families. Ariette was a Teach For America Corps member and taught kindergarten and first grade in Houston, Texas. Before teaching, she spent time at the U.S. Department of Education, focusing on President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. She also worked for the Children’s Defense Fund- Texas, advocating for healthcare for uninsured Texans. While earning her master’s degree, Ariette interned at the National Black Child Development Institute and served as a graduate analyst for the Obama Foundation, working specifically on program evaluation and engagement for the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. She also led DEI admissions work at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Ariette has also spent time working on community violence intervention for the Office of St. Louis Mayor, Tishaura Jones and working on workforce development priorities for Pittsburgh Mayor, Ed Gainey.

Ariette holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Master in Education from Johns Hopkins University, and an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

There is nothing Ariette enjoys more than spending time with her nephew and two nieces.