Karen Hawley Miles

Karen Hawley Miles is the president and executive director of Education Resource Strategies, Inc. She has worked intensively with school systems nationwide to analyze and improve their funding systems, school-level resource use, and human capital and professional development systems. This work has two major components: partnering with system leaders to deeply analyze their resource use and then working side-by-side with them to change the resource strategies in ways that improve school performance. ERS focuses especially on helping systems to redesign their funding systems; create new schools that organize talent, time, and technology to maximize learning; restructure teaching to encourage individual and team effectiveness; and develop powerful school turnaround strategies. Karen has taught school leaders at Harvard University, in school districts, and for New Leaders for New Schools. She has authored numerous articles and co-authored The Strategic School: Making the Most of People, Time and Money with Stephen Frank. She serves as a Senior Advisor to the Aspen Institute Education and Society Program, and she served as a Commissioner on the Equity and Excellence Commission for the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to her work at ERS, she worked at Bain & Company as a strategy and management consultant for hospitals and corporations. She has a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Yale University and a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University, specializing in school organization, change, and finance. Karen enjoys spending time with her twin boys and husband, reading a book a week, running, biking, and being outdoors anywhere but especially in the mountains.