Kristen Harper, EdM, is vice president for public policy and engagement at Child Trends. Ms. Harper brings to Child Trends a wealth of expertise in utilizing research to drive policy making and promote better outcomes for children, youth, and families. In her role as a strategic policy and communications advisor, she works to connect researchers with practitioners and public officials; support policy development in education, early childhood health, juvenile justice, and economic mobility; and improve cross-systems coordination and alignment.

Ms. Harper provides policy and policy engagement leadership across Child Trends’ portfolio. She leads the organization’s efforts to explore the implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for children and families, including how new Pell requirements and Workforce Pell grants may reshape child care workforce preparation. She also crafted the policy recommendations for a groundbreaking study that examined a 25-year decline in child poverty, clarifying policymakers’ options for reshaping social safety net programs. Ms. Harper served on a national consensus study focused on mitigating the mental, emotional, and behavioral risks of active shooter drills and led research examining how Medicaid policy shifts affect reimbursement for school-based services. She also convened cross-sector leaders to build a framework to help states better align health, education, and family support systems for children with special health care needs.

Prior to Child Trends, Ms. Harper was appointed to the U.S. Department of Education, where she was a lead architect of the agency’s efforts to improve school health, discipline, climate, and safety. She led a redesign of special education regulations and competitive grant programs to improve teacher compensation and human capital management. She also directed interagency partnerships with the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce exclusionary discipline and improve education services for students in juvenile justice settings.

Ms. Harper has provided invited testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and has served on two National Academies consensus studies. She has contributed op-eds to Governing and The 74 and been cited and quoted by The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Politico, Education Week, U.S. News & World Report, and The 74, among other publications. Ms. Harper is a proud member of the 2019-2021 class of the Annie E. Casey Foundations’ Child and Family Fellowship.