Emily Germain is a Senior Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. Through qualitative and multi-method approaches, she designs and conducts studies of the implementation and scaling of community schools and the connection between student well-being and whole child outcomes. Her research has yielded tools and frameworks to assist practitioners in understanding and enacting the community schools strategy and has informed federal and state policies in California, New Mexico, and New York.

Her time as a teacher in traditional public and charter schools in New York City, rural Kansas, and Austin shaped her commitment to influencing policy and practice in service of greater equity in education. Over the course of her career, Germain has studied the implications of urban education reforms for historically marginalized communities, the relationship between schools and communities, and how policy and politics shape both the labor markets and practice of education leaders and teachers.

Before joining LPI, Germain was a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University, where she served as qualitative lead on a multi-university team examining equity and access in school choice policies.

Germain holds a PhD in Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Texas at Austin. She received an MAT from Teachers College and a BA in American Studies from Barnard College.