Sara Plasencia is a Policy Advisor at the Learning Policy Institute. Her work focuses on research and policies that improve early learning systems in California and other states. She is also a member of the Federal Policy team, where she focuses on school integration and early childhood education. 

Prior to joining LPI, she worked at the Education Trust as a graduate fellow on the National and State Partnerships team. Her work focused on increasing educational equity and strengthening advocacy efforts on behalf of students from low-income families and students of color. Before her work in education research and policy, she worked at the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, where she tracked and analyzed federal legislation that impacts women and their families. 

Plasencia received a MA in Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and holds a BA in Government and Law and Sociology from Lafayette College.