Eric Lerum is the vice president of growth and strategy for America Succeeds, where he leads the organization’s efforts to amplify the business leader voice in support of improving public education. Eric has over a decade of experience in strategic planning, partnership development, and advising state and local policymakers regarding public education issues. Most recently Lerum led the policy efforts at StudentsFirst as the vice president of national policy, building a team of policy and legislative analysts with expertise across a broad agenda, including teacher quality, school choice and governance reform. Before StudentsFirst, Eric served as chief of staff to the deputy mayor for education for the District of Columbia, where he played a lead role in school reform efforts, including the mayoral takeover of the school system and D.C.’s successful Race to the Top application. He has also held positions as the legislative counsel to the D.C. Council’s education committee and as a policy analyst for the D.C. Board of Education. Eric is a 2003 graduate of the Washington College of Law at American University, where he developed his interests in public education and youth justice while teaching constitutional literacy to high school students.