Ariel Murphy Bedford is the National Education Equity Lab’s Chief Academic and Impact Officer. Most recently, Ariel served as chief of staff at the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), where she managed daily operations for over 500 staff and advised State Superintendent John White on key organizational decisions. Ariel also worked for the U.S. Department of Education, where she served as the Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and as the Success Mentor Coordinator for the My Brother’s Keeper National Success Mentors Initiative focused on addressing chronic absenteeism through a school-based mentoring model. A California native, Ariel earned a bachelor’s degree in Government with a Public Policy minor in education from Dartmouth College, a master’s degree in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, a master’s degree in Politics and Education from Teachers College Columbia University, and was selected as a 2019-2021 Broad Resident in The Broad Residency in Urban Education.