Cecily Darden is the former Director of Family Engagement at the US Department of Education. She is committed to building strong connections between children’s homes and schools. As a parent of a child with special needs, she experienced firsthand the impact on student success when families are effectively engaged. As the Director of Family Engagement, she championed national, state and local initiatives demonstrating that strong family engagement positively impacts the academic success and wellbeing of students as well as leads to rewards for their families and teachers, being a champion for children with special needs through her support of the Statewide Family Engagement Centers and Parent Training and Information Centers that foster family engagement for children with special needs.
Prior to joining the Biden-Harris administration, Cecily’s Rooted Learning supported organizations to implement equitable community engagement and systems change for sustainable growth. Previously, she led measurement with Flamboyan Foundation, where she supported the identification and dissemination of effective family engagement strategies and innovations in Washington, DC. Cecily also served the students of Prince George’s County Public Schools for nearly a decade where she led the human capital strategic initiatives after several years supporting student-focused measurement of district initiatives. Cecily’s prior work experience also includes adjunct faculty and educational research positions with American University, University of Maryland, College Park and the American Institute for Research. And her volunteer passion has been serving the children of Montgomery County, MD where she is raising two sons. A proud undergraduate alumna of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, Cecily’s graduate studies were in Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park.