Ellie Cash

Ellie’s love for learning was shaped by her public-school teachers, the same teachers who inspired her to study education and lead a classroom of her own. As an educator, she witnessed firsthand how even the most motivated students faced persistent barriers to reaching their full potential: curricula that failed to evolve with the rapidly changing environment, staff ill-equipped to respond to mental health crises, and inequitable policies that strained families and limited access to essential resources. Ellie’s experience teaching mathematics in DC Public Schools is the foundation for her passion for policy change that responds to the urgent needs of public-school students, families, and educators. Ellie joins Third Way’s Education Program as Senior K-12 Education Policy Advisor, where she works to elevate opportunity and forward-thinking innovation in public education. Prior to Third Way, she harnessed her policy and teaching expertise at EducationCounsel, connecting the efforts of early childhood, K-12, and higher education teams to strengthen education policy agendas for national education leaders, nonprofits and advocacy groups, and the philanthropic sector. Ellie earned her bachelor’s degree in education and mathematics from Saint Louis University and her master’s degree in education policy and leadership from American University. Outside the world of policy, Ellie is most often found out on a run or working her way through her “to-be-read” stack.