Judy Wurtzel supports Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies’ efforts to improve K-12 education across the U.S., with a focus on enabling conditions for engaging and affirming literacy instruction, including instructional materials, policy, and research. 

Judy has experience in government, philanthropy, associations and nonprofits. Prior to joining the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Judy was a Senior Advisor to the Noyce Foundation. Previously, Judy served in the U.S. Department of Education under Secretary Duncan as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development and as the founding Director for Technical Assistance and Policy in the Department’s new Implementation Support Unit. She was also a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Education under Secretary Riley. Judy was also Co-Director of the Aspen Institute Program on Education and Society and served as Executive Director of the Learning First Alliance, a permanent partnership of over a dozen national education associations. 

Judy has authored or co-authored numerous reports and studies on education improvement and co-edited Teaching Talent: A Visionary Framework for Human Capital in Education. She currently sits on the boards or advisory boards of English Learners Success Forum, Open Up Resources and Zearn. Past board memberships include Achievement Network, UnboundEd and Urban Teachers Center. Judy started her career in education by teaching English as a foreign language in Morocco. She attended Yale College and earned a law degree from NYU Law School.