2007
DFER Is Founded
We work with leaders who believe public education is not a system to be preserved but a promise to be fulfilled—a promise that every child, regardless of background, can access an education that unlocks their full potential.
Our mission is grounded in the belief that families deserve agency, options, and the resources to help their children learn, grow, and thrive. We champion innovative policies that expand opportunities, tackle inequities, and reimagines how education can prepare young people to thrive in a rapidly changing world. DFER works to ensure Democrats lead with vision, courage, and urgency in rebuilding and redesigning systems of learning. Our work includes amplifying the efforts of affiliates Education Reform Now and Education Reform Now Advocacy.
DFER Is Founded
Building a Coalition for Change
Influencing the Obama Administration
Driving Ambitious National Policy
Building a Movement of Reform Champions
Jorge Elorza Named CEO
Advancing the Abundance Agenda
Leading the Next Era of Education Reform
Jorge Elorza is Chief Executive Officer of Democrats for Education Reform. He served two terms as mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, where he undertook bold actions to advance a social and racial justice agenda. This included taking the unprecedented step to engage the state Department of Education to turn around the city’s chronically underperforming school system, creating the city’s Eat, Play, Learn Initiative to expand out-of-school enrichment, and launching a nationally recognized African American Ambassador Group to bring Black leaders into the center of policymaking. Notably, he invested $400 million into repairing school buildings, and supported the expansion of high-quality public charter schools.
Born and raised in Providence, Mayor Elorza is a graduate of Classical High school, the University of Rhode Island, and Harvard Law School. Prior to being elected mayor, he was a legal aid attorney, he served as a Providence Housing Court Judge, and he co-founded the Latino Policy Institute while he served as a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law. Jorge lives with his wife, Stephanie, and his son, Omar, in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Providence.
