Swati Adarkar recently served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education in the Biden Harris Administration. She led the Department’s early learning vision, strategy, and initiatives including the development and execution of the Kindergarten Sturdy Bridge agenda. Prior to her government service, she was the National Policy Director for Start Early.
Swati was the Co-Founder and President & CEO of the Children’s Institute in Oregon for 15 years, an early childhood policy and advocacy organization. She served on statewide advisory committees on early childhood for three Oregon governors. Swati provided the vision and leadership to launch and sustain the Early Works initiative, a nationally recognized model which aligns birth to five services and supports with elementary school.
For more than thirty years she has been a strong leader and advocate for meeting the comprehensive needs of low-income children and families across the local, state and federal level. Swati has a passion for ensuring the health and early school success of young children. She has served on the Advisory Boards of Attendance Works and the National P-3 Center and was a founding trustee of Portland State University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from UCLA and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.