Sarita Pillai, EDC vice president, director of STEM & Workforce Success, and chief equity, diversity, and inclusion officer (CEDIO), has extensive expertise in effective strategies for broadening participation in STEM. She oversees a work portfolio focused on building the foundational skills and competencies needed for success in STEM education and career pathways, including computer science and data sciences.
Pillai leads national centers that enhance the quality and equity of K–12 and postsecondary STEM education. She is the principal investigator (PI) of the STEM Learning and Research Center and the co-PI of the Center for Integrative Research in Computing and Learning Sciences. She also led the research and scholarship for a report on the future of work.
Pillai is dedicated to closing opportunity gaps, advancing equity in education, and diversifying STEM fields. She led the development of EDC’s Equity Principles and was a founding member of EDC’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Additionally, she co-authored More than Title IX: How Equity in Education Has Shaped the Nation.
Pillai holds an MBA from Bentley University and a BS in Computer Science from Northeastern University College of Computer and Information Science.