Alison Kadlec is passionate about leveling the playing field for today’s students. 

Over the last 20 years, Alison has worked deeply with systems and institutions in more than half the states in the U.S. to help leaders at every level strengthen the will and skill required for genuinely student-focused reform of policy and practice at scale. Alison also leads work with state policymakers and regional coalitions to improve the quality of policy design and implementation planning. From coordinating statewide work to providing one-on-one executive coaching, Alison works at multiple levels to help people strengthen their resolve and capacity to lead real student-focused change. 

Before co-founding Sova, Alison was a Senior Vice President at Public Agenda where she led higher education and workforce projects focused on elevating student voice, improving faculty engagement in guided pathways, and helping institutions collaborate across boundaries on student-focused innovation. Alison began her career as a visiting professor in a variety of four-year university settings in Minnesota and New York, and she credits most of her skills to the years she spent bartending to fund her education and supplement her adjunct salary. 

Alison is the author of a book about the enduring relevance of John Dewey and has published in a variety of settings inside and outside higher ed on topics ranging from public deliberation to the public purposes of play. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota and BAs from Michigan State University in Political Theory, Constitutional Democracy and English Literature. She lives and works on Anishinaabek land in Northwest Michigan, where she’s learning about life from her family, her community, and nature.