Dr. Erika Hunt

Biography

Dr. Erika Hunt serves as Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University, where she leads statewide and national initiatives to strengthen school and district leadership systems and transform how educators are prepared, supported, and sustained.

She was a founding leader of the ROE Lead Hubs, where for four years she directed cross-agency partnerships designed to expand leadership pipelines and better align policy with practice.In addition to her policy and systems leadership work, Dr. Hunt founded and operated a childcare center for 18 years, grounding her perspective in early learning and the day-to-day realities of education systems.

Over more than two decades, Dr. Hunt has secured and directed more than $50 million in federal, state, and foundation funding and has helped shape landmark legislation in Illinois and New Mexico redefining principal preparation and mentoring at scale. Her work redesigning principal preparation programs in Illinois received the 2014 State Innovation Award from the Education Commission of the States for its impact on policy and practice. She also served for 12 years on the Illinois Governor’s P–20 Council, contributing to cross-sector alignment from early childhood through postsecondary education.

Dr. Hunt’s work focuses on helping education systems move beyond isolated initiatives toward coherent, sustainable system change. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Organization and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, with a concentration in P–20 education policy.