Monica Thomas is a doctoral candidate in Cohort 1 of the Leadership for Equity and Democracy (LEAD) program in the UC Berkeley School of Education. Her research interests include school improvement and central office reform and the role local politics and community engagement play in impacting effective policy implementation.
Monica has been a long time leader in the Oakland Unified School District, serving as the founding principal of Greenleaf TK-8 as well as a Network Superintendent, where she supervised seventeen schools primarily in East Oakland. Monica currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Continuous Improvement for the Oakland Unified School District. Prior to her doctoral studies, Monica earned an MA from Stanford University in the inaugural class of Politics, Organization, and Leadership Studies (POLS) program and a BA from The Johns Hopkins University.
When not working or studying, Monica enjoys traveling, cooking, and hiking with her husband and their precious pup.
