As senior vice president of systems strategy, Ann Hanson leads Start Early’s strategy to support community, state, and federal government leaders and advocates to build high-quality, equitable prenatal to five systems. Ann brings expertise in systems change and mixed delivery early childhood, strategy, communications, and partnership development. Ann joined Start Early in 2007, and since then has worked across policy, program, and research to solve complex systems problems in states across the country. Most recently, she led a multi-state initiative focused on the implementation and improvement of pre-k systems.

Previously, Ann consulted with schools and districts in Chicago and New York City. An alumna of the Education Pioneers fellowship, she holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ann’s home base is Chicago, Illinois, where she lives with her husband and too many books.