Our Stories

Sophia Pappas

Sophia Pappas leads a team responsible for the Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST), an initiative to improve outcomes in the earliest years of a child’s development. Efforts include non-profit and public agency partnerships to implement high quality programs and reduce policy barriers facing families in poverty. She builds on expertise from leading early childhood within NYC’s Department of Education across mayoral administrations from 2010-2016, where she focused on offering NYC pre-K programs with high-quality classroom instruction and family engagement. She earned a B.A. from Georgetown University and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. After teaching pre-K in Newark, NJ, Ms. Pappas authored Good Morning, Children (Gryphon House, '09) and trained teachers. What she learned from children, families, fellow teachers and school administration shapes how she leads and what inspires her work.