Magan Gonzales-Smith

Magan Gonzales-Smith is the Senior Program Director for Educational Equity. As a Senior Program Director, Magan shapes and builds MDC’s agenda to advance educational opportunity and equity for children and youth throughout the South.

Magan’s career has been dedicated to working with communities, systems leaders, and policymakers to create stronger and more equitable educational opportunities for young people. In 2018 she worked alongside other community leaders to create and launch the Durham Public Schools Foundation (DPSF) and served as DPSF’s founding Executive Director.

Previously, she was the Associate Director of Insights & Impact for Hill Learning Center where she built research partnerships and supported a network of schools in delivering literacy strategies for struggling readers. Her other past work includes recruiting alternative licensure public school teachers, designing teacher and principal professional growth systems, creating policy strategy for the NC Large District Superintendent Consortium, and managing teacher grants for the Asheville City Schools Foundation.

Magan’s passion for public education and commitment to education justice are shaped by being the daughter of a first-generation college student and her work for over 14 years with school districts across the country. Having grown up in Texas and North Carolina and now raising her children in Durham, Magan has a deep love for the South and a commitment to making it a place where all people can thrive.

She received her B.A. in political science from George Washington University and her master’s in public policy from Duke University.