Benito Aranda-Comer (he/him) joins EdTrust-West as a K-12 Policy Analyst. Before joining EdTrust-West, Benito was an 8th-grade English Language Arts teacher in Houston, Texas, where he is from. As a classroom teacher, Benito had the distinct opportunity to serve students by facilitating rigorous coursework that reflected the lived experiences of his students and pushed them to constantly grow their own capabilities. Benito’s experience in a public charter school system further highlighted the existing inequities for students of color and was a wake-up call to the realities at play for students and educators alike. Benito saw first-hand, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, how the nation’s most vulnerable students could be affected and how communities still demonstrated their values of resilience and commitment to students. Though chronic issues of the profession were constantly emphasized throughout daily work, the dedication of educators and their belief that all children could succeed remains a key motivating factor in supporting their work with policy advocacy.

In response to the global pandemic, and to confront the systemic issues plaguing our education system, Benito chose to pursue his Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University to equip himself with the tools needed to advocate for his community. During his graduate studies, Benito also worked as a research associate at FutureEd, an independent, solution-oriented think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. There, he authored several explainer pieces on various topics, which included trauma-informed teaching practices, and compiled information from various legislative bills on teacher pay. Benito was also the Co-President of the McCourt Education Policy Initiative and leveraged every opportunity to engage in education-related instruction and skill acquisition.

Benito holds a B.A. in both History and Latin American Studies and a minor in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities from Rice University. He also has an MPP from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and a Certificate in Education Finance from their Edumonics Lab.

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