Gerrit Westervelt

Gerrit Westervelt, Ph.D. is a national leader in the movement to build comprehensive early childhood systems who has helped dozens of states improve their policies around governance, program quality and measurement, professional development, and other key systems for young children. In his current role as Senior Advisor for Policy and Partnerships at Teachstone, Dr. Westervelt leads efforts to assist states in scaling high quality programs and services that promote effective interactions and support learning and development. He has served in executive and senior management roles at Afina Learning, WestEd, the BUILD Initiative, Educare Colorado/Qualistar and the Education Commission of the States, working extensively with state early childhood and K-12 leaders and giving numerous presentations on early childhood and K-12 education policy to diverse audiences and media outlets. He holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership, a master’s degree in political science, and a bachelor’s degree in communications. He loves being a dad to four almost-grown children.