CFR Welcomes Sonja Brookins Santelises as Vice President, Senior Fellow, and Director of the Richard Haass Center for Education

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Sonja Brookins Santelises as vice president, senior fellow, and director of the Richard Haass Center for Education. Dr. Santelises will start on Tuesday, September 8, based in Washington, DC.   

Established in June 2025, the Richard Haass Center for Education will centralize and expand the reach of CFR’s educational work, enhancing CFR Education’s creation of best-in-class educational resources that are widely and readily available to educators and learners in secondary and postsecondary classrooms across the country. Importantly, in this fraught political moment, the center will also equip educators to teach their students about global affairs through civil discourse and respectful dialogue.   

“I am delighted to welcome Sonja to the Council,” said CFR President Michael Froman. “Her expertise in public education and civic leadership will strengthen CFR’s mission to promote informed discussions of the world’s most consequential issues. She brings the same dedication to expanding access, building institutional capacity, and fostering civil discourse that defined her decade of transformative leadership to the Richard Haass Center for Education.”   

A nationally recognized leader and educator, Dr. Santelises has spent her career advancing educational opportunities and championing academic excellence for all young people. At CFR, she will lead the Richard Haass Center for Education, overseeing the CFR’s education initiatives and efforts to promote civil discourse and global learning in secondary and postsecondary classrooms across the country.          

“I could not be more excited to join CFR and the Haass Center team with its expanding focus on civil discourse and global affairs literacy. This work aligns with my passion and desire to equip educators and students with the tools and spaces to engage in rigorous and thoughtful learning,” said Dr. Santelises. “I look forward to sharing my experience while enhancing my own knowledge base in this important work.”  

Most recently, Dr. Santelises served for a decade as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, becoming the district’s longest-serving leader since 1946. During her tenure, she led one of the nation’s largest and most complex school systems, overseeing a $1.9 billion annual budget while building strategic partnerships with national philanthropic and civic organizations to expand opportunities for students. During her tenure, the district reduced the number of low-performing schools, increased students’ access to high-quality learning resources, and secured significant investments in school infrastructure. 

Dr. Santelises also serves as the superintendent in residence at the Yale School of Management’s Broad Center, where she le a d s content facilitation for the Fellowship for Public Education Leadership cohort. 

Dr. Santelises was named the Maryland Superintendent of the Year by the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland and received the John Hope Alumni Award from Brown University. She was a finalist for the School Superintendents Association’s 2026 Superintendent of the Year Award and named one of Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs by the Maryland Daily Record. 

Dr. Santelises was the chair of the Council of the Great City Schools, which gathers eighty-two of the nation’s largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to the improvement of education for children in inner cities. She holds a BA from Brown University, an MA from Columbia University, and an EdD from Harvard University.   

To request an interview with Dr. Santelises or another CFR fellow, please email [email protected].