Dana L. Mitra is Professor of Education Policy Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. She is founding editor of the International Journal of Student Voice and Co-Editor of The American Journal of Education. Dana also works as a leadership coach, as well as offering workshops and coaching faculty on finding ones purpose as an academic and navigating the unspoken rules of the profession, including publishing and career advancement.

Dana has published over 40 papers on the topics of student voice, civic engagement, and making a difference. She has a book coming out soon with Teacher’s College Press entitled The Empowered Professor: Breaking the Unspoken Codes of Inequity in Acad¬¬emia. The second edition of her textbook—Educational Change and the Political Process will be published at the end of 2021 with Routledge. Previously books include Civic Education in the Elementary Grades: Promoting Engagement in an Era of Accountability and Student voice in school reform: Building youth-adult partnerships that strengthen schools and empower youth.

Dana holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in Educational Administration and Policy Analysis. She has served as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in 2012 to study child participation and educational reform in Bangalore, India. Her prior work experience includes teaching elementary school in the Washington, DC area and serving as the coordinator for two White House Conferences on Character Education.