Wendy Shenk-Evans

As a veteran Montessori school administrator and Montessori parent, Wendy has seen the transformational impact that a Montessori education can have in the lives of children. Her passion for making this invaluable educational approach accessible and available to more children inspires her public policy work with the Montessori Public Policy Initiative (MPPI).

While serving as a head of school in Washington, DC, Wendy successfully advocated for policy changes to help Montessori programs in the District flourish. She soon became involved in national advocacy efforts and now, as MPPI’s Executive Director, she supports state level advocates, collaborates with leaders across the Montessori community, advocates and builds coalitions with other national education organizations, and offers trainings and workshops both domestically and internationally to prepare Montessori educators to be effective advocates. Her participation in both the Montessori Leaders Collaborative and the Ideal Learning Roundtable have fostered relationships so critical to the efficacy of collaborative advocacy efforts to advance Ideal Learning.

Her work to expand and increase access to Montessori education involves advocating for teacher licensure, interfacing with state QRIS and child-care regulatory agencies, advancing Montessori partnerships with state universal pre-K systems and educating state level advocates about the intersection of racial equity and policy development.