Hanna Skandera is a Board Member of the State K-12 Education Chiefs at RIDGE-LANE LP.

Ms. Skandera served as Secretary of Education for the State of New Mexico under Governor Susana Martinez. She realized record-breaking outcomes, including graduation rates reaching an all-time high, AP course enrollment more than doubling, a one-third increase in the number of high-achieving schools and the dramatic reduction of college remediation rates.

Previously, she was Under Secretary of Education for the State of California, serving Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of Florida under Governor Jeb Bush, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor for U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

She serves as the Vice Chair of the Colorado Community College System, Editor-in-Chief of The Line, founder of Pathway 2 Tomorrow, Chief in Residence with Chiefs for Change and a member of the Board of Directors for Academic Partnerships, Newsela, Daniels Fund, and Code.org.

Ms. Skandera was a Fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a Pahara-Aspen Institute. She graduated cum laude with a degree in business from Sonoma State University and graduated Valedictorian from Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Public Policy, where she is now a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor of Education Policy and Impact.