Saskia Levy Thompson is a program director within the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Education program, where she manages the New Designs to Advance Learning portfolio. Saskia oversees $18M in annual grantmaking aimed at promoting new models for learning that equip students with the knowledge, experiences, and relationships essential to future success.

For the last twenty years, Saskia has worked at the intersection of education practice, policy, research, and now philanthropy.  She was a leader at the NYC Department of Education, including an appointment as Deputy Chancellor for Portfolio Planning; served as Executive Director of the Urban Assembly, a nonprofit network of college and career-preparatory high schools expanding opportunity in historically disenfranchised communities; and held senior roles at both the Research Alliance for NYC Schools and MDRC, the preeminent national think tank focused on building knowledge to improve social policy.

Saskia holds a BA in Political Science from NYU and worked in Buenos Aires, Argentina prior to beginning her career in education. She sits on the boards of several youth-serving organizations, including East Harlem Scholars Academies, the East Harlem Tutorial Program, and the Teagle Foundation, and also volunteers in her community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. In 2021-22, Saskia chaired the Education Transition Committee for New York City’s Mayor, Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor, David Banks. She recently served on the Mayor's Task Force on the Future of Workers and on the 2023 XPRIZE Brain Trust for Learning & Society. She has been appointed three times to the Visiting Committee for the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a frequent speaker and contributor on the topics of reimagining the student learning experience and making change within complex systems.