Name: Andrew MacMannis 

Hometown: Warwick, Rhode Island

Program: Urban Education Policy 

Education: BA, Providence College

Current Position: Chief of External Affairs, Rhode Island Education Collective

What was the most memorable or impactful part of your experience in the UEP program?

We often talk about how small Rhode Island can feel: Smallest of the fifty states, two degrees of separation between everyone. What I learned during my time in the UEP program was that that is the case sometimes, but also the state is also filled with experts and brilliant minds that I otherwise would not have known if the UEP program hadn’t been my initial push into a deeper Rhode Island, beyond the bubble I knew. The state is so much bigger than I could have ever imagined.

Specifically, through an internship with the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance (which is now the Rhode Island Afterschool Network), I was exposed to programs across the state– urban core, urban ring, South County– and I met several people who I still interact with over fifteen years later.

Can you share a specific moment, project, or lesson from the program that has stuck with you?

I was the very youngest member of my cohort, having entered the UEP program directly out of my undergrad program. With that, initial feelings that perhaps I did not yet belong came into play. However, this quickly subsided when I met with Dr. Kenneth Wong for the first time in a one-on-one setting. In that meeting, he trusted me to take the lead on qualitative research in Brockton Public Schools. This was an incredible confidence boost, and the research I did looking at their 21st Century Community Learning Centers is something I am still very proud of.

What have you been doing professionally since graduating?

After graduating, I joined up with UEP ‘09 graduate Elizabeth Richards-Hegnauer and became a member of the founding team at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts, an arts-integrated charter public school in Providence. I worked there for eleven years over several different positions, concluding with a stint as the Assistant Head of School. While there, the school grew from a founding class of 34 students, to full capacity of 220 students. I also helped the school move buildings (several times actually), and earn the national designation as an XQ Super School. After TAPA, I worked for three years with the Rhode Island Department of Education, where I helped lead agency work on charter schools, the EnrollRI system, and coordination with state schools.

I now serve as the Chief of External Affairs for the Rhode Island Education Collective (a 501c3), as well as their 501c4 wing, Collective Action for Education. Through both organizations, I work with external partners and engage in advocacy and lobbying efforts with the goal of ensuring that every Rhode Island child can go to a great public school. Additionally, I facilitate a program through Collective Action for Education called EduChamps, a cohort-based leadership initiative that examines the cross-section between education and politics.

Which skills or lessons from the UEP program have been most valuable to you in your career so far, and how have you applied them?

Having policy analysis and data skills in the back pocket are definitely helpful, but the most valuable and most used skill has been the ability to network and make connections between the various organizations that build the Rhode Island education systems. This started with UEP: seeing how Annenberg, RIDE,  non-profits, and advocacy groups all interact through our internships and summer field placements. That’s why I always encourage every current UEP student I meet to put themselves out there and introduce themselves to everyone in the rooms they enter 

What changes have you seen in the field of education since you graduated, and how do you think the UEP program prepared you to adapt?

The education landscape has shifted significantly in the 15+ years since I graduated. When I entered the program, it was the early phase of Barack Obama’s first term, and policy conversations were shaped by Race to the Top, a push for high-quality academic standards, and a surge in charter school growth, particularly in Rhode Island, where mayoral academies were gaining traction. Since then, and especially in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the energy around change and education reform has evolved into something more complex, at times more contentious and undeniably more polarized.

The UEP program prepared me to be a change agent, ready to engage deeply in advancing what’s best for students and families, while also developing the ability to adapt, interpret emerging research, and respond thoughtfully as the field continues to evolve.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone considering applying to the program today?

If you look at today’s education landscape and feel, deep down, that it can be better for children, then this program is worth pursuing. Don’t be intimidated by the policy, the data, or the people in the room– UEP will give you the tools to navigate all of it. More importantly, it will help you turn that instinct to do good into informed action, so you can contribute to meaningful change for students and families.