Cohen, C’93, W’93

Teachers have shaped Samara Cohen’s life in profound ways. Educators run in her family: both her sister and aunt are teachers. An “incredible” high school calculus teacher nurtured her love of math. And a Tufts economics professor introduced her to the discipline that put her on her path to a career in finance.

“I think a constant thread in my life has been the transformative power of great teachers,” said Cohen, who transferred to Penn her sophomore year and graduated with a dual degree in theater and economics from the College and Wharton. “When students ask me what they should study in college, I always tell them to find the best teachers first.”

That’s why Cohen, a senior managing director at BlackRock, wanted to join Penn GSE’s board of advisors, which she did earlier this year—to offer her leadership expertise in service of a School that educates the next generation of educators.

“I hope to be a part of progressing the mission of GSE,” she said. “Progress and purpose are my dual mantras, and GSE very much has a story of creating a culture [of both].”

In order to encourage that progress and purpose, Cohen recently made a gift that serves three key areas of Penn GSE—financial aid, the new McGraw Center for Educational Leadership, and the Penn GSE Annual Fund—as well as contributes to the fund celebrating Pam Grossman’s deanship with an endowed scholarship and a named classroom in the School’s newly expanded building.

“I wanted the support to be broad and impactful,” said Cohen. “I felt a real connection with Pam when I met her, so I wanted to celebrate her and her leadership and deanship. I also [wanted to] make the biggest difference. I have two teen kids. . . and the teaching of teens feels very personal to me. My kids were super lucky to have access to excellent educators, but the most scaled way I could bring that to other children was by supporting other people who wanted to become educators.”

Though obvious lines can be drawn from her Wharton classrooms to her work as chief investment officer of the exchange-traded funds (ETF) and index investments at BlackRock, she is quick to emphasize how much her liberal arts education in theater serves her as well.

“So many of those lessons that I learned in theater apply to leadership in many ways,” she said. “I talk to people about how casting is 95 percent of directing, and now I apply that to putting the right person in the right job, which is a lot of what I do running the business that I run.”

In fact, it was the parallels that she drew between the trading floor and the stage that led her to her career in the first place.

“Working in the markets calls on a lot of the things I loved about theater,” she said. “Being on a trading floor is like production week of a show. You have to multitask, but it’s very collaborative, very high energy. It’s an environment that I thrive in. As soon as I walked onto the trading floor. . . I felt like I belonged. There were so few women at the time, but it didn’t bother me at all because the energy, the feeling of it, was comfortable to me.”

Cohen also used her performing arts experience as the guest host of BlackRock’s investment podcast The Bid for a four-part miniseries during Women’s History Month in March. One episode was devoted to a conversation on “the power of purpose” with Penn GSE faculty member Annie McKee.

Cohen was introduced to McKee during a meeting at the School, after which she immediately bought McKee's book, How to Be Happy at Work: The Power of Purpose, Hope, and Friendship (Harvard Business Review Press, 2017). It was an inspiration.

“I’ve always known and felt the importance of purpose in work,” said Cohen. “But the importance of hope— especially coming off a year like the last one—and friendships really resonated with me. That sense of optimism about being able to better the world is really important in being able to face every day. We need to believe that how we choose to spend that day can make a difference.”

Cohen is now looking forward to expanding her purpose and making a difference at Penn GSE.

“I hope to be a lifelong learner,” she said, “and I’m excited to learn more about what GSE does and to contribute to its culture of continuous learning.” ■

has never been more important than today. I look forward to working together with our partners in Philadelphia, nationally, and around the world in service of GSE’s mission to expand educational access, especially for those underserved by society.”

Strunk has collaborated extensively with district and state policymakers, including working with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California and Michigan Departments of Education, to help decision-makers formulate, design, and revise policy. As part of her work with EPIC, Strunk served as the only researcher on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Student Recovery Advisory Council, which informed COVID-19 recovery efforts in schools statewide. She has also advised on numerous major school funding and governance reforms.

Her work has been supported by state and federal contracts and grants as well as by philanthropic partners. She has raised more than $21 million in extramural funding over the course of her career. Her research has been published in leading peerreviewed journals as well as through numerous policy reports written in service of improving policy and practice. She is a Challenging the One Best System (Harvard Education Press, 2020), which offers a comparative analysis of the set of urban education governance reforms collectively known as the labor markets, school and district improvement and accountability policies, and efforts to boost student achievement.

Strunk’s work focuses on the ways that policies and programs impact the most traditionally underserved communities.

“Katharine Strunk’s career has been built around the concept of ‘research with consequence.’” said President Liz Magill. “She has a long and distinguished track record and an exciting vision for the role of educators and education schools in research universities and society. Her mission-driven leadership is an ideal match for Penn’s Graduate School of Education. Penn, GSE, and Philadelphia are extremely fortunate to have her.”

Strunk is the past president of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP). Prior to joining Michigan State, she served from 2009 to 2017 on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education and Sol Price School of Public Policy. She began her career at the University of California at Davis School of Education from 2007 to 2009.

Strunk is nationally renowned for her partner-driven research and leadership, which has brought multi-method, collaborative scholarship to bear on pressing questions facing education and educators across the lifespan.

“I could not be more excited about this opportunity to work with the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of Penn’s Graduate School of Education,” said Strunk. “Penn GSE is known as a leader for its collaborative and evidence-based efforts to improve policy and practice. This approach and commitment to real-world impact

“Underlying all of Katharine’s work is a deeply and sincerely held commitment to equity,” said Provost-designate John L. Jackson Jr., the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication who chaired the Consultative Committee for the search. “From her successful partnerships with L.A. Unified and the state of Michigan to her advocacy for evidence-based policies and practices at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Katharine has long been a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all forms.”

DEI is also at the center of Strunk’s leadership and service. As president of AEFP, she established the organization’s first standing board of directors committee dedicated to these values. She and her leadership team developed programming to support AEFP’s members of color as well as those who are firstgeneration college students and researchers, who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and who are from and conduct research in international contexts. She has a long and successful track record of enhancing diversity in faculty hiring and retention.

Strunk received her PhD in educational administration and policy analysis and her MA in economics from Stanford University, and her BA in public policy from Princeton University. She will be joined in Philadelphia by her husband, Ryan, and their 11-year-old twin sons. ■