Chief Executive Officer
Women Leading ED
Matthews, North Carolina
Dr. Julia Rafal-Baer is a nationally recognized education leader, founder, and board member with a record of creating and scaling organizations that strengthen leadership and deliver results for students. She is the co-founder and CEO of ILO Group, founder and CEO of
Women Leading Ed, and co-founder and Partner of The Forum for Educational Leadership. Julia advises state and district superintendents nationwide and has directly coached more than 175 leaders into superintendent and state commissioner roles. Her work reaches systems that collectively serve half of the students in the United States.
Appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education, Julia is serving her second term on the National Assessment Governing Board. She has testified before Congress and is a frequent voice in national forums, most recently on artificial intelligence in education.
Through ILO Group, she launched AiLO, a division helping education leaders adopt AI responsibly and while safeguarding privacy, security, and trust. AiLO has published frameworks, developed the AiLO GPT-Coach, and convened national experts to guide responsible use with a focus on research, cybersecurity, and risk mitigation.
Previously, Julia served as Chief Operating Officer at Chiefs for Change, where she raised more than $100 million. Earlier, she was Assistant Commissioner at the New York State Education Department under Dr. John B. King, Jr., managing more than $150 million in statewide teacher and leader initiatives. She began her career as a special education teacher in the Bronx and earned her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar.
Disclosure information not submitted.
Closing Keynote: AI in K-12: Lead the Future
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM CT