Hello! I’m Nik and I’m very excited to be working as a Graduate Fellow with Advance CTE’s Federal Policy team. Since joining in late September, I have been working on updating our CTE In Your State pages and doing research for our joint effort with the Lumina Foundation to learn more about the role Area Technical Centers play in credential attainment. While working with the team I am also pursuing a Master of Arts in Educational Transformation from Georgetown University, with an emphasis on advocacy and policy work. 
My work in the education and youth development spaces began as an undergraduate at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where I volunteered with local afterschool programs, coached youth soccer and worked as a camp counselor. Upon graduating with degrees in Economics and International Affairs, I served as an AmeriCorps Member (ACM) for two years with City Year in Denver, Colorado, providing academic interventions and classroom support during the school day in addition to afterschool programming for elementary and middle schoolers. I continued with City Year for an additional year as an Impact Manager in San Jose, California, focusing on program development and serving as an administrator in the afterschool space while managing ACMs. Following my time with City Year, I served as a Campus Director with Citizen Schools in Oakland, California, providing high-quality afterschool programming to students while continuing to support the ACMs working directly with students. Most recently, I returned home to the D.C. area to serve as an Education Pioneers Impact Fellow with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, where I focused on priorities concerning digital equity and inclusion and connected with state and district-level leaders navigating the remote learning needs brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.  
When not at work, I’m likely to be found engaging with community organizing happening in the D.C. area. In my free time I enjoy playing guitar, watching soccer and cycling. 
Nikhil Arur, Graduate Fellow, Federal Policy