Melika Jalili MPH

Program Manager, The Center for Research on Expanding Educational Opportunity (CREEO), UC Berkeley

Melika Jalili holds a Master of Public Health from UC Berkeley, where she honed her passion for interdisciplinary, innovative, and community-driven solutions. Her mission is to dismantle systemic barriers and to collectively engage and implement programs to drive transformative social change, championing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging alongside anti-racist principles.

As a first-generation graduate and BIPOC woman, Melika brings a unique perspective, drawing from her personal and professional journey to amplify and center community voices and foster meaningful connections. Grounded in equity, she advocates for health, racial, and educational justice, seeking roles that empower marginalized communities and cultivate spaces of belonging.

Authored Blog Posts

Title	Authored on
Teacher Appreciation: The Center for Research on Expanding Educational Opportunity (CREEO) Connects Equity and Justice to Education Policy and Practice	May 08, 2024

Recent Blog Posts

Publications

The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems (Sixth Edition)
A national evaluation of the K-12 school finance systems of all 50 states and D.C., published by researchers from the Albert Shanker Institute, University of Miami, and Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
Reading Reform Across America: A Survey of State Legislation
This report authored by Susan B. Neuman (New York University), Esther Quintero (Albert Shanker Institute), and Kayla Reist (University of Virginia), examines reading-related state legislation enacted between 2019 and 2022.
The Source Code: Revenue Composition and the Adequacy, Equity, and Stability of K-12 School Spending
A national analysis of the relationship between K-12 revenue composition—that is, the percentage of funding that comes from state versus local sources—and the adequacy, equity, and stability of school spending.

Blog Archives

Our Mission

The Albert Shanker Institute, endowed by the American Federation of Teachers and named in honor of its late president, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to three themes - excellence in public education, unions as advocates for quality, and freedom of association in the public life of democracies. With an independent Board of Directors (composed of educators, business representatives, labor leaders, academics, and public policy analysts), its mission is to generate ideas, foster candid exchanges, and promote constructive policy proposals related to these issues.

This blog offers informal commentary on the research, news, and controversies related to the work of the Institute.