Nitika Tolani, PhD
Managing Director of Learning and Engagement
Nitika Tolani (she/her) is a Washington, DC–based education systems leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing equity-centered teaching and learning. Her expertise includes scaling evidence-based models, strengthening measurement and learning systems, and driving cross-sector partnerships that improve outcomes for historically marginalized learners. She most recently served as Senior Education Advisor in USAID’s Asia Bureau, where she directed a $50M regional portfolio and led a consortia with U.S. and Asia-based partners across 15 countries.
Previously, Nitika was a Strategic Scaling Advisor to the MacArthur Foundation’s 100&Change finalists and has held leadership roles at MSI, Save the Children, and the American Institutes for Research, where she led education program design, implementation, and evaluation across diverse contexts including crisis and conflict settings. Nitika also serves as a Board Trustee for a Tier 1 DC public charter school, where she has helped steward strategy, executive leadership transitions, and equity-focused governance. She holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and an M.A. in Applied Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, as well as dual bachelor’s degrees in English and Psychology from Santa Clara University.
Across my work in the United States and globally, I’ve learned that scaling what works is not just about strong ideas. It requires learning together in real time. RPPL is building a rare kind of space where researchers and practitioners can refine professional learning together, grounded in evidence and responsive to real classrooms. This is how we shift the field: not by asking educators to carry more, but by building systems that nimbly adapt to the lived experiences of students and educators
Nitika tolani, PHD
Managing director of learning and engagement