WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 20, 2025) — Education Design Lab (the Lab), a national nonprofit missioned to improve career and economic outcomes for New Majority Learner-Earners, has announced Dr. Lisa Larson as its next CEO.
“As a two-time community college president and leader of our fastest growing area of work in her four years at the Lab, Lisa has proven to be both a hands-on leader of cutting-edge design work and a seasoned talent scout and manager of people, fluent in working across silos and constituencies in higher education and workforce,” said Kathleen deLaski, the Lab’s founder and board chair. “Organizations always breathe a sigh of relief when they can promote an internal candidate to a CEO role. We don’t need to skip a beat as we help our partners through what is the most challenging time higher ed has seen in decades.”
The Board of Directors unanimously elected Larson on May 15, after appointing her as interim CEO in February 2025. Before her interim appointment, Larson served as Senior Vice President for College Transformation, overseeing the Lab’s largest portfolios of work aimed at scaling micro-pathways across the learn+work system through the Community College Growth Engine. She is a nationally recognized leader on community college and economic mobility pathways innovation.
“I’m deeply honored to lead the Lab into its next era as we navigate an increasingly complex and fast-moving world that requires a collaborative approach to intentionally redesigning how we learn and work,” said Larson. “I see the Lab as a vehicle that can accelerate the scale of high-quality, skills-based pathways; unlock the power of community colleges as talent hubs aligned to the future of work; and lead the design of state and regional talent systems that lead to more and better opportunities for people and communities while meeting the needs of a rapidly changing labor market.”
Prior to joining the Lab, Larson served as the president of Eastern Maine Community College focused on providing high-quality career, technical, and transfer education as well as helping to drive economic and community development for the region. Lisa has also served in leadership roles in the Minnesota state system, including interim president of North Hennepin Community College. She brings nearly three decades of experience leading teams in complex environments to realize greater systemic change that improves the lives of the individuals for whom college was not designed that the Lab calls “New Majority Learner-Earners.”
About Education Design Lab
Education Design Lab (the Lab) is a national nonprofit and intermediary with a mission to co-design an inclusive, skills-based learn+work system that facilitates upward economic mobility and closes opportunity gaps for the New Majority Learner-Earner. Our facilitated design process helps employer and education stakeholder groups co-design and launch scalable, skills-based, education-to-work pathways that align talent supply and demand.
