Daniel J. Losen

Daniel J. Losen is the Senior Director for the Education team at the National Center for Youth Law and contributes to the organization's efforts in the area of education on behalf of all students, especially children of color and others that have historically been discriminated against. Dan's work includes promoting resource equity, the Honest Education campaign, and fighting against the school-to-prison pipeline at the national state and local levels. Dan oversees staffing for the Education Civil Rights Alliance, a National Center for Youth Law initiative that conducts research relevant to civil rights concerns, and engages in direct advocacy for systemic education reforms at the national, state, and local levels.

Dan came to the National Center for Youth Law with over 23 years of experience as a civil rights lawyer and education researcher as the Director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA's Civil Rights Project. Dan is the author of several books and award winning reports addressing the racially disparate impact of education policies regarding: special education; school discipline; and accountability for graduation rates of students of color. Regarded as a national expert on these topics, Dan has also testified about racial inequities in education before the United Nations, the U.S. Congress, the National Academies of Science, and the U.S. Commission on Civil and Human Rights. As a consultant, Dan has provided technical assistance to numerous states and school districts. Dan has also served as an adjunct professor at Harvard Law School, and was a public school teacher for 10 years before entering law school.

When Dan is not working, he can be found playing his sax at a local bar, photographing owls at dusk, or surfcasting for stripers by the light of the moon til dawn.