Dr. Sonya Anderson
Founder & President, Embark Strategies
Dr. Sonya Anderson is the founder and president of Embark Strategies, a boutique consulting firm that provides thought partnership and technical support to philanthropy and the non-profit sector in their efforts to plan, design, implement, and grow. Sonya has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for more than two decades, working to advance education, employment, and life opportunities for youth throughout the United States and around the world.
Sonya began her career as a high school teacher in her native state of Mississippi as part of the Mississippi Teacher Corps. Following her time in the classroom, she went on to the Ford Foundation where she supported education grantmaking in the US and abroad. During her time at Ford, Sonya worked on a number of grants to advance gender equity in Africa. As a result of those efforts, her interest in international development deepened, and she spent the next ten years supporting education reform and girls’ education and leadership initiatives throughout Africa and the Caribbean. This work culminated with her role as Education Program Director for the Oprah Winfrey Foundations where she led education grantmaking and the development of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
After more than a decade in the international arena, Sonya returned to U.S. education as a strategist and advocate for early childhood development where she worked to advance policies and programs that provide high quality early learning opportunities. Sonya later re-entered philanthropy, supporting local Chicago non-profits across a range of sectors, and then went on to lead communications, marketing, and development efforts for a national K-12 education reform organization.
Most recently, Sonya served as the inaugural Executive Director for Together Rising, a mission-driven grantmaking organization that supports individuals and communities in the US and around the world during moments of crisis. Prior to Together Rising, she served as the President of Thrive-Chicago, a collective impact organization that leverages the power of people, systems, and data to accelerate innovation and opportunity for Chicago youth.
Sonya holds an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Yale University, a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Ghana, and a doctorate in education planning and policy from Harvard University.