Dean Drescher was born and raised in Raleigh and graduated from Oberlin Middle School and Broughton High School. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in journalism and religious studies. While in college, Dean was a reporter for The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s student newspaper, and was elected senior class president.
After graduating, Dean spent four years in New Orleans teaching first grade as a Teach For America corps member. From there, she was the policy director at EdVoice, a nonprofit in Sacramento dedicated to increasing K-12 student achievement in California. Dean served as the director of special projects for the most expensive Senate race in United States history and then was the director of operations and director of special initiatives at EducationNC.
Dean received her master’s degree in education policy from Harvard. She is a proud resident of southwest Raleigh and regular patron of the State Farmers Market. She lives with her partner, Jessica, and their rescue pets, Willam (cat) and Cocoa (dog).
