About Dr. Miguel Cardona

Keynote Speaker

Prior to founding Cardona Solutions, Miguel dedicated close to three decades serving the community as a teacher, award-winning school principal, district leader, Commissioner of Education for Connecticut, and U.S. Secretary of Education.

As the 12th U.S. Secretary of Education, Cardona focused on safely reopening and reimagining schools, overhauling higher-education accountability, improving access and affordability, and expanding economic mobility for students across the country.

Cardona has been a featured speaker at UCLA, the University of Texas at Austin, Yale, Harvard, and many other colleges and universities nationwide. He has partnered with the Brookings Institute, Newsweek, and TIME magazine to elevate the importance of public education and highlight the challenges facing students today.

Miguel currently serves on the boards of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute of Policy. He is a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and will join Yale University’s School of Management as a fellow in 2026.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Central Connecticut State University, followed by his master's, professional and executive certifications, and Ed.D. from the University of Connecticut. He has also received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Southern Connecticut State University and Thaddeus Stevens College. His greatest accomplishment, however, is the family he shares with his wife, Marissa, an educator, and their two college-aged children.