Julia Drake

Dr. Julia DiSalvo Drake is a passionate educator and elementary school leader. She is currently completing her 15th year as a principal with experiences in both an urban school in NYC, and a suburban school in Westchester County, New York. Prior to her leadership roles, Julia was selected as a Teaching Fellow for Special Education in NYC and a Reading First Coach, and was subsequently selected to join the NYC Leadership Academy.

Dr. Drake earned her MS in Elementary Education from Mercy College, her Advanced Certificate from Baruch College and her Ed.D. from Manhattanville College where her dissertation entitled, Female Superintendents’ Perceptions of Unconscious Gender Bias in the Superintendency: An Exploratory Quantitative Study received the 2021-2022 Distinguished Dissertation Research Award. In addition to this significant academic achievement, Dr. Drake completed the Educational Policy Fellowship Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Drake has published in SAANYS Vanguard Magazine, and the AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice.

Julia has served as an adjunct professor for Bank Street’s Future School Leader Academy, and was an invited keynote speaker at the NYS Council of School Superintendent's Women's Initiative in the Spring of 2022. Currently she is one of six representatives from New York State invited to join the Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program (AEPLP) through Columbia University’s Teachers College. AEPLP is a consortium of six state Education Policy Fellowship Programs: Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania & New York.