Lennon Audrain

Richard "Lennon" Audrain (Shawnee Tribe/Cherokee Nation) is Head of Innovation and Policy Initiatives for the Next Education Workforce Initiative and a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Division for Advancing Educator Preparation at Arizona State University's (ASU) Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation (MLFC).

In his roles, Lennon leads applied research, policy strategy, and systems-level design efforts to reimagine and redesign how schools recruit, prepare, and organize educators through team-based staffing models. He brings an applied economics perspective—decision-oriented, resource-aware, and grounded in systems thinking—to the challenge of building more coherent, sustainable educator workforce development systems. He previously led an $8.2 million U.S. Department of Education Teacher & School Leader (TSL) grant and continues to work with states, districts, and national organizations on human capital strategy and educator pipeline design.

His research centers on the program elements and policy conditions that enable innovative staffing, including:

• District, state, and federal policy supporting team-based structures and role-specific preparation
• Cross-sector comparisons of workforce development across education, healthcare, and the trades
• Grow-your-own educator pathways, including high school teacher academies, paraeducator pipelines, and registered apprenticeships
• Community college teacher education as a lever for access and sustainability
• The preparation of Native American educators, aligned with tribal sovereignty and Indigenous education goals
• The identity and formation of teacher educators
• The evolving dynamics of the Catholic schools and their teacher workforce

Before entering higher education, Lennon taught Latin, Spanish, English, and CTE in public and private schools across Arizona and Massachusetts, serving as a teacher, department chair, and instructional leader. He is the former national student president of Educators Rising (2017-18) and currently serves as executive board president of the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP).

He holds a PhD in Educational Policy and Evaluation from ASU; graduate degrees in Curriculum & Instruction, Educational Leadership (with principal and superintendent licensure), and an anticipated MS in Economics (University of Arizona, 2027); and an EdM in Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Lennon was the youngest graduate in both his ASU and Harvard master's cohorts.