Independence Charter School

Eli Lesser joined the Board of Trustees in June 2009 and is currently serving as the chair of the Policy Committee. Eli is the Director of Academic Summer Sessions at the University of Pennsylvania, administering academic courses for high school, undergraduate and graduate students at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. Eli is also an instructor at the Graduate School of Education, where he teaches Advanced Social Studies Teaching Methods courses. Prior to his appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, Eli was the Director of Education at the National Constitution Center, where he was responsible for leading workshops for teachers and curriculum development. He was also the State Director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Representative Democracy (PennCORD). Eli has worked on a variety of civic learning programs for the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and spent six years as a middle and high school social studies teacher in both public and independent schools in Virginia, Delaware and New York. He is the author of several publications, and has made numerous presentations on civic learning. Eli holds a masters degree in social studies education from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and received his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Delaware. He lives with his wife and son.