Full Name
Miguel Cardona
Job Title
12th US Secretary of Education
Company
Cardona Solutions
Speaker Bio
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 US Secretary of Education.
As the 12th US Secretary of Education, Cardona focused on safely reopening and reimagining schools, overhauling higher education accountability, improving access and affordability to higher education, and providing upward economic mobility to more students across the country.
Cardona has been a featured speaker at UCLA, University of Texas, Austin, Yale, Harvard, and many other colleges and universities of all sizes across the country. He has partnered with the Brookings Institute, Newsweek, and TIME magazine to chronicle the importance of public education and bring much needed attention to the challenges facing our students at this critical time.
Miguel currently serves on the boards of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute of Policy. He served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2025 and will be a fellow in the School of Management at Yale University 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. Miguel was also awarded two Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Southern CT State University and Thaddeus Stevens College in PA. Yet, his greatest accomplishment is the family he built with his wife, Marissa, an educator, and their two college-aged children.
As the 12th US Secretary of Education, Cardona focused on safely reopening and reimagining schools, overhauling higher education accountability, improving access and affordability to higher education, and providing upward economic mobility to more students across the country.
Cardona has been a featured speaker at UCLA, University of Texas, Austin, Yale, Harvard, and many other colleges and universities of all sizes across the country. He has partnered with the Brookings Institute, Newsweek, and TIME magazine to chronicle the importance of public education and bring much needed attention to the challenges facing our students at this critical time.
Miguel currently serves on the boards of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and the USC Schwarzenegger Institute of Policy. He served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 2025 and will be a fellow in the School of Management at Yale University 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. Miguel was also awarded two Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Southern CT State University and Thaddeus Stevens College in PA. Yet, his greatest accomplishment is the family he built with his wife, Marissa, an educator, and their two college-aged children.
Speaking At
