Dr. Leiah Groom-Thomas is the Director of Education for Final Third Foundation (F3). She oversees all aspects of F3’s Wellness and Education programming. Leiah’s expertise includes facilitating students’ reading development and scaling interventions to equalize access to quality education. She is a researcher and partnerships manager at Stanford University, where her work focuses on transforming schools by leveraging research to improve educational decision-making. Most importantly, Leiah shares F3’s goal of providing meaningful learning experiences for all P12 students in the community.
 
Leiah holds a Ph.D. in Education, a M.A in Reading and Literacy in Early and Middle Childhood, and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and Development from The Ohio State University. Her background as a practitioner informs her work and scholarly interests. Leiah has worked with numerous school districts and administrators across the country for the last 15 years.
 
Prior to Stanford, Leiah was at the Annenberg Institute at Brown University and the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at Ohio State. Prior to Ohio State, Leiah was an elementary teacher at Grace Christian School in Blacklick, Ohio. Leiah currently lives in Dublin with her husband, Jonathan, and their two daughters, Nova and Hazel.