Dana Brinson

Senior Director of Strategic Programs

SparkNC

Dana Brinson is the Vice President of Strategy at SparkNC, leads strategic visioning and alignment as well as communications, evaluation, development and technology for the organization. She also collaborates with the program team and external partners to strengthen programs and learner outcomes. Dana has spent her career in service of equity, innovation and transformation in K-12 public education. Dana has more than two decades of experience as a special educator, consultant, international grantmaker, facilitator, and nonprofit board leader. She is driven by a vision of learning that is experiential, inclusive, caring and learner-centered. Prior to joining SparkNC, Dana founded Consulting Betwixt and served as a transition coach, consultant and guide for nonprofit leaders and others moving through significant periods of change. Before Betwixt, Dana was a program officer at Oak Foundation’s Learning Differences Program where she managed a $20+ million grant portfolio that fostered the success of students with learning differences through tech development, research, educator capacity building, and youth leadership. She began her education career as a special educator in a public day school in Boston. Dana holds a master’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, bachelor’s degrees, with highest honors, in psychology and history from West Virginia University, and a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University.