Emily Sharrock is an advisor and strategist with more than 20 years of leadership experience across education, philanthropy, government, and nonprofit sectors. As Founder and Principal of Sharrock Strategy Group, Emily partners with philanthropic foundations and mission-driven nonprofits to design and implement strategies that lead to lasting social impact—offering expertise in strategic planning, program and initiative design, grantmaking strategy, partnership development, and leadership support.  She is especially passionate about helping sharpen vision and maximize impact—whether by identifying high-leverage investments, launching new initiatives, or strengthening systems that support children and families.

Emily brings a funder’s lens to her consulting, shaped by her early experience as Interim Vice President and Program Officer at United Way of New York City, where she managed investments in education and economic mobility, advised on nonprofit strategy and implementation, and played a lead role in strengthening public-private partnerships to drive change in historically under-resourced communities. Her work focused on aligning philanthropic resources with citywide priorities and ensuring that investments were grounded in community voice, evidence, and systems-level thinking.

Emily’s consulting and advisory work draws on a unique blend of systems knowledge, practical implementation expertise, and the ability to translate bold ideas into fundable, actionable plans. Throughout her career, she has advised on the design, launch and scale of new initiatives, supported multi-stakeholder coalitions to build shared agendas, and helped clients evaluate and refine their impact through coaching, facilitation, and strategy development.

Before launching her consulting practice, Emily served as Associate Vice President for Policy at Bank Street College of Education, where she led the Education Center’s public policy strategy and expanded the organization’s influence in early childhood and K–12 systems. She spearheaded the launch of Learning Starts at Birth, a national early childhood policy fellowship for system leaders, and co-designed the Action Research Fellowship for leaders of apprenticeship programs. Her work combined thought leadership, program development, and successful fundraising—securing over $6 million in philanthropic support within her first 18 months. She also led the publication of several research and policy briefs, including “Coaching: How a Focus on Adult Development Leads to Improvements in Student Learning”, “A Snapshot of ECE Apprenticeship Programs”, and “Investing in the Birth-to-Three Workforce.”

As AVP, Emily also initiated and launched new programs across the college—from graduate degrees to customized professional learning services for school systems—expanding Bank Street’s reach and advancing equity-centered approaches to teaching and learning. She served as a strategic advisor to national philanthropic collaboratives such as the Ideal Learning Roundtable, and worked with funders and grantees in places like New Haven, CT, to design collective impact strategies for early childhood.

Previous to that, Emily spent a decade at the New York City Department of Education, where she held multiple leadership roles under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, helping to design and implement systemic reforms. As a Network Leader, she founded and led a citywide network of 26 schools, providing integrated support to principals and school teams. She also led leadership development programs for school leaders, rolled out a citywide teacher effectiveness initiative across 300 schools, and supported the creation of the district’s first Autonomy Zone. Her work consistently bridged strategy and implementation, with a focus on building capacity in systems and people.

Emily’s background also includes leadership roles in curriculum and instruction at Expeditionary Learning Schools, and strategic planning, operations, and business development at Bank Street’s Education Center as Deputy Executive Director of Strategy & Systems. Early in her career she worked in juvenile justice, foster care, welfare-to-work and served as a fellow at several city agencies including the Department of Homeless Services and the Office of Management and Budget.

In addition to her professional work, Emily currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Pelham Art Center, where she chairs the Development Committee and sits on the Executive, Nominating, and Hiring Committees. Her volunteer and board work reflect her belief in the power of arts, education, and civic engagement to strengthen communities.

Emily holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she was awarded the Harvey Picker Prize for Public Service, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Wesleyan University. 

She is passionate about building cross-sector partnerships, supporting visionary leaders, and helping philanthropists and nonprofits turn good ideas into powerful results for children, families, and communities.

Erin Arango-Escalante brings over two decades of experience leading cross-sector efforts to advance equity in early care and education, special education, and multilingual education. A 2022 Ascend Fellow at The Aspen Institute, Erin has worked at local, state, and national levels to co-design whole-family, community-informed solutions with families, educators, and leaders. She previously served as Administrator of the Division of Early Care and Education at the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, where she oversaw statewide ECE systems and funding. Erin lives with her family on a hobby farm in Wisconsin, where they offer nature-based, multigenerational programming rooted in community connection. All Children Thrive and Sharrock Strategy Group partner on key initiatives where their missions and values align to advance equity and systems change in early childhood.