Alan Richard

Director of Communications

Alan Richard is the director of communications for the Southern Education Foundation. A veteran education writer, he contributes to SEF’s mission by fostering public discourse on important education issues and highlighting SEF’s influential research, policy, and leadership programs. As a journalist, he covered the South and rural America for Education Week. His work also has been published by The Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, The Nation and many others. He was awarded national first prizes by the Education Writers Association for his coverage of school inequality in the South and rural communities. Alan joined SEF after serving as the Southern Regional Education Board’s (SREB) media relations officer. Earlier in his career, he had served as SREB’s director of communications. He also has worked with many education organizations as an independent consultant and at Hager Sharp, a public relations firm in Washington, DC. A national board member for Parents for Public Schools and the Rural School and Community Trust, he began his career as a reporter for newspapers in his native South Carolina. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina.