Afton Partners

Beza Bulega is a Director in Afton’s early childhood practice with over a decade of experience in the education sector. With a primary focus on early learning, Beza is dedicated to driving large-scale system and policy changes that promote equitable access and opportunities for all children.

In her previous role at Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington, Beza made notable contributions to various initiatives. This included working with national partners, state agency leads, researchers, and advocates, to support a multi-state effort to implement and expand universal pre-K. The lessons from this work resulted in a set of practical tools and resources for states to use to design and evaluate sustainable policies and practices for universal pre-K. Prior to this, Beza led a multi-year research and stakeholder engagement that informed the redesign of Washington state’s quality rating and improvement system, incorporating a comprehensive birth to 12 systems approach. Beza has also worked at the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) to enhance program quality and effective leadership practices in Early Head Start and Head Start through development of resources and professional development opportunities.

Beza holds a Master’s degree in education policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French, all from the University of Washington.