Aida Ali Akreyi is a research and data strategy expert with over a decade of experience in federal data collection, institutional research, and education policy. Most recently, she served as Statistician and IPEDS Operations Lead at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, where she directed national postsecondary data collection, compliance, and reporting initiatives, ensuring data integrity, accessibility, and usability. Aida brings deep expertise in leading large-scale research projects, developing performance metrics, and translating complex data into actionable insights for policymakers, institutional leaders, and the public. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy from the University of California, Riverside, and is passionate about using data to inform systems change and expand opportunity.