Mary Filardo

Mary Filardo, Executive Director, founded 21CSF in 1994 to provide the District of Columbia and other urban communities with leadership, innovative financing solutions, research, and public policy analysis of school facility issues. She is a leading national authority on school facility planning, management and public private development. She has helped plan innovative projects in Washington, DC — J.F. Oyster Elementary School public private partnership (2001), Thurgood Marhsall Academy Public Charter School campus development (2005), School Without Walls high school university and public partnership (2008), and Savoy Elementary School (2008) and Savoy and Thurgood Marshall Academy Sports and Learning Center (2009).

She has written extensively on public school facility issues and developed software to support long-range facilities master planning. In 1994 she advocated for and then led the first city-wide educational facilities planning process in Washington, DC in nearly 30 years, leading to the Preliminary Educational Facilities Plan in 1995, which laid the foundation for regular educational facility master planning in the District of Columbia and more than $2 billion spent to improve and build DCPS and public charter school facilities.

In 2001 Mary founded the Building Educational Success Together (BEST) collaborative—a learning community of urban education reform organizations dedicated to building the public will and capacity to improve urban school facilities so they support high quality education and community health. She received a BA in philosophy and mathematics from St. John's College, and a MA in Public Policy and Finance at the University of Maryland, she is a 1979 Truman Scholar from the District of Columbia.

Key Publications:

• Vincent, Jeff, Mary Filardo and Ping Sung (2008) Linking School Construction Investments to Equity, Smart Growth and Healthy Communities. Paper presented at the 2008 Florida Critical Issues Symposium on School Siting and Healthy Communities.
• Vincent, Jeff and Mary Filardo (2007) School Construction and Renovation Spending: Who's Benefiting? CEFPI Educational Facility Planner. 42:1, 26-30.
• Filardo, Mary and Jeff Vincent (2006) Growth and Disparity: A Decade of US Public School Construction. 21st Century School Fund.
• Filardo, Mary. (2006) Model Policies in Support of High Performance School Buildings for All Children. 21st Century School Fund.
• Rivlin, Alice; Carol O'Clearicain and Mary Filardo (2004) Program Coordination and Facilities Planning Best Practices in the DC Public Schools. Brookings Institution Greater Washington Research Program.
• Filardo, Mary (2003) Facilities Information Management: A Guide for State & Local Education Agencies. National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education.
• Filardo, Mary and Jeff Edmunds. (2003) Citizens Oversight of Public School Construction Programs. 21st Century School Fund
• Filardo, Mary. (2002 & 2003) Facilities Construction Best Practice Reviews for Miami Dade, Sarasota, and Volusia County Public Schools. Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
• Filardo, Mary and Patrician A. Bryant (2002) For Generations To Come: A Leadership Guide to Renewing Public School Buildings. 21st Century School Fund.
• Filardo, Mary, Jordan Spooner and Cathy Reilly (2002) Myth and Reality: A Study of Excess Space and Capacity in the District of Columbia's Public High Schools. 21st Century School Fund
• Filardo, Mary and Jason Franklin (2002) Replace or Modernize?: The Future of the District of Columbia's Endangered Old and Historic Public Schools. 21st Century School Fund
• Filardo, Mary (2000) Successful Management of Public School Capital Improvement Programs. School Business Affairs; v66 n12, p4-10
• Filardo, Mary (1999) Public School Capital Improvement Programs Basic Elements and Best Practices: Guidance for the District of Columbia for the World Bank Group; 21st Century School Fund and Scientex Corporation.