Former Baltimore schools CEO snags top job at DC’s Council on Foreign Relations

Sonja Brookins Santelises is leaving Baltimore for the nation’s capital to promote “civil discourse and respectful dialogue” amid a “fraught political moment.”

The recently departed CEO of Baltimore’s public schools will start on Sept. 8 at the Council on Foreign Relations, a 100-year-old nonpartisan think tank “dedicated to informing the public about the foreign policy choices facing the United States and the world.” Orioles owner David Rubenstein is chairman of the organization’s board of directors, a position David Rockefeller once held.

Santelises led the Baltimore school system for 10 years, becoming its longest-serving superintendent in decades. She’s going from one top job to another as vice president, senior fellow and director of the think tank’s Richard Haass Center for Education, established in June 2025. The center creates and distributes educational resources for classrooms across the country, according to a news release.

Santelises said the new gig builds on her experience working with teachers, which has shown her that “there’s no better time to talk about how teachers and educators” facilitate civil conversations.

“I have always promoted making sure that young people have rich learning experiences that expose them to things that are not just in their community,” Santelises said in a phone interview.

Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman said he’s “delighted” to bring Santelises aboard.

“Her expertise in public education and civil leadership will strengthen CFR’s mission to promote informed discussions of the world’s most consequential issues,” Froman said. “She brings the same dedication to expanding access, building institutional capacity, and fostering civil discourse that defined her decade of transformative leadership to the Richard Haass Center for Education.”

Santelises said she’s followed the Council on Foreign Relations’ work since she studied international relations as an undergrad at Brown University.

And the timing of the job means she can keep pursuing one of her passions: “making sure that our educators on the front line are equipped ... to provide those quality learning experiences.”

Santelises is also the superintendent in residence at The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management, which supports leaders of urban public school systems. She’ll commute to the council’s offices in D.C. and New York from her home in Baltimore.

About the Education Hub

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