Clara Monk was born in Berkeley, California and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently the National Community Engagement Director at Reading Partners and a freelance dancer, stager, and choreographer. Clara has worked at Reading Partners since 2020, first as an FAO Schwarz Fellow and then as Community Engagement Manager for the NYC team, and then as National Community Engagement Manager before assuming her current role..
Education
Clara recently graduated with an MPA and Certificate in Quantitative Methods for Policy and Equity Analysis from the Marxe School Baruch College. She completed her bachelor’s at Columbia University with an Economics major and Special Concentration in Education Studies. Clara attended Berkeley High School and Berkeley Independent Study, where she graduated after her junior year with a 4.9 weighted GPA and the Mayor’s Award for Leadership.
Teaching
Clara found her love for tutoring and teaching in high school as an intern at Berkeley Independent Study, and continues to tutor private clients in SAT/ACT/GRE prep, English, and Mathematics. She formerly worked as a course instructor for Veritas Prep, Varsity Tutors, and Virtual School Day. Clara scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT, ACT, and GRE and has passed Exams 1 and 2 for the California Subject Examinations for Teachers in secondary math.
Dance
Clara started dancing when she was young and spent a year dancing with Oregon Ballet Theatre before attending college. She is the former Artistic Director of the Columbia University Ballet Ensemble and a founder and former director of Columbia Repertory Ballet. Most recently, she was a guest faculty member at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (2023) and debuted a commission for Columbia Ballet Collaborative (2024).