Ben Esner

Ben Esner is the Director of the Center for K12 STEM Education at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, which designs and builds programs dedicated to making meaningful educational opportunity available to a broad range of students by engaging faculty and graduate students and bringing their STEM expertise, passion and research interests into public school classrooms. The Center and its collaborators work both with K12 teachers, through training and ongoing professional development programs, and directly with K12 students through in-depth programmatic initiatives in the school, after-school and summer learning environments. The Center's initiatives are supported by the National Science Foundation, New York City Department of Education, The Fund for Public Schools, other public entities, foundations and corporations.

Prior to joining NYU, Mr. Esner held the post of Senior Vice President for Programs at Brooklyn Community Foundation, where he oversaw and ran competitive grant programs disbursing $5 million a year, seeking to address a broad range of educational and social issues. With nearly 25 years of professional experience including roles in the public, private and not-for-profit arenas, Mr. Esner currently also serves as Vice Chair and Secretary of the Board of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.

Ben is a life-long Brooklyn, NY resident and has two daughters.