Darcy Olsen

Darcy Olsen is President of the Goldwater Institute. Under her leadership, Goldwater has become Arizona's most frequently cited research organization, working to expand school choice, restore economic liberty, and restrain the growth of local and state government.

Before heading Goldwater, Olsen served as director of education policy at the Washington D.C.- based Cato Institute. An authority on early childhood education, primary and secondary education reforms, and the marketplace for education services, she has been a guest on local and national media programs such as National Public Radio, the O'Reilly Factor, the Lehrer News Hour, and Arizona's Horizon. Her research findings have been widely published in such outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and she has testified before Congress. Before joining Cato, she served as a transitional house manager for the D.C. Coalition for the Homeless while earning a bachelor's degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Her master's degree is in international education from New York University.