After receiving her B.A. in Psychology and Education and facilitating education courses at University of California- Berkeley, Ilana became a Pre-K teacher, early childhood education instructional coach, and non-profit leader in San Francisco. Determined to bring the essential voices of teachers to the forefront of education, Ilana left the Bay Area in 2012 to pursue a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she now teaches, supervises, and mentors early childhood and elementary pre-service teachers, conducts educational research, serves in various leadership roles across campus, and teaches yoga.