Galia Siegel grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended public school until she transferred to private school for her high school years. At the time of the interview, Siegel’s mother, who is from Argentina, was a linguist at the World Bank, and her father was a professor in chemistry at George Washington University. Siegel was always expected to attend a reputable college and then attain a high paying job upon graduation, and her parents did not endorse her interest in teaching. She originally wanted to study psychology at Brown University, but switched to public policy after her first year. At Brown, Siegel was involved with Extension, Project Birth, Peer Sister, the Student Homeless Action Campaign, the Student AIDS Taskforce, the Mount Hope Day Care Center, the Crisis Intervention Project, and the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center.