An East Bay native, Meredith Cranston was born in Berkeley and raised in Piedmont. While at UCLA, Ms. Cranston interned at The Windward School, an independent grade 7-12 school in Los Angeles, where she worked closely with teachers, students and librarians to create integrated, project-based learning opportunities that engaged students in exploring a wealth of print and digital information resources. Also at UCLA, she was honored with the Osborn Family Fellowship for students specializing in library youth services.

While an undergraduate at Stanford, Ms. Cranston captained the lightweight crew team and was named an All-American her senior year. She still loves to row, as well as bike, run, explore local coffee shops and take weekend drives with her husband around the Bay Area in their 1971 VW bus. She also admits to a weakness for reading until the wee hours of the morning.