Staff Organization
The Executive Director, Anne L. Bryant, supervises a staff of approximately 120 people at the NSBA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The staff is organized into five major offices under the leadership of Deputy Executive Director Joseph S. Villani:
The Executive Operations Section consists of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat.
The Office of the General Counsel represents the interests of State Associations and school boards in the courts and regulatory agencies. The office prepares and files "friend of the court" briefs, provides technical and legal assistance to State Associations, and maintains a clearinghouse and network on federal and state legal issues. Contact: Francisco Negrón.
The Council of School Attorneys provides information and practical assistance to its over 3,000-member attorneys who represent public school districts by providing up to date legal information in its publications and at its conferences. Contact: Susan Butler.
The Board Secretariat provides secretariat services to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Contact: Joseph S. Villani.
The Advocacy and Issues Management Section, under the direction of Associate Executive Director Michael A. Resnick, implements NSBA's Action/Advocacy Agenda and carries out NSBA's lobbying efforts at the national level. By lobbying the Congress, the White House and federal agencies, the section helps increase federal funding for local school districts and reduces costly federal mandates; helps improve federal education programs by making legislative and regulatory changes local board members support; protects the governance role of school boards from congressional attack; and promotes the role of school boards as a key democratic institution in our country's education system. Contacts: Lucy Gettman, Reginald Felton, Roberta Stanley, and Deborah Rigsby.
The Federal Policy Coordinators' Network (FPC) provides key services to approximately 300 local educators — including Calls-to-Action, Action Updates, Grant Watch Report. Members also perform lobbying efforts at the grassroots and national levels. Contact: Kathleen Branch.
The Federal Relations Network (FRN) consists of State Association-appointed local school board members who engage in a host of lobbying activities ranging from writing editorials for their local newspapers, to organizing local coalitions that influence members of Congress to obtaining television and radio coverage at the local and national levels. Contact: Kathleen Branch.
The Communications, Constituent Services, Publications and Marketing Section is responsible for many of NSBA's entrepreneurial endeavors and marketing for all of NSBA's programs and services. This section is managed by Associate Executive Director Marilee Rist.
NSBA engages in a public relations program designed to increase public awareness of NSBA, the state school board associations, local school boards and issues directly affecting public elementary and secondary education. This is achieved through scheduled press conferences and interviews, dissemination of information to the print and electronic mass media and through other activities. Contact: Glenn Cook.
The Publications Department is responsible for editorial content, graphic design, and production of NSBA's award-winning magazine, American School Board Journal and its supplements. In addition, the department is responsible for producing School Board News, Urban Advocate, and Technology Leadership News and other NSBA publications. Contact: Glenn Cook.
NSBA's award-winning monthly magazine, American School Board Journal, meets the needs of school board members and professional educators alike by offering fresh and varied perspectives and by serving as a free marketplace of ideas and an open forum of opinions on the issues affecting education. ASBJ produces three supplements through the year — Education Vital Signs, Learning by Design, and the Magna Awards. Contact: Glenn Cook.
School Board News, a quarterly newspaper, informs local school board members about significant national trends in education, school reform issues, actions of the federal government and courts that affect school districts, innovative programs and NSBA advocacy activities. Contact: Joetta Sack.
The National Affiliate Program enhances NSBA's ability to serve the national and federal needs of local school boards in pursuit of equity and excellence in education. Local school districts that are members of their state school boards associations are eligible to participate as NSBA National Affiliates and receive all the benefits and services of the program. Contact: Gene Broderson.
The Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE), a component group of the National Affiliate Program, serves the specialized needs of urban school districts. This is done through conferences that address issues facing urban school districts and provide a forum for dynamic discussion. CUBE also represents urban school interests before Congress and federal agencies and is involved in national education policy through grassroots advocacy. Contact: Katrina Kelley.
The Education Technology Programs Department assists school boards, administrators and educators in creating more productive learning environments through the wise use of technology—including site visits, pilot projects, publications and speaking engagements. The Technology Leadership Network—the membership component of the program—serves as a resource base for school districts seeking to harness technology for educational improvements. The annual Technology + Learning Conference is a three-day educational technology event that includes high profile speakers, presentations by educators and exhibitors and opportunities to network. Contact: Ann Flynn or Gene Broderson.
The mission of the Marketing Department is to advance NSBA’s shared vision, support achievement of NSBA’s strategic plan, and support the financial integrity of NSBA by defining and implementing promotional, sales, and customer service strategies for NSBA’s entrepreneurial activities. Contact: Carol Chin.
The Finance, Technology and Management Section consists of the Annual Conference and Exhibition Department, the Department of Finance, the Human Resources Department, the Information Systems Department, and the Office Services Department. Susan P. Merry oversees this section.
The NSBA Annual Conference and Exposition is the nation's largest policy and training conference for local education officials on national and federal issues affecting public schools in the U.S. Serving over 16,000 school board members, school administrators, exhibitors and family members, the conference features a broad range of programming including training clinics and workshops. Contact: Robin Preston.
The Finance Department implements the association's long range and strategic planning and coordinates NSBA's program budget development. An efficient program budget system enables NSBA to monitor revenue and expenses continuously. Revenues generated through the primary revenue-producing activities provide a variety of programs and services to State Associations and local school districts. Contact: Robert Billups.
The Human Resources Department is responsible for oversight of NSBA staff programs, policies and benefits, to ensure that our human resources programs are competitive and support the strategic goals of the Association. The department serves as a resource to management and staff on a broad range of employee issues. Areas of responsibility include recruitment and employment, wage, salary and benefits administration, human resource development, EEO, and employee relations activities. Contact: Patricia L. Scott.
In-house computer systems, including a core database of school districts and board members, are the responsibility of the Information Technology Department. IT also handles production and management of NSBA's website and houses the telephone system and telecommunications. Contact: Carole Stover.
The Office Services Department handles all of the mailing and printing for the association, including typesetting, graphic design and offset printing. The department also manages NSBA's headquarters building, coordinates publication fulfillment and manages the bookstore at NSBA's Annual Conference and Exposition. Contact: Terry Hilmer.
The State Association Services Section, under the direction of Lisa Bartusek, focuses on enhancing relationships with State Associations and expanding and strengthening leadership training of school board members.
State Association support programs include the Presidents' Retreat, Leadership Conference, Liaison Committee, regional meetings and the Executive Directors' Institutes. Contact: Lisa Bartusek.
The NSBA Caucuses consists of the National American Indian/Alaska Native Caucus of School Board members, the National Black Caucus of School Board Members, and the National Hispanic Caucus of School Board Members. Contact: Kanisha Williams-Jones.
School Board Leadership for High-Quality Extended-Day Learning Opportunities is a C.S. Mott Foundation-funded project to assist local schools in providing policy leadership for building and sustaining effective community-school partnerships to implement programs that extend the school day beyond traditional hours. Contact: Aaron Dorsey.
The National Education Policy Network (NEPN) is a membership cooperative through which school districts and education agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada share data, suggestions and reference assistance to develop and update effective school district policies and administrative rules. Contact: Dottie Gray.
The NSBA Library provides services and information—including the results of research conducted on current education issues—to State Associations, National Affiliates and National Education Policy Network subscribers, as well as to NSBA staff, the media and the general public. The Library houses a collection of books and reports, general interest and education-related magazines and journals, newspapers and publications produced by NSBA and State Associations. The Library also maintains a clearinghouse of local school board policies. Contact: Dottie Gray.
With continuing support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NSBA provides information and resources, technical assistance, and professional development to assist NSBA State Associations and local school districts in developing, adopting, and implementing effective school health policies and practices. The primary focus is on topics for which CDC funding is received, including coordinated school health programs, tobacco prevention, and reducing the burden of asthma. As feasible, we provide information and guidance on additional health issues (i.e., wellness) that are important to school leaders. Services provided include School Health website resources such as the School Health Resource Database, a Health Newsfeed showing current news articles on school health across the nation, and weekly updates and announcements on newly released information; assistance with the development and review of local district policies; publications and materials for school health policy and program guidance; and workshops and presentations on school health topics at national and state school boards association conferences. Contact: Brenda Greene.