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Amy Williamson is the former deputy director of the Iowa Department of Education, where she had the opportunity to lead Iowa’s education community during the COVID-19 pandemic response. She also served as the department’s bureau chief for school improvement for more than eight years.  Her first roles at the department were in special education, a specialty for which Williamson remains a relentless champion.

As deputy director, Williamson led four bureaus of 130 professional staff working in early childhood through secondary education. She led department policy and program coordination, including work with education stakeholders, the office of the governor, and the general assembly.  Williamson managed a budget exceeding $400 million annually, as well as more than $1 billion in federal relief funds for COVID-19.

As bureau chief, Williamson led Iowa’s statewide change to Differentiated Accountability: a new monitoring and accreditation process for preschool-12th grade schools in Iowa.  She co-led the 125-member statewide school improvement team and training cadre with a focus on early literacy, helping Iowa make more than 4 percent gains in literacy scores over a three-year period.

After leaving the department, Williamson founded Public Progress LLC, an education consulting company that focuses on providing services to states and schools using an MTSS framework.