Elizabeth Ross, Accelerate
Managing Director, State Programs
Elizabeth Ross serves as Managing Director of State Programs at Accelerate, where she works with Accelerate’s portfolio of State Implementation Fund and States Leading Recovery grantees to help states implement policies that improve outcomes for millions of students.
Prior to joining Accelerate, Elizabeth served as Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning for the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) in Washington, DC, where she led OSSE’s Advancing Excellence work — helping ensure all DC students excel by setting high standards, providing robust supports for educators and students, and holding schools and school systems accountable. Earlier, she served as Vice President and Managing Director of Teacher Policy at the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), leading research and technical assistance to support states. Before NCTQ, Elizabeth worked at the US Department of Education on equity-focused student support and teacher quality initiatives.
Elizabeth also teaches US Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing at Georgetown University Law Center and Education Law and Policy at American University.
Elizabeth began her career as a third-grade teacher at Simon Elementary School in Washington, DC, where she currently resides. Elizabeth holds a B.A. from Georgetown University, where she studied English Literature and Government; an M.A.T. from American University in Elementary Education; a J.D. from Villanova University School of Law, where she was a public interest scholar; and an Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she was a Zuckerman Fellow.
Managing Director
Jasmine Walker serves as Managing Director of the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting. In this role, she leads the Center’s programmatic portfolio and strategic partnerships, overseeing cohort programs, district engagement, and the Center’s national field-building efforts — all in service of moving education systems toward results that are measured, not just intended. At the heart of her work is a simple but urgent distinction: the difference between paying for services and investing in success. Jasmine came to this work through nearly two decades in public education — most of it in Duval County Public Schools, where she started as a classroom teacher and grew into district leadership. As Director of K-12 Mathematics, she oversaw curriculum, professional learning, and school improvement efforts across the district, and led the initiative to pilot outcomes based contracting for high-impact tutoring in Grade 8 mathematics. That experience gave her something rare in the OBC field: a practitioner’s perspective on what it actually takes to make these contracts work for students and schools. Since joining the Southern Education Foundation in 2023, she has built and led multi-state OBC cohorts, developed tools and resources to support district implementation, and cultivated partnerships with state agencies, intermediaries, and national education organizations working to scale outcomes based contracting across the country. Jasmine holds a bachelor’s degree in exceptional student education from the University of North Florida and a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Florida State University.
Director of Programming
Brittany Johnson is the Director of Programming for the Center for Outcomes Based Contracting at the Southern Education Foundation. In this role, she leads the design, delivery, and continuous evolution of the Center’s programming portfolio — including professional development, cohort-based learning, district support, and capacity-building initiatives. She works to ensure all programming reflects the Center’s Standards of Excellence and advances OBC implementation at scale.
Prior to her current role, Brittany held the position of District Instructional Specialist for the Academic Services Department of Duval County Public Schools, where she designed and facilitated professional development to enhance instructional quality and improve student outcomes across the district. Additionally, she spearheaded projects focused on creating resources to support students, teachers, and district and school leaders. Over the past 15 years, Brittany has accumulated a diverse range of experience in various roles, including teacher, interventionist, school engagement coach, instructional coach, and content designer for the Florida Department of Education’s Bureau of Standards and Instructional Support.
Brittany holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida and transitioned into education as a Teach for America corps member. She also holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Educational Technology from the University of Florida.