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.