Kelli Gauthier

Kelli served as the communications director for the Tennessee Department of Education, where she helped build communications campaigns advocating for increased accountability for schools and teachers, greater choice for parents, and higher standards and better assessments for students, in an effort to close achievement gaps for historically underserved students. Kelli also served as a member of department’s leadership team, a 20-person group making policy and management decisions for a state agency with a staff of 1,300. That team led Tennessee to the largest academic improvement of any state, as measured by the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Kelli also led communications for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, where she created communications resources and best practices for 15 member states, representing more than 7 million students nationwide. As an independent consultant, her clients have included the Broad Center, the Council for Chief State School Officers, Educators for Excellence, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Kelli began her career as a journalist, spending five years covering public education and state and local policy for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.