Gillian Williams

Gillian Williams became an educator as a member of the Teach For America Charter Corps in 1990. She began her teaching career at Public School 98 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. As a new teacher she capitalized on her experiences working with The Association to Benefit Children’s daycare centers for homeless children and the after school program she developed and directed in East Harlem. Her first few years were spent as a bilingual teacher of third and fourth grades. In the summer of 1993 she co-wrote and received one of the sixteen national Summer of Service awards with a summer budget of over a quarter of a million dollars. The program was one of the prototypes for the National Service Legislation that has led to initiatives such as AmeriCorps.

In 1997, Gillian became an educator as a member of the Teach For America Charter Corps in 1990. She began her teaching career at as a bilingual teacher at Public School 98 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. In 1997, Gillian became the youngest elementary school principal in New York City at Public School 63 in the South Bronx. In her first year at Public School 63, Gillian led a turnaround that lifted the school from its dismal standing on the state’s list of persistently failing schools—a distinction it had held for all eleven years of that list’s existence.

As the Founder and Chief Academic Officer of School Turnaround, Gillian grew the organization from a summer conference into a multi-faceted, nationally established initiative. She works with principals and superintendents across the country to lead change by example using leadership characteristics and strategies that are proven effective in turning around low-performing schools.

Under her leadership, School Turnaround demonstrates consistently high gains for student achievement. School Turnaround is designed specifically for schools and districts where someone in power perceives a current failure that requires urgent intervention. While most educational initiatives geared toward demonstrating student achievement take place over a long time period, School Turnaround is designed to bring about urgency and time-compressed change. It stands apart from others in the field by offering a money-back warranty that guarantees achievement on high stakes tests will increase in one year’s time.

Gillian is a national leader in elementary education and was featured twice on the CBS Television program Sunday Morning. She has appeared in numerous publications, including, The New Yorker, The New York Times, US News and World Report and Education Week.