Kandace Jones

Kandace Jones, vice president for Education Systems and Policy at AIR, is an expert in providing technical assistance to states, school districts, and other entities to improve student outcomes and increase equity in education.

As vice president for education systems and policy, Jones leads AIR’s work with local, state, and national agencies and organizations to improve educational outcomes and develop and support the implementation of evidence-based solutions to the challenges facing education. This program area includes AIR’s work leading federally funded education programs, including the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL), the Regional Comprehensive Centers, and the What Works Clearinghouse.

Prior to joining AIR, Jones was project director at WestEd, where she served as co-director of the Region 15 Comprehensive Center, the largest center in the U.S. Department of Education-funded Comprehensive Center Network, which provides technical assistance and capacity-building support to state and local education agencies in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah, and the Western Educational Equity Assistance Center, which promotes equitable education opportunities and resources to thirteen western states and three U.S. territories. She also worked at ICF, where she led the Region 8 Comprehensive Center that served Indiana, Michigan and Ohio and served as state liaison for the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center, serving Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Jones worked for the U.S. Department of Education as chief of staff and advisor for school turnaround in the department’s Office of Elementary & Secondary Education. She has also served as president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan, director of the Office of Out-of-School Time Programs at District of Columbia Public Schools, and a resident at the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems.