Nelson Smith 

Nelson Smith is Senior Advisor to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. 

From 2004 to 2011 he was President and CEO and then Senior Advisor to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  Previously, he served as Vice President for Policy and Governance at New American Schools; as Executive Director of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board; and as Vice President for Education and Workforce Development at the New York City Partnership. 

From 1985 to 1992, at the U.S. Department of Education, he oversaw programs devoted to improving education through research-based methods.  He was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 2011 to 2014.  

Mr. Smith was given a Career Achievement Award from New Schools Venture Fund in 2010, recognizing his quarter-century of leadership in education reform.  

A graduate of Georgetown University, he lives in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

AAPF17 Sessions: 

Starting with Students

​States are getting more sophisticated in how they tell the story of student achievement and school performance; but many in the alternative-education community think that even the latest accountability systems fail to take into account the situations and background of “our kids.” This session will brainstorm the pros and cons of current systems, look at the barriers to thinking differently, and envision new approaches that meet public accountability needs but truly start with students.  This session will be highly interactive and challenge our assumptions about who we serve and why.

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Past Sessions: 

​Mr. Smith was part of the panel, "A Conversation about Using Anecdotes and Data."