Dana Grayson is the Director of WestEd’s Teacher Workforce team, focused on preparing, recruiting, supporting, sustaining, and retaining the K-12 teacher workforce to ensure all students have equitable access to effective teachers. Drawing on 20 years of experience as a project leader and former teacher, Grayson partners with states and districts to engage in data-driven decision-making and strategic planning. She specializes in educator workforce, resource planning, and district and school improvement issues.
In previous roles at Insight Policy Research and the American Institutes for Research, Grayson served on the leadership team of three multimillion-dollar federal technical assistance (TA) centers, overseeing portfolios of TA engagements, and facilitating multi-state learning collaboratives on a wide variety of education issues.
Grayson has also led numerous state-level projects to strengthen educator workforces, including supporting rural school districts in Maine to develop sustainable talent management systems, and working with the Texas Education Agency to develop a user-friendly toolkit for developing local educator equity plans.
In her community in Alexandria, Virginia, she is a thought partner for the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Learning Advisory team supporting pandemic recovery and reopening, co-chair for an ACPS stakeholder engagement committee for a capital improvement project, commissioner for Alexandria’s Children Youth and Families Commission, and treasurer of the Clover College Park Community Association.
Grayson began her career as a teacher and dean of students in New York City public schools and has permanent K–6 teaching certification from New York State. She holds an MA in sociology of education from New York University, an MS in teaching from Pace University, and a BA in journalism from New York University.