Tess Stovall

Tess Stovall

2015 NACSA Leader

Tess Stovall serves as the Director of Charter School Accountability and Policy for the Tennessee State Board of Education. In this role, she manages the charter school application process and authorization duties of the State Board. Prior to joining the staff of the board, she served as the Transformation Facilitator at Cameron Middle School, the first district-led conversion of a traditional public school to a charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Tess has also worked for Congressman Jim Cooper (TN-05) and a centrist think tank, Third Way, on economic and education policy in Washington, DC. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and Sociology and a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned  a Master of Science Degree in Political Sociology.


Most Recent Posts
How to Build an Inclusive Workforce Culture: Let the Data Drive You
FOURTH IN A SERIES In our rapidly evolving world, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within organizations has become more than a moral imperative. It’s also a strategic necessity.  However,...
Fort Worth ISD: Partnerships & Accountability
Guest blog written by David Saenz, Ed.D. The March 2024 episode of Community Conversations with NACSA told the story of Fort Worth Independent School District’s Leadership Academy Network, a unique...
DEI Deconstructed: Using the Power You Have
THIRD IN A SERIES In Chapter 5 of Lily Zheng’s book, DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right, they start the chapter by recounting...