Kelli Peterson

Kelli Peterson

2019 NACSA Leader

Chief Portfolio Innovation and Accountability Officer NOLA Public Schools

Dr. Kelli Peterson serves as the Chief Portfolio Innovation and Accountability Officer for NOLA Public Schools, the first all-charter school district. Dr. Peterson leads a team that is responsible for the accountability of 78 charter schools, building the capacity of 38 charter boards, development of new school strategy and the authorization process.

Dr. Peterson is deeply invested in charter schools. She has served as a teacher, Dean of Students, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction and School Leader, all within charter schools across various states.
Through educational pursuit, her efforts to alleviate inadequate educational opportunities for students of color is embedded at the core of her work.

Dr. Peterson earned her bachelor’s from Spelman College, Master of Education from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and Doctorate of Education from Tennessee State University.


Most Recent Posts
‘Gap Busters’: Lessons from Charter Authorizers in Helping All Kids Achieve More
Accountability is fundamental to quality authorizing. Without it, we run the risk of not seeing the full educational picture in front of us and threaten our ability as educators and...
It’s All About the Bias: How to Uncover and Address Bias in Hiring
SIXTH IN A SERIES In our last blog post in this series, we shared how, when it comes to hiring, our existing networks are probably holding us back. We explored...
NACSA Statement on Oklahoma Supreme Court
Statement from NACSA President & CEO, M. Karega Rausch, Ph.D. on today’s Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that the decision from the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board (SVCSB) to approve...