Sandra Williamson
Sandra Williamson has more than 30 years of experience working in education and other systems to develop safe and supportive learning environments. For the past two years, she has been the director of the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center for the U.S. Department of Education, OSHS. She has effectively managed five subcontractors and a team of experienced technical assistance (TA) providers.
Williamson is the director of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, funded by OSHS and SAMHSA. In addition, she currently serves as co-principal investigator for the Interagency Working Group on Youth project (Findyouthinfo.gov website) and the Massachusetts Race to the Top Wraparound Evaluation Project. Williamson has also provided TA for the last 13 years to schools and agencies that are part of the systems of care mental health transformation grants. She led TA for Persistently Dangerous Schools, a project for the U.S. Department of Labor, working in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. She also provided direct consultation to Cleveland Public Schools, to develop alternatives to suspension in all 130 schools over the last two years.
Over the past decade, Williamson has worked in more than 60 communities building successful collaborations and system integration efforts. Williamson’s doctoral work focused on educational leadership with an emphasis on virtual training and learning communities. She has successfully started and facilitated four communities of practice on transition-aged youth (ages 14–21), early childhood (ages 0–8), safe and supportive schools, and school climate coaches.