The Council of the Great City Schools recently welcomed two new members to its staff, Nicole Mancini, who will be taking on the role of chief of academics, and Mary Stablein Lawson, who will serve as the general counsel.

“We are delighted to welcome Nicole and Mary to our team,” says Council Executive Director Ray Hart. “They each bring enormous and relevant experience, and the Council will benefit greatly from their depth of knowledge and deep commitment to providing a high-quality education to the nation’s urban schoolchildren.”

In her new role, Mancini will assist in helping urban districts improve their instructional systems to elevate student achievement.   Prior to joining the Council, Mancini served as the chief academic officer for Broward County Public Schools in Florida, where she offered strategic guidance and support to school and district administrators, coaches, and educators to enhance teaching and learning practices. In addition, Mancini held the position of vice president of educational services at the Florida Speech and Hearing Association and served as an adjunct faculty member at Florida Atlantic University, where she taught courses related to early childhood and clinical education.

As general counsel, Lawson will develop Council legal positions representing the needs and concerns of urban public-school systems and advise the Council’s leadership on legal, legislative, and regulatory education issues.

Before joining the Council, Lawson was assistant general counsel for the Miami-Dade County School Board. She also served as assistant general counsel for the Broward County School Board and was an associate attorney at Hogan Lovells, LLP. A graduate of Howard University School of Law, she began her career in the classroom, spending eight years as a social studies teacher in Pittsburgh Public Schools, Broward County Public Schools, and Maryland’s Anne Arundel County Public Schools.