FOR RELEASE: August 17, 2023
CONTACT: Tonya Harris, tharris@cgcs.org

Council Welcomes New Chief of Academics and General Counsel

WASHINGTON, August 17 – The Council of the Great City Schools, the only national organization exclusively representing urban school districts, announces the appointment of education administrator Nicole Mancini as its new chief of academics and attorney Mary Stablein Lawson to assume the role of general counsel.

In her new position, Mancini will assist urban districts in enhancing instructional systems to boost student achievement. Before joining the Council, Mancini served as the chief academic officer for Florida’s Broward County Public Schools, where she provided strategic communication and support to school and district administrators, coaches, and teachers on effective teaching and learning practices. Mancini was also the vice president of educational services for the Florida Speech and Hearing Association and an adjunct faculty member for Florida Atlantic University, teaching early childhood and clinical education courses.

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.

“We are delighted to welcome Nicole and Mary to our team,” said 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.”

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