Alison Welcher is a doctoral candidate in educational leadership at Harvard University. She has served as a teacher, school leader and district administrator in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. As a school leader, she led a middle school turnaround leading to local, regional and national recognition, including a profile with “Getting Smart: 100 Schools Worth Visiting” in 2014 and in the book, "Breakthrough Principals: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Stronger Schools," which inspires principals across the country to value and invest in teacher leadership. Alison recently completed the Teach For America School Systems Leaders Fellowship and the Relay GSE Leverage Leadership Institute. She holds a bachelor's of arts in English from Spelman College and a master’s degree in Risk and Prevention with Adolescents at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Alison is a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Educational Leadership program.