Executive Director

Tess Stovall serves as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Previously, she served as the Director of Charter Schools for the Tennessee State Board of Education for six years leading the State Board’s work as an appellate authorizer of charter schools. While at the State Board, Tess oversaw the creation of a new school district to serve any authorized charter schools and support the opening of three charter schools authorized by the State Board. For the 2017-18 school year, the State Board was recognized as an Exemplary School District by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Before the State Board, Tess served as the Transformation Facilitator at Cameron Middle School, the first district-led conversion of a traditional public school to a charter school in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Through this work, Tess worked closely with the charter school operator and the district to facilitate a smooth transition of the school to a zoned charter school. In the 2013-14 school year, both Cameron Middle School and Cameron College Prep were named Reward Schools by the Tennessee Department of Education.

Prior to coming back to her home state of Tennessee in 2012, Tess worked on federal policy in Washington, DC . She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The George Washington University where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Political Science and Sociology and a graduate of the London School of Economics where she earned a Master of Science Degree in Political Sociology.