Wendy Russell is an technical assistance consultant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). She serves as a coach working to support the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Career and Technical Education project. Russell is an accomplished technical assistant developer and facilitator, efficient program manager. She has expertise in building federal, state, and local leadership capacity to lead sustainable change, linking federal policy to create effective new best practices, and facilitating strategic partnerships for collaborative solutions.
She aligns her strong education policy and practice expertise with workforce technical assistance design and delivery to inform her project work. She works to support the Illinois Board of Education Career and Technical Education to develop policies and data management strategies for industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) in secondary education. Russell coaches ISBE CTE staff to gain a broader perspective on the national IRC eco-system and within their State Perkins V plan, and action planning for state-wide IRC rollout. Russel received her M.A. in International Education from American University, Washington, D.C. Her previous experience included work with international students and professionals guiding educational exchanges and workforce training for U.S. A.I.D. She holds a BA in Political Science with Secondary Teaching Certification, which fostered her interest in connecting policy with effective practice.