As a membership organization, NASBE is governed by a board of directors, which includes representation from each of NASBE’s four regions: Northeast, Southern, Central, and Western. New state board members and NASBE affiliates are also represented on NASBE’s board.
Fern Desjardins
Chair-elect
Dr. Fern Desjardins was appointed to the Maine State Board of Education in 2018 and is in her second 5-year term on the board. She serves as chair of the School Construction Committee and a member of the Legislative Action Committee. She served four years (2021-2025) as chair of the board and has served on […]
Matt W. Donaldson
Secretary-Treasurer
Matt W. Donaldson was appointed as the Twelfth District Representative to the Georgia State Board of Education on January 12, 2021. Donaldson also serves on the board’s Budget Committee, Audit Committee, and State Schools Committee. Donaldson also serves on the Georgia Foundation for Public Education to represent the state board. For NASBE, Donaldson has served […]
Keven Ellis
Immediate Past Chair
Keven Ellis was elected to the Texas State Board of Education in November 2016 and reelected in 2020 and 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Ellis chair twice, where he served from 2019 to 2023. Ellis is a member of the board’s Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund, which oversees agenda items related to the Permanent School […]
Byron Ernest
Chair
Dr. Byron Ernest was Indiana’s “Teacher of the Year” in 2010 and the 2011 Christopher Columbus Foundation Outstanding National Agriscience Teacher. Most recently, Ernest was named a scholar in residence by the C.S. Lewis Foundation and is spending time studying at The Kilns in Oxford, England. During this experience, he is also doing coursework at […]
Matt Hymas
Western Area Director
Matt Hymas has served on the Utah State Board of Education since 2021 and was reelected in November 2024 for another four-year term. Hymas has chaired the Utah board’s Law & Licensing Committee since 2023. He also serves on the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice and is a member of the NASBE Governmental Affairs […]
Steven Isoye
Central Area Director
Dr. Steven Isoye was appointed as the Chair of the Illinois State Board of Education by Governor JB Pritzker in 2022. His term will expire in January 2027. Dr. Isoye is a retired educator having worked in Illinois high schools for 37 years—from science teacher to department chair, curriculum leader, principal, and superintendent. Most recently, […]
Kim Lewis
New Member Representative
Kim Lewis was appointed to the Maryland State Board in 2024 and is chair of the board’s education policy committee. With over 42 years of experience in education, Lewis taught in four counties in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She served as the executive director of special education in Baltimore City Public Schools and as the program […]
Nisha Lodhavia
Northeastern Area Director
Nisha Lodhavia, a Delaware State Board member, is a professor of mathematics at the University of Delaware. She has served on the boards of Meals on Wheels Delaware, CenDel Foundation, and St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Middletown, Delaware. She spent many years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with Family Court in Kent County, Delaware. […]
Randy Spaulding
NCSBEE Representative
Randy Spaulding has served as the executive director for the Washington State Board of Education since 2018. Spalding has worked in education policy in Washington for over 20 years, previously as director of academic affairs and policy at the Washington Student Achievement Council and Higher Education Coordinating Board. He has also worked in student services and financial aid […]
Lu Young
Southern Area Director
Lu Young was appointed to the Kentucky State Board of Education in 2019. Young has dedicated over 30 years to education as a classroom teacher, director of curriculum, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Currently a clinical associate professor in University of Kentucky’s (UK’s) Department of Educational Leadership Studies, she is also the director of UK’s Center for Next […]
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