Ebony Lanford-Brown

Ebony Langford-Brown is a seasoned education executive with over three decades of leadership experience in curriculum, instruction, and systemwide improvement. She has led large-scale initiatives across complex public school systems, including one of the largest districts in the United States, serving more than 170,000 students. Her work reflects deep expertise in leading within highly diverse environments and ensuring strong outcomes for students with a wide range of academic, linguistic, and specialized learning needs.

She is known for driving measurable improvements in student achievement by strengthening instructional systems, developing leadership capacity, and aligning resources to strategic priorities. Her leadership approach combines data-driven decision-making with a strong focus on equity, coherence, and execution at scale.

As Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in a large suburban public school system, Ebony oversaw Pre-K–12 curriculum and instructional programming across 22 content areas, spanning early childhood, literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, world languages, fine arts, physical education, gifted and talented, and multilingual learner programs. In this role, she directed the development and implementation of aligned curriculum frameworks, led systemwide instructional improvement efforts, and ensured coherence across schools through collaboration with central office leaders, school-based administrators, and instructional teams.

As Administrative Director of Elementary Schools, Ebony served as a principal supervisor, overseeing 21 elementary schools and leading all aspects of school performance and leadership development. She directly supervised and coached principals, strengthening their instructional leadership and ensuring a consistent focus on high-quality teaching and learning across schools. She was responsible for monitoring student achievement, guiding school improvement planning, supporting staffing and operational decisions, and ensuring alignment to district priorities. Her leadership balanced accountability and support, developing school leaders while holding them responsible for results, and resulted in stronger leadership capacity and more coherent instructional practices across schools.

In a previous role as Director of Elementary Instruction and Achievement in a large, nationally recognized school district, Ebony oversaw academic performance across more than 140 elementary schools. She led the design and monitoring of systemwide performance strategies, using data to identify trends, target supports, and drive continuous improvement across schools. Her work focused on scaling effective practices, ensuring consistency in instructional expectations, and strengthening outcomes for diverse student populations across a large and complex system.

Earlier in her career, Ebony served as a principal and teacher, providing her with a comprehensive understanding of both system-level leadership and school-based implementation. She has maintained a consistent focus on eliminating opportunity gaps and improving outcomes for multilingual learners and historically underserved students.

Ebony holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Master of Arts in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Bowie State University. She is known as a strategic, equity-driven leader committed to building high-performing and sustainable educational systems.