Bio

Mrs. Damaries Blondonville-Ford is a critical source of professional knowledge and a strategic and sagacious project manager. She has over 30 years of experience within K-12 public education and with non-profit organizations. She has served as a classroom teacher, Title I

integrated teacher, instructional specialist, acting content supervisor, and senior project manager throughout her career in Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS). In 2010, Mrs. Blondonville-Ford was privileged to work for the National Science Teaching.

Association (NSTA) as the Assistant Executive Director of Professional Learning. She was responsible for the overall design, logistics, and implementation of the year-long National New Science Teacher Academy and programming at NSTA National and Area Conferences. She also designed and executed professional experiences across the United States for teachers focused on best STEM instructional practices. In 2014, Mrs. Blondonville-Ford returned to PGCPS as the 12.5 million Wallace Foundation Principal Pipeline Initiative grant project manager. In this role, she coordinated and managed the development of the PGCPS principal pipeline and principal supervisor initiative and launched the PGCPS leadership center. In 2018, Ms. Blondonville began her role as the project director of the 25-million-dollar USDE Teacher & School Leader Incentive (TSL) grant. The grant focused on teacher recruitment, retention, and development for 40 PGCPS highest-needs schools. In this role, Ms. Blondonville led the development of the PGCPS Teacher Leader Academy. She coordinated the workplace culture and talent management training for principals, assistant principals, and school leadership central office personnel. Included in this work, Ms. Blondonville led the design and development of the PGCPS Teacher Leader Handbook that is

currently being used today in PGCPS. Over the next five years, the Teacher Leader Academy trained over 200 classroom teachers as school-based coaches to provide job-embedded support for novice educators. In 2021, she began serving as the PGCPS Continuing Professional Development liaison to the Maryland State Department of Education. In this capacity, Ms. Blondonville coordinated the approved state's courses that both conditional and experienced PGCPS employees can utilize it for initial teaching certification or advance and renew their teaching certificate. Currently, Mrs. Blondonville-Ford is the Academy Director for the University of Maryland School Improvement Leadership Academy (SILA). She coordinates and facilitates professional learning experiences via a two-year academy for Principals and Assistant Principals working in high-needs schools across Maryland, NJ, and Delaware. She continues to share her work and experiences as a national presenter. Mrs. Blondonville-Ford holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with a minor in special Education from Howard University and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Science Education from Loyola College. She holds both an Administrator Certification I and II, is a certified Gallup Strengths coach and an Arbinger facilitator, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Morgan State University.