Watechia Lawless (she/her) is the chief of staff at Tennessee Higher Education Initiative (THEI). A Nashville native and has spent the past 30 years working to improve the quality of public school education, higher education and small business development in Tennessee. Recently, she served as director of children and youth initiatives for the office of Mayor Freddie O’Connell. She spent two years as community superintendent at Midtown Learning Community in Hamilton County Schools. Previously, she served as the executive principal at Napier Elementary School and led the transition from being the lowest performing school in the state to being recognized as a TN Reward School in 2019.  Her efforts to create community connections and engagement resulted in over $1M raised for school-based programming to address critical societal challenges that impacted students and their families specifically within the Napier community. She earned a BA in economics from Spelman College, MBA from Belmont University, a M.ED from Vanderbilt University and Ed.D from Lipscomb University. She enjoys spending time with her family, her friends, and her sorority sisters.