Board Chair

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A homegrown educational leader, Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell has served Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) for 25 years in various leadership roles. Since 2017, Dr. Johnson-Trammell has built a nationally recognized Community Schools model, earning OUSD a $66 million Community Schools state grant, the largest in California.

During the pandemic, Dr. Johnson-Trammell led a nationally recognized response by providing digital access, healthy meals, and community learning hubs. Her collaborative leadership with the city of Oakland provided low-income families a home device, wireless internet and technology support, increasing home digital access by 86%.

Under Dr. Johnson-Trammell, OUSD has launched several successful district initiatives: community-based literacy tutoring for TK-2 students, expansion of career pathways and Dual Enrollment courses, creation of district-wide anti-racist training, and Grow Your Own programs to retain aspiring educators of color. Collectively, these initiatives have increased student access and achievement in early literacy, college-ready high school graduation rates, and retention rates for African-African and Latinx educators.

Johnson-Trammell has received a number of awards and honors, including Outstanding Principal of Alameda County by the Beta Mu Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary organization for women educators. She also earned the Outstanding District Leadership Award.

Education

She holds a bachelor’s in communications from the University of Pennsylvania; a teaching credential from California State University, Hayward; and an administrative credential and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of California, Berkeley.