Leslie Williams, Ph.D. is the Director of OU’s K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal. Dr. Williams has been a PI/co-PI for over $150 million in grants supporting K12 school improvement in Oklahoma. She has been an educator for 30 years, and has extensive experience as a secondary mathematics teacher, middle and high school principal, district mathematics curriculum director, grant project director, and research associate professor in higher education. As the Center Director, Leslie leads K20’s Associate Directors, Project Director’s team and the K20 staff to support outreach, professional development, service and research of effective teaching and learning for K12 to graduate educational environments. Dr. Williams collaborates with teams of educators, researchers, leaders, educational stakeholders, designers, and developers in the application of research-based practices to create and sustain educational innovation and transformation. She is active in several national organizations, and has published numerous research articles and scholarly chapters on educational reform, learning community development, professional development, building school leadership capacity to sustain systemic school improvement, the integration of technology in teaching and learning processes to improve student achievement, and authentic learning experiences for increased student engagement.