Lisa Coons served in multiple leadership roles in K-12 education before being appointed Virginia superintendent of public instruction. She most recently served as chief academic officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, where she led all birth to grade-12 academic programming, including K-12 teaching and learning in language arts, mathematics, science, and fine arts; early childhood education; voluntary pre-K and Head Start.Coons also worked as an executive officer of division priority schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools, executive director of instructional leadership at the Tennessee Department of Education and middle school supervisor in Sumner County, Tennessee. She holds a doctorate in education from Lipscomb University.