Mercedes Lovie

Mercedes Lovie, Ed.D. is the Associate Superintendent of Oceanside Unified School District, serving more than 14,500 students, 2000 employees and an annual budget of $240M. As a leader in instructional innovation and emerging technologies, Dr. Lovie directs Oceanside’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy Initiative, advancing ethical and human-centered AI integration in teaching, professional learning, and operations to improve efficiency and instructional impact.

Under her leadership, Oceanside has tripled its College and Career Readiness rate by expanding CTE pathways, increasing a–g completion, and raising AP enrollment by 10%. She established the county’s first Cybersecurity CTE pathway and launched a dual enrollment program with the local community college, allowing students to earn up to two years of UC/CSU-transferable college credit before graduation.

At the onset of the pandemic, Dr. Lovie led the rapid creation of 280 minutes of daily synchronous video instruction within five days, training over 1,000 teachers to teach online for the first time. Throughout her career, she has served as a teacher, principal, and central office leader, securing more than $43 million in federal grants and advancing equity-driven initiatives across the district.

Dr. Lovie also serves as an adjunct professor at USC’s Educational Leadership program and sits on the Schools First Federal Credit Union Advisory Council.