Layne Dillard, Ed.D.

Layne Dillard is a keynote speaker, leadership strategist, and education turnaround specialist with nearly three decades of experience in public education. She currently serves as an Education Administrator in the Office of School Improvement at the Alabama State Department of Education, where she supports school leaders across the northern region of the state in analyzing performance data, strengthening school systems, and implementing improvement strategies designed to raise student outcomes. Her career is grounded in a long-standing commitment to creating learning environments where students, educators, and leaders feel supported, valued, and empowered to succeed.

Before moving into state-level leadership, Dillard spent 19 years in school and district administration, including extensive experience as a principal in high-poverty and high-need schools. She is widely recognized for her turnaround leadership, most notably leading one Alabama school from an “F” rating to a “B” and achieving one of the highest state improvement gains during her tenure. Her work has included leading alternative education programs, building student-centered school cultures, increasing academic achievement through data-driven instruction, and securing significant community and stakeholder support for school improvement initiatives.

Dillard holds a Doctorate in Learning Organizations and Strategic Change from Lipscomb University, along with graduate and undergraduate degrees in educational leadership and secondary education from the University of North Alabama. In addition to her public education role, she is the founder of Bang Up Good Leadership, where she works as a consultant, speaker, and author of the forthcoming The Oxygen Effect. Her professional philosophy centers on building high-performance systems that balance accountability with care, emphasizing that sustainable school improvement comes from strong leadership, culture, and collective commitment to student success.