Veronica McDermott Independent Contractor, National Urban Alliance for Effective Education

Veronica McDermott, Ph.D., is a retired school superintendent who continues to focus her efforts on school transformation, social justice, and equity. She is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader at national and international conferences devoted to issues of leadership and learning for equity and social justice. She is the author of many articles, chapters and opinion pieces, as well as co-author of two books designed to change the way educators think about, talk about and interact with our students who are not thriving.


Dr. McDermott received her Ph.D. from New York University, a professional diploma from Long Island University, and her Masters and Bachelor degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In addition to being superintendent of schools, she has served as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; principal; district director of English Language Arts, Reading, Second Language and ESL; and English teacher. She was also a regional director with a national professional development organization that provided high-quality, embedded learning experiences for urban educators.

Her legacy project is to eradicate the crime of squandered potential.