Jillayne Flanders, MEd, CAGS

Senior Leadership Advisor

Jill Flanders currently serves as Senior Leadership Advisor to the Center for Educational Improvement (CEI), having previously served as Executive Director and Co-Principal Investigator of the Compassionate School Leadership Academy (CSLA) from January 2024 to June 2025. Prior to that, she held the role of Deputy Director at CEI from 2020 to 2024. With a distinguished career as an elementary principal and teacher, Jill led significant improvements at Hadley Elementary School in Hadley, MA, where she successfully doubled enrollment from 200 to 400 students. A committed advocate for early childhood education, she has contributed her expertise to various policy committees, including an appointment to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Advisory Committee as an elementary principal representative.

As a long-standing CEI Teaching Fellow, Jill has contributed to publications focused on Heart Centered Learning, mindfulness, and visioning. She serves as Membership Chair and Steering Committee Member of the Social Emotional Learning Alliance for Massachusetts (SEL4MA) and is a co-author of Little Learners, Big Hearts and the Leader’s Guide. Jill was an adjunct professor at Westfield State University from 1999 to 2014 and has presented nationally on social emotional learning, inclusive practices, and early childhood standards. Recognized as Massachusetts Principal of the Year and National Distinguished Principal in 2010–2011, she later served on the NAESP Board of Directors (2011–2014). She most recently served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals’ Association and continues to support state initiatives as a consultant to the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the MA School Administrators Association. Jill also serves on the EEC Workforce Council and brings extensive experience in educational leadership, grant fundraising, and program management.