Abby Johnson
Associate Director of Specialty Services
As the Associate Director of Specialty Services, Abby supervises the team that delivers direct support to school districts by focusing on innovative strategies to alleviate the nationwide teacher shortage. Specialty Services specializes in special education teacher and paraprofessional staffing, building sustainable educator pathways, credentialling, monitoring, and compliance, helping navigate difficulties with licensure requirements, and assisting individuals to pass required licensure exams through UI’s educator preparation programs. Specialty Services supplements district capacity with talent management by recruiting and screening individuals to ensure they meet each school district partner’s minimum job requirements and that candidates successfully demonstrate the aptitude and competencies to support special education programs. Under Abby’s guidance, UI’s Specialty Services team concentrates on effectively managing candidate onboarding so instructors can quickly and efficiently begin supporting students and peers in special education classrooms and coaching and upskilling talent in alignment with district initiatives and staffing goals. Abby brings distinctive expertise to recruiting and developing grow-your-own (GYO) programs for school districts nationwide. She is highly skilled at independent judgment and initiatives in various complex human resource and risk management functions. Abby is an ethical and experienced professional with a deep understanding of human resources practices. She possesses an inclusive managerial style and the desire to work collaboratively with team members and deliver services with school district partners. Abby understands the unwavering importance of confidentiality and demonstrates a strong relationship-building and problem-solving/solutions-oriented approach to her position. Abby began her education career as a middle school math teacher in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and is an alum of Teach for America. Abby earned her Bachelor of Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and her Master’s of Arts in Professional Communication from Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina).
