Simone Lynch is the Director of the Office of Federal Grant Programs at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). In this role, Simone manages a portfolio of Federal Entitlement grants, including Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds, distributed to over 400 Massachusetts school districts. Simone and her team support school districts from the allocation, implementation, technical assistance, and monitoring of the federal entitlement grant programs, including ESSA, IDEA, Perkins, and ESSER COVID Relief Funds. Throughout her 26+ years at DESE, Simone also has Educational Policy experience in Educator Licensure, Educator Effectiveness and Development, and Teacher Recruitment