Audrey Levorse joined NASDSE in 2022 as Senior Director of Government Relations and External Affairs.  Prior to joining NASDSE, Ms. Levorse served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education.  While at OSERS, Ms. Levorse developed Federal policy on multiple issues related to the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. 

Prior to OSERS, Ms. Levorse worked directly with families of children with disabilities as they navigated the development and implementation of IEPs in public school systems. 

Ms. Levorse earned her J.D. from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and her undergraduate degree from George Mason University.  She is particularly passionate about ensuring individuals with disabilities have access to both quality services and new opportunities.

In January of 2000, Nancy began her tenure at NASDSE, and since then she has worked on various projects.

Nancy served as a Recruitment Coordinator, for Phoebe Gillespie, on the Personnel Improvement Center; Program Coordinator and CSPD Conference Coordinator for Karl Murray; on the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Services (NEC*TAS) with Luzanne Pierce, and Administrative Support for Joanne Cashman, of the IDEA Partnership.

Currently, Nancy serves as Executive Assistant to John Eisenburg, Executive Director at NASDSE, NASDSEs Office & Publications Manager, and Liaison Coordinator for the NASDSE Annual Conference Sponsors.

Joanne joined the NASDSE staff in 1998 to assume the leadership of the IDEA Partnership. Before coming to NASDSE, Joanne held roles  at the local level and in higher education. She came to NASDSE from the George Washington University where  she served as Director of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program, Leadership for Full Participation. Prior to that role, she served for 26 years as the Director of Special Education, Dropout Prevention, Alternative Education and a Building Principal in the Shikellamy School District, Sunbury PA.

During her tenure at NASDSE, she led the IDEA Partnership, an affiliation of 50 national organizations united to promote cross-stakeholder collaboration and build ally relationships between state education agencies and professional and family  networks. Most recently, Joanne also served on NASDSEs staff to the National Center for Systemic Improvement(NCSI) and was instrumental in organizing the NCSIs service team on communication and collaboration.

Joanne has deep cross-agency experiences and continues to work on projects, advisories and  contracts in adaptive leadership, school-based mental health, communities of practice, military connected students  and cradle-to-college and career systems.

Colleen Riley serves as the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) 

Deborah Zielger 

Deborah A. Ziegler is a consultant specializing in disability policy and practice. She has broad public policy experience at the international, national, state, and local levels. She works to further research and practice through the development of policies affecting children with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work on their behalf. Dr. Ziegler's interests include policy development, implementation, analysis, advocacy and knowledge development, information collection and dissemination. She has expertise in systems design focused on organizational leadership and collaborative partnerships. She consults with international and domestic organizations, associations, governments, and universities.

She served on the boards of and works with international disability organizations, whose focus is the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She has consulted with and provided professional development to nongovernmental/governmental organizations in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to develop and implement policies and practices fostering inclusive education programs and communities for children with disabilities and their families. For two decades, Dr. Ziegler was the Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy at the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), one of the world’s premier professional education associations. As a lobbyist, she worked closely with the U.S. Congress and the Administration to advance research, policy, and practice for children with disabilities and their families. Before joining CEC, she served as a special education teacher, LEA and SEA early intervention and special education administrator, IDEA Part C and Section 619 coordinator, and university faculty.

Dr. Ziegler has consulted widely and written extensively in the policy and practice space. She has received numerous awards recognizing her contributions to the field. Her lifelong commitment to advocacy is to enhance the lives and outcomes of children with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work on their behalf.