Courtney Winkfield is the Senior Strategy & Policy Advisor for the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Equity & Access. Prior to that, she served as a founding teacher, Assistant Principal and Principal of the Academy for Young Writers, an unscreened, public 6-12 secondary school in East New York, Brooklyn. Under Courtney’s leadership as Principal, Young Writers took significant steps towards expanding opportunities for young people, including increasing the number of AP courses offered, creating multiple STEM pathways for students of all abilities, developing a nationally-recognized 6-12 Gender-Sexuality Alliance to empower and give voice to LGBTQ+ students, and establishing a student-led Restorative Justice program.  Courtney believes in the power of personal relationships in academic achievement and that students achieve at far higher rates when they feel connected to a community.

Courtney grew up across the United States and spent her high school and college years in the Pacific Northwest, earning a Bachelors in English from Lewis & Clark College. A passion for urban education drew Courtney to join the NYC Teaching Fellows in 2004 where she earned her Master’s in English Education from Lehman College CUNY. Courtney lives in South Orange, NJ with her husband of 17 years, David, their two children, Henry and Eleanor.