Christy Hovanetz is a Senior Policy Fellow at ExcelinEd. She served as the Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Education and Assistant Deputy Commissioner at the Florida Department of Education. Christy started working in education policy for the state of Florida in 1999 and served in various capacities including as a Policy Analyst for Governor Jeb Bush, Director of Reading First and Director of School Accountability at the Department. Christy graduated summa cum laude from St. Cloud State University with a BS in Education, a minor in math, and is a Minnesota certified teacher. She earned her MPA at the University of Minnesota and Ph.D. in Public Policy at Florida State University.