Keesha Woods

Keesha Woods is an early education leader with more than two decades of management and policy experience. As executive director of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Head Start and Early Learning Division since May 2011, Keesha has helped transform the agency by building stronger management oversight and collaborative service delivery systems.

Through the Parents as Leaders project that prepares parents to be advocates and leaders, several male engagement initiatives, an active and engaged Policy Council, and parent internships that provide valuable work experience, Keesha empowers parents to be lifelong educators for their children.

Prior to joining LACOE in 1999, Keesha served as a unit manager with the California Department of Social Services, State Licensing Office, for six years. Keesha supervised program monitors and evaluators to ensure child care providers met or exceeded standards of service, helped to establish the first field monitoring system, and worked to bring consistency and increased knowledge for all Head Start grantees in Los Angeles County.

Keesha holds a master’s degree in public administration and a professional certification in leadership management. She is a California Head Start Association board member, a commissioner on the LA County Policy Roundtable, and a fellow of the UCLA Leadership Institute.