Vernon M. Billy
CEO & Executive Director
Vernon M. Billy serves as the Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director for the California School Boards Association (CSBA). Billy provides executive leadership for the association, which represents and serves the elected and appointed members of the governing boards of approximately 1,000 school districts and county offices of education in California. He is responsible for planning, organizing and leading the staff, programs and activities of CSBA.
Billy worked for CSBA in the early 1990s as a senior legislative advocate managing the association’s advocacy on critical education issues involving Proposition 98, charter schools, special education and numerous other complex policy issues. He also served as the governmental relations director for the San Francisco Unified School District, and governmental affairs director for California's largest district, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), under Superintendent (and former Governor) Roy Romer.
Billy has been involved in the business, legislative and political process for three decades, linking his experience and knowledge of education policy with his business interest. He has served as an owner and partner of several successful policy and advocacy firms as well as the former vice president of a multimillion-dollar education services company, which he played a key role in building. In each of these roles, he represented numerous school districts, education companies and nonprofit organizations. His history working closely with superintendents, boards and district staff to advance their education policy goals, manage public relations crises and develop strategies to support students is extensive. This track record, combined with his noted political acumen, policy expertise and firsthand experience of building a successful business has helped him successfully lead CSBA for more than a decade.
Vernon is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a graduate of California State University, Sacramento. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in government/international relations.