Lawson will join the 19-member board for a three-year term beginning Aug. 1, 2022.

Lawson, principal of Indio High School in the Desert Sands USD, has served as ACSA’s state liaison to NASSP since 2015.

This marks the first time that ACSA is represented on the national boards of both NASSP and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Le Grand Union Elementary Superintendent/Principal Scott Borba is currently serving a three-year term on NAESP.

As a NASSP board member, Lawson will influence policy decisions and legislation that will assist the work of principals nationwide.

Lawson said he is both excited and humbled by this opportunity to serve school leaders at this level.

“My actual first thought was, ‘My heavens — I’m just a homegrown, small-town boy from a desert community,” he said. “I’ve been selected to serve on a national board as we are in the midst of a watershed moment where our educational system is poised for dramatic reshaping that will impact generations, and I will be a part of that effort.”

In 2020, Lawson received the Distinguished Service to NASSP Award, which recognizes service that has contributed significantly to NASSP’s vision to support great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student.

Last year, Lawson was honored as NASSP’s 2021 Advocacy Champion of the Year for his work advocating on behalf of students during distance learning and organizing other school leaders to share their stories with their elected representatives.

Lawson is currently the NASSP State Coordinator for California as well as Lead Coordinator for NASSP Region 7, which includes the states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington. He also facilitates professional development for school site leaders as a director of ACSA’s Principals Academy.

Lawson said, “This next level of service provides the opportunity to represent principals not only in California but across the country as we seek to 1) support our profession as we emerge from the unprecedented impact of an unexpected pandemic; 2) advocate and inform our policymakers, who are not education practitioners, regarding the impact and the implementation of their decisions; 3) serve our education community in the emerging reshaping of the educational paradigm; and 4) promote a variety of access formats and entry points for principals at different experience levels.”