Amy Hawn Nelson is currently with the University of Pennsylvania in the School of Social Policy and Practice in the Actional Intelligence for Social Policy as the director of training and technical assistance and was formerly the director of the Institute for Social Policy. Previously Amy was the director of social research for the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, as well as assistant principal at Kennedy Charter Public School. She has been the recipient of numerous sponsored research and awards and has also authored or co-authored five books or chapters, numerous white papers and articles in publications. She holds a PhD in Philosophy, Curriculum & Instruction, and Urban Education, a Masters in School Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, and two Bachelor of Arts degrees from North Carolina State University. 

She's served on the North Carolina Early Childhood Data Advisory Council since 2019 and is also a member of Arts Impact CLT. In 2015, Amy was named Charlottean of the Year by Charlotte Magazine. She lives in Charlotte with her family.