Sheila King joined AESA in 2023 as Chief Program Officer, bringing over 35 years of experience in Iowa’s public education system. She spent 17 years at Heartland Area Education Agency, Iowa's largest educational service agency, in various leadership roles, including Interim Chief Administrator, Chief Information Officer, Executive Director of Instructional Services, and Executive Director of District Partnerships.
At Heartland AEA, Sheila provided leadership for many non-special education programs and services, including an extensive professional learning program, as well as communications, technology, and media. She played a key role in redesigning the agency’s regional service delivery model to ensure efficient, equitable, and effective services. Sheila also leveraged the Business Strategy Framework to introduce a new cybersecurity service for districts, showcasing her innovative approach to educational challenges.
Her extensive experience includes mentoring, coaching, and professional development for educators; strategic planning; process improvement; service design; project leadership, implementation, evaluation; and budget management.
Sheila began her career teaching high school and middle school English, speech, and drama, before transitioning to administrative roles, including Middle School Principal and K-12 Director of Curriculum and Assessment. She has taught in master's degree programs at Drake University and Viterbo University and presented at various conferences, including AESA’s Annual and Summer Leadership Conferences. Since 2020, she has co-facilitated the AESA Women’s Leadership Network.
Trained in the Business Strategy Framework, Systems and Service Design, Fierce Conversations, Agile for Education, Kansas Leadership Center Program for Leaders, and Tregoe Facilitation, Sheila is also a tech enthusiast with experience in Mac OS, Google, Microsoft and Zoom platforms; cybersecurity strategy; and custom application development. Sheila holds a license as a Professional Administrator with endorsements in PK-12 Superintendent, AEA Administrator, and PK-12 Principal/Special Education Supervision in Iowa. She resides in Des Moines with her husband, Kevin King.