Charlene M. Russell-Tucker was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont as Commissioner for the Connecticut State Department of Education in August 2021 after having served as Acting Commissioner. Prior to becoming Acting Commissioner, she served as the Department’s Deputy Commissioner, managing educational supports and wellness priorities, and as Chief Operating Officer overseeing the Office of Student Supports and Organizational Effectiveness. She also served as Associate Commissioner of Education and Bureau Chief within the Department, previously overseeing a portfolio of programs and services that included student health, nutrition and safety, family engagement, magnet and charter schools, afterschool programs and services, school climate, adult education, and special education. She is a performance-driven and visionary education leader with over 20 years’ experience in successfully leveraging the inter-connectedness of the social, emotional, physical, and mental health of students and their families as foundations for positive school and life outcomes. She passionately supports family and community engagement in education and has successfully led school attendance and school discipline initiatives with intensive focus on equity and diversity.

Ms. Russell-Tucker has participated on various state and national committees, such as the Connecticut General Assembly Committee on Children Strategic Action Group on Chronic Absence, and testifying at US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) hearings on Supporting Students and Schools: Promising Practices to Get Back on Track (June 2022); and Why Are So Many American Youth in a Mental Health Crisis? Exploring Causes and Solutions (June 2023).  She has served as an expert panel member on committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She has also served in the role of president of the Connecticut Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and as a member of the national Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Ms. Russell-Tucker has extensive teaching experience, formerly serving as an adjunct faculty member at Albertus Magnus College School of New Dimensions.  

In 2015, Ms. Russell-Tucker was named to the inaugural class of 100 Women of Color in Connecticut. In 2018, she was welcomed to the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading's Council of Champions. Most recently, she received MENTOR National’s Public Service – State & Local Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2021 and was also named among the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut by the CT NAACP. In 2022, Ms. Russell Tucker was awarded the Albertus Magnus College prestigious honor, the St. Dominic Medal, in recognition of her distinguished achievements and her service to society. In 2023, she was awarded the CABE Friend of Public Education Award. On a personal note, Ms. Russell-Tucker believes in finding and fulfilling one’s life’s purpose.