Holly Kuzmich

Vice President

Holly Kuzmich is the Vice President of Margaret Spellings and Company. She has deep policy knowledge in education-from preschool and early reading, to higher education and everything in between-and extensive experience in legislative issues. She is a leading authority on the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) from inception to implementation.

Prior to joining Margaret Spellings and Company, Kuzmich served as the Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. In these capacities, she oversaw all communications between the Department and Congress on behalf of the Secretary and served as a member of the Secretary's senior staff, providing strategic advice and counsel on Administration initiatives and working closely with the White House to advance education reform. She led the implementation, regulatory, and reauthorization efforts for NCLB, managed student lending initiatives, and led policy development associated with the nearly $70 billion annual budget. She was tasked with leadership roles on behalf of the Secretary on initiatives including the American Competitiveness Initiative, the rollout of the Academic Competitiveness and SMART Grants programs, school safety in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, and foreign language instruction. She testified before Congress and has extensive press experience, including quotes in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.

Kuzmich came to the Department from the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she served for three years as Associate Director for Education. In that capacity, she developed and coordinated Administration policy on education, organized Presidential events and messaging on education, and developed budget proposals.

Prior to that, Kuzmich served for four years as a professional staff member on education, welfare, and social policy issues for Senator Tim Hutchinson, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Committee. There she played an active role in the drafting of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Higher Education Act, and welfare reform legislation, among others. She started her career working for Senator Dan Coats. She received her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.