Former Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring has been hired as a strategic advisor to the United States Secretary of Education, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education.

Herring served as superintendent from 2017 to 2020 before taking the superintendent position in Atlanta Public Schools. Her new role as a consultant and strategic advisor will help shape the department’s strategy to engage state and local officials.

“I am delighted to have Dr. Lisa Herring join us at the Department of Education, a leader whose decades of experience as a teacher and administrator will be a tremendous asset to the Biden-Harris team,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

“As strategic advisor, Dr. Herring will draw upon a professional career that has spanned both rural and urban communities and teaching in both public and private schools to deepen our relationships and collaboration with state and local education leaders. Dr. Herring shares our commitment to accelerating academic recovery in our schools and empowering educators to help students of all backgrounds to find their purpose and fulfill their potential. I look forward to working with her to Raise the Bar in education for all students,” Cardona said.

In Birmingham, Herring cited the most significant achievements during her tenure as the elevation of a handful of city schools from the state’s failing schools list, the creation of programs that addressed student mental health and other initiatives to address challenges students face outside the classroom.

“I believe we’ve planted the right seeds to help [BCS students] grow,” she told AL.com at the time of her departure from BCS.

Herring left Birmingham to become Atlanta’s superintendent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020. Atlanta’s Board of Education declined to renew Herring’s contract in June. She stepped down in August.

She also previously worked in schools in Kentucky, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.