Amber Flores

Senior Director of Strategic Projects

aflores@niet.org

Amber Flores is an accomplished education leader with more than 20 years of experience as an educator, instructional coach, and system-level leader. A proud Milken Educator, Amber began her career in the classroom before moving into school and district leadership roles, where she developed a strong foundation in instructional practice, coaching, and educator development.

At NIET, Amber has served in multiple roles, including Senior Specialist, Texas Director, and now Senior Director of Strategic Projects. Her work has included supporting federal grants, advancing leader and literacy development through high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), supporting TAP implementation, and partnering with states and districts to strengthen instructional systems and build educator capacity.

In her current role, Amber leads all NIET educator platforms, including the EE PASS platform, overseeing the strategy, development, and implementation of tools and resources that support educator growth and continuous improvement. Her leadership bridges innovation, operations, and instructional excellence, advancing NIET’s mission to ensure excellent teaching and learning for all students.

Amber Flores

Why are you passionate about working at NIET?

NIET's core values align to mine as an educator and leader. I have worked alongside several very talented NIET staff for years, as a mentor and master teacher. I was always inspired by their passion for growing teachers and students. Working for NIET allows me to pay it forward as I work with districts to ensure that every student has a high-quality teacher in each classroom. I am most proud of the relationships that have been built on each campus I support and the growth I am seeing in the leadership teams in regards to mindset and building teacher capacity.

Who is your favorite teacher?

I have many teachers who made an impact in my life. Mr. Shirtum, an algebra teacher, was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that we mastered the content. He was always available and worked with us before and after school in addition to during school, including lunch. He believed that we were all capable of mastering the content. Because of him, I was able to tutor others during college and after having him as my teacher I had a strong math foundation that has helped me throughout my teaching career.

What is your super power/hidden talent?

I am a listener and thinker and often not the most talkative in a group. However, in doing so, I have a keen ability to identify the root-cause of a problem to help come up with a solution.