Shelia Banks is a senior specialist at NIET for LA BOLD. Before coming to NIET, she served as the TAP Director and Executive Master Teacher for New Orleans Public Schools. Shelia successfully supported and grew both traditional and charter schools in the city of New Orleans. She has also served as a program design specialist for Orleans and network support specialist for Jefferson Parish Schools. Shelia has engaged with the Louisiana Department of Education as a teacher leader advisor, PARCC Cadre member, and trainer for the Literacy Design Collaborative. Her other endeavors in education include highlighted videos on teachingchannel.org. Shelia has written blogs and webinars for NIET centered on supporting diverse learners.

Shelia earned a Bachelor of Science from Louisiana State University in biological sciences and a Master of Arts from Xavier University of Louisiana in educational leadership. She is currently attends Franklin University where she is a doctoral candidate working on her doctorate of professional studies in instructional design leadership.