If there’s one thing that activates Ami Shackelford’s inner disruptor, it’s hearing someone say that’s how things have always been done.

“My response is usually, ‘How do you know that’s the best way?’” she says.

As chief financial officer for San Diego Unified School District, Shackelford has built her career around challenging assumptions, solving complex problems, and helping organizations rethink the systems that support their work. Whether redesigning financial processes, implementing new tools, or helping teams adapt to change, her approach is rooted in continuous improvement.

“Curiosity has always been one of my biggest strengths,” she says. “I enjoy figuring out how things work, why they work that way, and whether there’s a better solution.”
She applied this approach early in her tenure at San Diego Unified, where she recognized an opportunity to improve the district’s position control system and led the charge to design a solution. This effort required collaboration across finance, human resources and technology teams to create a more accurate connection between job positions, employees and budgets.

“It was a heavy lift, but something that was definitely needed,” she says. The redesigned system ultimately made budgeting and position tracking much easier and far more accurate.”
Shackelford developed her disruptive mindset after launching her career in corporate finance, working as a financial planner and analyst for technology-driven companies such as Boeing, Qwest Communications and Xcel Energy. Today, she applies that same problem-solving mindset to public education, where the impact is measured not by shareholder value, but by opportunities for students.

While helping guide California’s second-largest school district through a time of significant financial challenges, she leads a cross-functional budget reduction effort designed to keep the impact as far away from classrooms as possible while improving processes and leveraging automation. For Shackelford, success is measured not just in balanced budgets and improved systems, but in what those achievements make possible for students.

“My philosophy is that finance exists to support education, not the other way around,” she says. “When reductions don’t impact the classroom and students still have opportunities – a field trip, a new textbook, keeping their favorite teacher – that is how I define success.”

That philosophy also shapes her leadership style. While she remains passionate about moving quickly to solve problems, she recognizes that lasting change requires bringing people along. “I don’t like hearing someone is stuck,” says the self-described cyber detective. “Let me help you figure it out.”

At the same time, she adds, “I’ve learned over the years and at different districts that you can’t move 100 miles an hour because you have to be respectful and acknowledge everyone has different perspectives and different speeds.”

As a lifelong learner, Shackelford relies on her professional network – including the shared learning community she has found within CASBO – to help her stay on top of new developments, from emerging technology like artificial intelligence to evolving practices in school finance. For her, the work is never finished.

“You don’t have to know everything,” she says. “You just have to be curious enough to find the answer and committed to continually improving.”