Carol Lyons is the Director of the Office of Investing in Innovation, which manages the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) program, the Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE) directed grants, and the Ready to Learn Television program.

Ms. Lyons has over 30 years of experience working with discretionary grant and contract programs at the Department. She has served as a program officer for art education programs, field initiated studies, library literacy programs, and several ERIC clearinghouses. Ms. Lyons has also worked on several Department grant initiatives including a redesign of the Department's grants process. She has a master's of public administration degree from George Washington University and a bachelor's degree in English Education from the University of Virginia.