Dr. Kimberly Kappler Hewitt serves as director for the Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools (PPEERS) program, which involves a partnership with 10 rural districts. The program has been awarded $5.3 million (2016-2022) in grant funding from the North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development.

Dr. Hewitt received the 2016 UNCG School of Education Distinguished Researcher Award and was a 2015 UNCG Faculty Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Honoree. Dr. Hewitt teaches instructional leadership, data use, qualitative methods, and internship classes, and her research focuses on leadership preparation; instructional leadership, equity and social justice, and sustaining reform.