Elizabeth Duncan Koontz (June 3, 1919 – January 6, 1989)[1] was an American figure in education, civil rights and the women's movement.

She was the first African-American president of the National Education Association and director of the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau.

Koontz' first teaching job was a fourth-grade teacher at Harnett County Training School in Dunn, North Carolina working with special needs students.

During her presidency, she took the conservative and rural-oriented organization in a more liberal direction, notably establishing the Human and Civil Rights Division of the NEA.

[9][10] She was a member of the national Advisory Council of the Education of Disadvantaged children in 1965, during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s term and served as Assistant Secretary for the Coordination of Nutrition Programs in the North Carolina Department of Human Resources.

[7] In 1969, she was appointed by Richard Nixon as the first African-American director of the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau.

[11] As the head of the Bureau, Koontz helped to: share research and expertise with women abroad; address and eliminate discrimination against women and minorities in the workforce; identify discriminatory provisions in State statutes; support and fight for passage of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

[15] Elizabeth Duncan Koontz Elementary School, which opened in 2006 in Salisbury, is named in her honor.