Our Leadership

Chong-Hao Fu is a career educator and former school leader who knows firsthand that excellent teaching changes lives. He has served as the CEO of Leading Educators since 2018.

Since joining Leading Educators 12 years ago as Chief Program Officer, Chong-Hao has led groundbreaking efforts to maximize the influence of our nation’s educators and accelerate learning in some of the fastest-improving school systems in the country. He is a nationally recognized thought leader on teacher leadership and professional learning, instructional practice, teacher teaming, AI-enabled improved, and sustainable systems change.

Beyond Leading Educators, Chong-Hao is actively engaged in efforts to shape the future of teaching and learning as the co-chair of the Research Partnership for Professional Learning, an advisory board member for the ASU Next Education Workforce, and a steering committee member for the Coalition to Reimagine the Teaching Role. He also serves on the board of directors for the New Teacher Center and is a member of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) and the Pahara Institute Fellowship.

Before his time at Leading Educators, Chong-Hao was the founding principal at KIPP Sharpstown in Houston, Texas. He began his teaching career as a middle and high school math teacher in Greenville, Mississippi. In 2016, Chong-Hao was a finalist for the Teach for America Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from National Louis University.

Karolyn Belcher works to extend the reach of Leading Educators’ high-impact instructional services as Chief Growth Officer. Leveraging more than three decades of experience as a teacher, principal, teacher trainer, and school system leader, she helps school systems maximize their resources to reimagine teaching and learning for a rapidly changing world.

Karolyn most recently served as interim superintendent at Achievement First, a nationally recognized charter network of over forty schools in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island, and chief academic officer at Charleston County School District (CCSD). While at CCSD, she initiated systemic investments that positioned students to post significant gains on NAEP between 2019 and 2024 despite pandemic disruptions—a testament to her ability to drive meaningful, measurable student outcomes. Before that, she was the president of TNTP, guiding the organization through a period of remarkable growth that expanded its reach sixfold.

She also served as interim chief talent officer for the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools network in Los Angeles and founded the John A. Reisenbach Charter School in Harlem, N.Y. Karolyn earned her degrees from Mount Holyoke College and Teachers College at Columbia University.

Albert is a father, partner, and lifelong Lakers fan. He champions Leading Educators’ efforts to cultivate the design, research, and delivery capabilities to enable future-ready teaching and learning as Chief Innovation Officer.

Previously, as the Managing Director of Innovation, he led nationally recognized work to launch the first-of-its-kind School Teams AI Collaborative and develop the Value Add of Technology on Teaching (VATT) framework. Before Leading Educators, Albert served as the program director for The Broad Residency, where he was responsible for the strategy, design, and execution of learning experiences for K-12 leaders. He was also the deputy director of operations and program expansion for Ramapo for Children, managing director of program design for iMentor, and national director of education for YouthBuild USA.

Albert holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts in philosophy from Boston College and a Masters of Education in Education Leadership from Boston University, with a graduate certificate in program planning, management, monitoring, and evaluation. He is also a proud graduate of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Dr. LaKimbre Brown is a dedicated educational leader with 25 years of experience in education. As the Chief of Program, she leads Leading Educators' national implementation teams, setting and executing the organization's programmatic strategy to ensure high-quality programming and coaching for partners that drive instructional gains for teachers and students.

Dr. Brown has established herself as a key organizational leader. Prior to her role at Leading Educators, she served as Chief of Schools and Instructional Superintendent, principal and teacher. She has successfully increased the number of students graduating with an Associate's degree by 54% and identified high-yield teaching and data analysis strategies that moved a district's Gap Closing component on state report cards from F to B.

Before joining Leading Educators, Dr. Brown established herself as a National Board Certified Teacher and Coach, as well as a two-time Fulbright Scholar who traveled to Japan and Brazil to study the organization of their educational systems.

Dr. Brown holds a Doctor of Education degree and Early Adolescent Mathematics National Board Certification. When not working, she is an avid cyclist who has taken multiple cross-state biking adventures up and down the east and west coasts. She also loves building Lego sets and the creativity that comes during the construction process. Dr. Brown is a skilled leader who brings out the best in those with whom she works. She loves talking about the art of both teaching and leading.

Simone is an educator and operational leader who enjoys proving the possible. As the Chief Operating Officer, she oversees strategic planning, people, technology systems and facilities operations for the organization.

Before she joined Leading Educators, Simone was a principal in KIPP Texas (formerly KIPP Houston). Prior to that she was an assistant principal, a science teacher, and a Teach for America corps member. Before taking on her current role at Leading Educators, she served as a Program Director and a Managing Director of Program. She holds a Masters of Education Administration from National Louis University and an MBA from Tulane University.

As a first generation college student, Simone understands first hand the transformative impact of educational access on individuals, families, and generations. She believes that all students deserve access to high quality education to build the lives they desire. Having dedicated her career to instructional excellence, her mission is to contribute to work that aims to make that a reality.

She currently lives in Sacramento, California with her husband and her dog, Penny. She spends her free time finding new dog parks, binge watching Netflix, and exploring the beauty of northern California.

Katie Murphy is a dedicated education strategist and proud mom of three boys. As the Managing Director of Strategy on the Leadership Team, she ensures progress toward annual goals aligned to the strategic plan, coordinates leadership team decision-making, and acts as the primary liaison between the COE and board. Katie also manages Internal Communications and oversees special projects and cross-functional initiatives that may fall outside individual departments.

In her first 6 years at Leading Educators, Katie served as the Managing Director of Networks, supporting teams in Louisiana, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Chicago. She also successfully launched the System Advising and the Science teams, helping expand the organization's impact.

Katie holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA. When not working, she enjoys reading, supporting her kids' many activities, and swimming.

Sarah Ledon serves as Senior Vice President of Partnerships, bringing over two decades of experience in advancing educational opportunity and improving instructional leadership at scale.

Sarah began her career as a classroom teacher in both general and special education before moving into roles as an instructional coach and school leader. Most recently, she served as Managing Partner and Interim Vice President at TNTP, where she led regional strategy for the West and Midwest and grew impact. Her work focused on building inclusive team cultures, driving impact through strategic planning, and strengthening partnerships with districts and systems.

Previously, Sarah served as Executive Director at Achievement Network (ANet) and contributed nationally through roles with UnBoundEd, Teaching Lab, Khan Academy, Student Achievement Partners, and EdReports. She holds degrees in Elementary and Special Education, Curriculum & Instruction: Literacy, and Educational Leadership.

Sarah lives in Livermore, California with her spouse, children and dogs.

Maxine Webb leads strategic efforts to secure philanthropic investment in promising innovations with the potential to improve teaching and learning at scale. She previously served at Managing Director of Development, joining Leading Educators in 2022.

Before joining Leading Educators, Maxine served as Director of Development & Strategic Operations at the ACLU of Wisconsin and has more than 15 years of experience leading fundraising programs. She holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and lives in Whitefish Bay, WI with her two children.

Laura Meili brings two decades of experience in teaching, learning, and research to her work at Leading Educators. As the Senior Vice President of Learning & Research, she leads efforts to understand the impact of professional learning to improve teaching and learning and to codify, share, and scale what works to support more students, teachers, and leaders.

Over 11 years at Leading Educators, Laura has led the redesign of programming focused on the Common Core State Standards, teaching and leading for equity, instructional leadership, and content cycles. She has supported significant student impact through LE's programs and partnered with internal and external researchers to understand, validate, and spread this impact to partners nationwide.

Before joining Leading Educators, Laura worked in the Office of Professional Learning at the Chicago Public Schools and started her career teaching reading and writing to middle school students on Chicago's south side.

Laura holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and an M.Ed. in Literacy, Language, and Culture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She lives in the Chicago area, where she spends her free time outside, with family and friends, or reading too many books at once.

Javier Cortez Infantas is a strategic financial leader with a passion for educational excellence for all. As the Senior Vice President of Finance, he oversees all finance functions to ensure the sustainability of Leading Educators' mission, including accounting, budgeting, forecasting, implementation of finance policies, cost modeling, pricing, and investment management.

Over his two years at Leading Educators, Javier has led significant improvements to the organization's financial operations. He successfully transitioned the accounting function from a consultant-heavy model to an in-house team, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness. Under his leadership, the month-end close process was reduced from over two months to just 15 business days, and he has developed an economic model that defines the path to sustainable growth in alignment with the organization's strategic plan.

Before joining Leading Educators, Javier built extensive experience in financial strategy and operations management. His career includes roles as a private equity manager, head of finance for a motion unit at Intercorp (one of Peru's largest business groups), and financial leadership positions at KIPP New Orleans and Orleans Parish School Board.

Javier holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, a Master in Educational Leadership from Yale University through The Broad Residency Program, a Certificate in Education Finance from Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, and a BS in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico. When not managing Leading Educators' $23 million annual budget, Javier enjoys watching and playing soccer with his son, exploring restaurants, attending heavy metal concerts, and playing electric guitar.

Dr. Shelbi Cole is the Managing Director of Math at Leading Educators, where she leads national efforts to improve mathematics instruction. She oversees initiatives that support creating and sustaining systems for delivering high-quality, joyful, standards-aligned math learning.

Before joining Leading Educators, Dr. Cole was a Math Director at Student Achievement Partners, leading national projects in partnership with states, districts, nonprofits, and curriculum developers. She previously served as Director of Mathematics for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, leading the multi-state collaborative in developing an assessment system from the ground up following the release of the Common Core State Standards. Dr. Cole currently serves as the chair for the Inclusion and Accessibility in Educational Assessment Special Interest Group for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and is a member of the Smarter Balanced Technical Advisory Committee.

Dr. Cole began her career as a high school math teacher and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut. Outside of work, she enjoys boating near Tampa Bay and spending time with her four children.

Dr. Mitchell Brookins is a nationally recognized practitioner and educational consultant with 20+ years in K–12 as teacher, coach, administrator, district leader, and thought leader. As a school administrator, he led instructional efforts that yielded measurable gains—raising DIBELS scores from 43% to 72%, increasing LEAP state assessment results by 16 points, and improving school letter grades from “D” to “C” within one year at both ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy and Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy.

He has presented at Amplify’s Symposium, PaTTAN Literacy Symposium, Keys to Literacy, The Reading League Summit, the Black Men in Education Convening, the Black Literacy Matters Conference, and the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children Conference. He also leads a citywide literacy fellowship in partnership with New Schools for New Orleans, supporting over 40 literacy leaders across the city.

As Managing Director at Leading Educators, he drives system-level change in Jackson Public Schools, Baltimore City Schools, San Mateo-Foster City School District, and Omaha Public Schools, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Reading League.

He holds a B.A. in Elementary Education, an M.A. in Teacher Leadership, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration.

Dr. Mark Healy is a skilled instructional leader with extensive experience in education. As the Managing Director of System Advising on the Program Team, he guides partners in implementing effective solutions to enhance teaching and learning for all students.

Since joining Leading Educators in August 2024, Mark has helped co-create an Instructional Framework with Burlington Public Schools and design partnerships with strategic staffing partners to strengthen the teaching profession in Jackson, Mississippi, and across Michigan.

Before joining Leading Educators, Mark served as Senior Director of Program and Partnerships with New Teacher Center, where he oversaw diverse partnerships and provided academic strategy leadership to school districts nationwide. His career spans roles as a teacher, curriculum developer, professional development facilitator, adjunct faculty member, school principal, and district leader across Canada and the United States.

Mark holds a Doctorate in Educational and Organizational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, he enjoys traveling and attending HIIT classes at his local gym.

Michael Freeland Jr. is a mission-driven education leader who has spent his career helping schools unlock excellence for every student. As Managing Director of National Program Growth and Impact at Leading Educators, he leads national partnerships that expand access to high-quality instructional materials and professional learning for educators across the country. In this role, Michael helps districts and funders align around bold visions for student learning and ensures program teams deliver with excellence.

Over the past six years at Leading Educators, Michael has worn many hats—Senior Director of Networks, Program Director, and Instructional Leadership Coach—while spearheading the organization’s expansion across regions. He has built and deepened partnerships with major districts and state networks, aligned cross-functional teams to ambitious goals, and supported large-scale curriculum adoptions in math and literacy. Under his leadership, the Charleston County School District partnership achieved the highest math and ELA growth among the nation’s largest districts—a testament to his ability to scale impact while maintaining a sharp focus on results for students.

Michael holds an M.S. in Education (Learning Design & Technology) from Purdue University and a B.B.A. in Marketing from Morehouse College, where he graduated Cum Laude. Beyond his role at Leading Educators, he serves as Board Chair for DeKalb Brilliance Academy and has organized HBCU college tours to expand opportunities for students in his community.

When he’s not working, you’ll find him enjoying family time and pouring into the next generation. Michael is guided by a simple but powerful belief: every student deserves the opportunity to make choices about their future.

Brian Heger is the Managing Director of Program Growth & Impact at Leading Educators, where he drives strategic expansion and high-quality implementation of instructional partnerships across the West Coast. With more than 14 years of experience in education, edtech, and global startup ecosystems, Brian has built a career at the intersection of sales, strategy, and educational excellence. He has successfully led multi-year partnerships with some of the largest K–12 school systems in the country, guided cross-functional teams to align programmatic strategy with measurable outcomes, and developed scalable solutions that improve teaching and learning.

Before joining Leading Educators, Brian held senior roles in business development, operations, and instructional design at organizations including Lexia Learning, Green Guardians, and international education ventures in China and the Dominican Republic. His career began in the classroom, where teaching abroad sparked a lifelong commitment to creating access and opportunity for all learners. Brian brings a collaborative and data-driven approach to every partnership, championing the belief that every student deserves excellent teaching every day.

Rebecca believes school systems deserve access to strong evidence and useful data about what will serve their students and communities. She has served as the Managing Director of Research and Data since 2018. Since joining the team 12 years ago, her research efforts that have grown Leading Educators' evidence base to include 21 cases that meet the Every Student Succeeds Act evidence standards at Promising or higher.

She has led numerous studies at Leading Educators using rigorous causal methods and innovative mixed-methods approaches. These studies have been published in the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness and the Learning Professional, among other outlets. In addition to research studies, Rebecca leads the Research and Data team to ensure every project is designed with a contextualized data strategy and sophisticated data systems to collect, transform, and visualize data. Ultimately, this work provides each partner with timely, useful data to understand and grow their impact.

Rebecca brings 14 years of experience in designing, leading, and communicating the results of evaluations that are both rigorous and accessible to stakeholders and 4 years of experience working in high-needs schools. Prior to joining Leading Educators, she was a Research Fellow at Tulane University. She received her bachelor’s in Anthropology from the University of California Berkeley and her masters in Anthropology from Tulane University.

Carlton J. Nichols, Sr is a strategic People & Talent leader with extensive experience in organizational design and HR transformation. As the Managing Director of People & Talent at Leading Educators, he serves as the lead for the organization's talent strategy and HR operations, advising leaders on aligning human capital decisions with organizational strategy and growth priorities.

Over 3 years at Leading Educators, Carlton has served as Director of Talent Systems and Interim Senior Director of People & Talent. He has architected AI-enabled solutions across talent processes—reducing recruiting cycle time by over 60% and eliminating hours of manual work, led through critical transitions while modernizing People operations, and redesigned operating models to improve efficiency while maintaining quality and impact.

Before joining Leading Educators, Carlton held leadership roles at Teach For America, where he advised national leadership on HR technology strategy and talent acquisition, and at Cascade Energy, where he transformed executive recruiting practices while significantly increasing organizational diversity.

Carlton holds the SHRM-CP certification and is passionate about supporting people to reach their wildest dreams.

Saya is a people person who loves to support others to make the change they want to see. She leads internal goal setting, cross-functional collaboration, and healthy organizational growth as the Managing Director of Organizational Effectiveness.

Previously, Saya led COVID-19 preparedness, internal communications and emergency response, manager development, and internal culture initiatives as the Director of People and Culture. Before that, Saya worked on the LEAP project with DC Public Schools, also overseeing operations and event management of LE national and DC’s LEAP summer training conferences.

Before joining LE, Saya served in various roles at Teach for America for eleven years, including Managing Director of Talent, Strategy and Operations for the South Carolina region, Director of Operations Training, Director of Institute Operations for the Philadelphia Summer Institute, and Operations Coordinator. She also worked as an English teacher at a junior high school in Hitachiomiya, Japan.

Saya graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a degree in International Studies and Spanish. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid and is working toward Diversity Coach Certification through the Coach Diversity Institute. She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and currently lives in Washington, DC.

Rich is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 30 years’ experience managing, auditing and providing accounting and Controller services to non-profits across the United States. As Controller for Leading Educators, Rich will apply his extensive knowledge to generate new ideas and focus on the best solutions for LE. Although Rich is very detail oriented, he can also see the “big picture” providing advice and recommendations on a variety of accounting issues.

Before joining Leading Educators, Rich was employed by Your Part Time Controller, LLC, providing outsourced Controller and CFO services to a variety of non-profit clients.

Rich holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Shippensburg University with concentrations in Accounting and Business Information Systems.

Rich is passionate about animal rescue, serving as Treasurer of the Better Days Animal League, a no-kill animal rescue that has saved and found loving homes for more than 5,000 companion animals since its inception. Rich also enjoys reading, hiking and working out.

Driven by a deep love of learning and an unwavering commitment to excellent education for all children, Alisha Watts Burr is a professional development specialist and educator dedicated to empowering educators and ensuring all students have the experiences they deserve. Her work is rooted in the conviction that schools should be places where every child is seen, valued, and able to reach their full potential.

Most recently, as Senior Director of Networks on the Charleston team, Alisha played a key role in deepening educator and district leader practice and improving student outcomes in Charleston County School District. Her nine-year tenure at LE has also included leading math professional learning as a Director of Content for our partnership with Tulsa Public Schools (Empower) and supporting school and district leaders as an Instructional Leadership Coach with our partnership with District of Columbia Public Schools (LEAP).

Before joining LE, Alisha gained valuable experience as a special education teacher, math teacher, and academic dean at high-performing charter schools in Washington, D.C. Alisha holds an A.B. in Psychology from Princeton University and an M.A. in Social Psychology from the University of Arizona. She resides in Maryland with her husband and two sons, finding joy in cooking, traveling (especially to a beach), and spending time with family.

Claudine Andrews is a strategic instructional leader with over a decade of experience in mathematics education and leadership development. As the Senior Director of Implementation and Growth, she leads systems of school support across Chicago, North Chicago, and Fort Worth to ensure program participants apply high-leverage instructional and cultural leadership practices.

Over her years at Leading Educators, Claudine has served as Director of Content for Math, Instructional Leadership Coach, and now Senior Director. She has successfully co-developed proposals and scopes of work that contributed to renewed and expanded district partnerships, generating over $850,000 in program revenue while delivering high-impact programming aligned to grant objectives.

Before joining Leading Educators, Claudine coached teachers at the Academy for Urban School Leadership and the University of Chicago Charter School, where she led data-driven instructional planning and peer coaching initiatives. Her teaching experience includes roles at University of Chicago Charter School and Our Lady of the Gardens, where she implemented balanced literacy, project-based learning, and data-driven methods.

Claudine holds an M.S.Ed in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University and a B.A. in Sociology and French Literature from Boston College. When not working to strengthen educational systems, Claudine brings her commitment to educational excellence to her community, having served as a South Berwyn District 100 School Board Member. Claudine currently resides outside of Detroit, MI with her husband and two children.

Emily Schriber is the Managing Director of AI Strategy at Leading Educators, where she leads the design and scaling of new models that integrate artificial intelligence into instructional systems to improve teaching and learning across school districts. She oversees the AI Strategy and Innovation teams, supporting pilots, guiding adaptive planning, and helping systems respond to a rapidly evolving educational landscape.

She brings over two decades of experience in instructional leadership, systems design, and strategic advising with schools and national networks. Her work is grounded in the belief that innovation must be practical, future-oriented, and anchored in the day-to-day realities of educators. A former teacher and coach, she now helps education systems build the capabilities they need to lead meaningful change in an era of rapid transformation.

Alex Magiera is the Managing Director of Innovation at Leading Educators, where she helps reimagine the future of teaching and learning. She leads the organization’s innovation strategy to move bold ideas from ideation to pilot to scale, guided by a core conviction: innovation must start with educators, be anchored in coherence, and ultimately serve student learning.

At Leading Educators, Alex has launched field-defining pilots including a tech-enabled literacy initiative in New York City, the School Teams AI Collaborative, and summer experiences that explored durable skills, student agency, and AI-enabled learning. Her leadership has also spanned content design, program strategy, and organizational innovation, where she worked to ensure that bold ideas were not just imagined but implemented and sustained. She began her LE journey designing professional development for early childhood educators in Tulsa, with a focus on language development and affirming the strengths of multilingual learners. Across all of this work, she prioritizes connecting people, ideas, and strengths in ways that unlock something new.

Before joining LE, Alex worked at TNTP in multiple roles and partnered with teachers, district leaders, and state leaders across the country to co-create and scale meaningful solutions. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher, an experience that deepened her love for early childhood education and continues to shape her perspective on what students need most. With more than 15 years in public education, Alex is dedicated to helping educators meet the evolving needs of students and communities.

She holds a BA in Sociology from Pepperdine University, an MA in Education from Alliant International University, and certificates in Foresight, Human-Centered Design, and Service Design. Outside of work, Alex is a proud aunt, Pilates enthusiast, and lifelong Cubs fan. She is also a committed advocate for ending Alzheimer’s, inspired by the loss of her mother to early-onset Alzheimer’s, an experience that deepens her belief in dignity and care at every stage of life.

Adan Garcia is a communications and public policy strategist with more than a decade of experience in education improvement. As Senior Director of Communications, he leads efforts to spread promising insights about driving system-wide impact, inspire collective action across the sector, and grow the mission through thought leadership, publishing, engagement efforts, and cross-sector coalitions.

Over the past 10 years at Leading Educators, Adan has shaped several new communications roles, contributing to significant thought leadership efforts, including Open Up Opportunity, the Value Add of Teaching on Technology Framework (VATT), and Scaling What Works. Adan has helped platform Leading Educators' work in significant education forums, including the ASU+GSV Summit, SXSW EDU, ISTELive + ASCD, and the Learning Forward Conference, while securing coverage in Education Week, Forbes, The74, The Learning Professional, and ASCD. Previously, he supported 30 open-enrollment public charter schools in Washington, D.C. to strengthen teacher leadership as a regional program manager and served on the steering committee for two national institutes. Before that, Adan developed evaluation strategies for educator voice programs in NY, CO, and MI at America Achieves. He has also coached young social entrepreneurs and co-instructed courses in public leadership with the College Park Scholars and the Rawlings Undergraduate Leadership Fellows programs at the University of Maryland.

Adan holds an MPP in Social Policy and Nonprofit Management from the University of Maryland and a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from the University of Arizona. He enjoys the performing arts, travel, and volunteers as an advisory board member for NMKidsCAN.

Chong-Hao Fu is a career educator and former school leader who knows firsthand that excellent teaching changes lives. He has served as the CEO of Leading Educators since 2018.

Since joining Leading Educators 12 years ago as Chief Program Officer, Chong-Hao has led groundbreaking efforts to maximize the influence of our nation’s educators and accelerate learning in some of the fastest-improving school systems in the country. He is a nationally recognized thought leader on teacher leadership and professional learning, instructional practice, teacher teaming, AI-enabled improved, and sustainable systems change.

Beyond Leading Educators, Chong-Hao is actively engaged in efforts to shape the future of teaching and learning as the co-chair of the Research Partnership for Professional Learning, an advisory board member for the ASU Next Education Workforce, and a steering committee member for the Coalition to Reimagine the Teaching Role. He also serves on the board of directors for the New Teacher Center and is a member of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoC) and the Pahara Institute Fellowship.

Before his time at Leading Educators, Chong-Hao was the founding principal at KIPP Sharpstown in Houston, Texas. He began his teaching career as a middle and high school math teacher in Greenville, Mississippi. In 2016, Chong-Hao was a finalist for the Teach for America Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from National Louis University.

Ann Blakeney Clark brings more than 25 years of experience leading instruction and system improvement in one of the nation’s largest school districts.

She previously served as superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after holding a wide range of leadership roles, including principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; principal supervisor; chief academic officer; and deputy superintendent.
As chief academic officer, Clark helped guide the district toward recognition with the Broad Prize. Her career reflects deep expertise in instructional coherence, leadership development, and large-scale change management—experience that continues to inform her work supporting today’s district leaders.

Clark currently serves as an executive leadership coach for superintendents, senior district leaders, and principals. She is actively involved in the community and has served on numerous boards, including the UNC Greensboro School of Education Advisory Board, Teach For America, Trinity Episcopal School, and the Eliminate the Digital Divide initiative.

Her contributions to education and civic life have been widely recognized, including being named a Broad Superintendent Fellow, Charlotte Woman of the Year, National Principal of the Year, and a recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Distinguished Alumnae Award from the University of Virginia. She has also received honorary degrees from Davidson College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Queens University.
Clark holds a B.A. in English from Davidson College, a master’s degree in special education from the University of Virginia, and certifications from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Jeff Kutash is co-founder and managing partner of Boldly Go Philanthropy, where he provides advisory and philanthropic management services to families and foundations seeking greater impact with clarity and focus. His work centers on helping funders align strategy, operations, and learning to support long-term systems change.

Previously, Jeff served for seven years as executive director of the Peter Kiewit Foundation, a place-based funder in Omaha, Nebraska. There, he led grantmaking and community initiatives across education, economic opportunity, health, and quality of life, partnering closely with local leaders and residents to expand postsecondary access, strengthen economic mobility, and support community-led solutions.

Earlier in his career, Jeff was a managing director at FSG, where he launched and led the national Education and Youth Practice, advising foundations, nonprofits, and public agencies across the country. His professional background also includes roles at The SEED Foundation, McKinsey & Company, and The Bridgespan Group, as well as experience as a middle school math teacher through Teach For America in New York City. Jeff holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Arun Ramanathan is a nationally recognized education leader working at the intersection of instruction, systems, and innovation. He currently leads PowerMyLearning, where he has guided significant advances in mathematics education, including technical innovation in mathematical discourse analysis that has expanded what is possible for classroom learning.

Previously, Dr. Ramanathan served as CEO of Pivot Learning and CORE Learning, a national nonprofit partnering with K–12 school systems to improve teaching and learning. During his tenure, he significantly expanded the organization's reach and impact, while raising tens of millions of dollars in philanthropic support.

His career also includes senior policy and system leadership roles. Dr. Ramanathan served as executive director of Education Trust–West, where he advanced policy and advocacy efforts to expand opportunity for students nationwide. Previously, he served as the chief student services officer for the San Diego Unified School District, overseeing more than $350 million in services that spanned special education, mental health, nursing, and counseling.

A respected thought leader, Dr. Ramanathan has published widely on education topics and regularly serves as a keynote speaker and panelist at national conferences. As a former English learner and immigrant to the United States, he brings both professional expertise and lived experience to his work supporting students and educators. Dr. Ramanathan holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.Ed. from Boston College, and a doctorate in administration, policy, and social planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Melanie Dukes is a visionary education and technology leader dedicated to creating equitable learning opportunities through innovation. As the founder of EdVenture Lab, an independent consulting firm, she leverages her extensive experience in education technology, philanthropy, operations, and strategic leadership to drive transformative change in education.

Prior to launching EdVenture Lab, Dukes served as the Associate Program Director of K-9 Education at the Overdeck Family Foundation, where she led the organization’s K-9 grantmaking portfolio team, allocating $24M across 40+ organizations. Her career spans pivotal roles in education technology, non-profit management, and finance, including positions at 2U, Inc., Relay Graduate School of Education, KIPP NYC Public Schools, and Morgan Stanley.

Dukes’s commitment to education extends beyond her professional roles. She serves on multiple non-profit boards, including Saga Education, Throughline Learning, Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School, and PAVE Academy Charter School.

She earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering, and is pursuing an M.A. in Learning Technology and Experience Design at New York University. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three girls.

Kara Helander is a Managing Director and Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Helander was a Managing Director at BlackRock, where she led the firm’s global inclusion and diversity, and philanthropy initiatives. More recently, Ms. Helander consulted with organizations to develop corporate social responsibility and diversity strategies. She founded the Science of Diversity and Inclusion (SODI), a coalition of top companies and behavioral scientists working to design and test new approaches to accelerate diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. Ms. Helander also led corporate social responsibility at Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Prior to BGI, she launched and led the Western Region for Catalyst in Silicon Valley.

Ms. Helander received her MBA from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania and her BA from Vanderbilt University.

Michelle Boyers is the CEO of the Give Forward Foundation which works to improve education in low-income schools in San Mateo County, California. She most recently worked as a Director at the Schusterman Foundation.

Prior to her work in philanthropy, Michelle spent most of her career in leadership roles in the public schools in New York City and Boston. Michelle served as the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for the Boston Public Schools where she oversaw the recruitment, hiring, support and HR services for nearly 10,000 school leaders, teachers and other school and central office staff. She also helped to lead the turnaround of one of Boston's lowest performing schools, Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Roxbury, as both the Chief Operating Officer and Chair of the Board.

Michelle has consulted to education non-profits, school districts and state departments of education on improving human capital management and teacher effectiveness. Michelle has a Bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She serves on the national boards of Leading Educators, New Leaders and Teach Plus.

Sheila Brown is a national leader in pK-12 public education. Her specialized work includes strategic planning and action, principal supervision, comprehensive literacy and English language acquisition. She is a managing partner for Strategic Leadership Partners in Education.

Sheila previously served as the Co-Director of the Aspen Institute’s Education and Society Program. In this role, Sheila supported professional learning networks for urban school district leaders. The program also assisted policymakers and education leaders in supporting the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, strengthening human capital systems, and strategically allocating fiscal resources to teaching and learning priorities.

Sheila served as the Deputy Superintendent for the Boston Public Schools. In that role, she supervised one-third of the city’s schools and oversaw the district’s K-12 literacy initiative and “Whole School Improvement” work.

Tiffany Johnson Lewis has served in various roles at JP Morgan in her career, currently serving as Executive Director since July 2014, leading private investments due diligence and alternative investments group. Before serving as Executive Director, she spent 9 years as Vice President & Chief of Staff to the CEO and the Investment Management Operating Committee (IMOC) collaborating and implementing high-priority business initiatives.

Tiffany earned her B.S. in Finance from The Wharton School.

Dr. Claudy Jules is a leading expert in organization, leadership and change who focuses on driving value creation through the optimization of leadership capabilities. He is a sought-out speaker with a significant body of published work.

Dr. Jules recently joined McKinsey & Company’s Washington, DC office as a Partner. Previously, he headed Google’s Center of Expertise on Organizational Health and Change where he provided counsel and collaboration to Google business leads to strengthen performance and culture in their product areas.

Prior to that, he was the Managing Director and Global Head of Accenture Strategy's Leadership Consulting practice. At Accenture Strategy, operating at the nexus of strategy and technology, he counseled senior leaders of leading companies and public institutions on their most pressing organizational issues to build their workforce and drive business model innovation and growth.

Stuart is a leadership advisor in the Office of the CEO at Google. He formally lead Organization Development for Google’s technology businesses, including Search, Android, Maps, and YouTube, among others.

Stuart has more than two decades of experience in organization development, talent management, leadership development, and strategy consulting. He has been both a business leader and consultant at Accenture, Lominger, and Korn Ferry. Stuart started his career on AT&T’s Accelerated Management Program.

Stuart received his M.B.A. from the Haas School at the University of California, Berkeley and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Stuart is a certified executive coach. He is a native Californian, where he lives with his wife and two adult children. Stuart has lived and worked in Japan, helped make an Emmy Award-winning film, and loves cycling.

Nina has more than 20 years of experience in corporate communications and human resources, specifically in executive and internal communications, as well as employee experience. She has worked with and advised CEOs and executive leaders across a number of industries, and led company change initiatives on both the business and people side.

Nina is currently Global Head of Internal Communications & Employee Experience at Axonius, a cyber security asset management start-up based in New York. She has held senior leadership roles at Google, Gap, and Pinterest, and has also run internal communications at Unilever and Altria Group. Nina is a native New Yorker, a mom, almost trilingual, and a travel enthusiast. She received a BA in Sociology from Wesleyan University and an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, Teachers College.

Nina has been active in the non-profit community for years. She served on the board of Cause Effective from 2005-2015 (including chairing the Board in 2014), and has been a team leader for the New York Women’s Foundation Grants Advisory Committee, as well as a previous member of the Education Committee of the Anti-Defamation League. She has also volunteered for Citizen Schools, Step Up Women’s Network, inMotion and New York Cares.

Aylon Samouha is the co-founder and co-CEO of Transcend, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to support communities to create and spread extraordinary, learning environments that realize the infinite potential of all students.

Before co-founding Transcend, Aylon served as the Chief Schools Officer at Rocketship Education, where he led the highest-performing network of low-income schools in California. Additionally, Aylon spent several years as a Senior Vice President at Teach For America, directing pre-service institutes and service development for teachers.
Aylon's expertise and insights have been widely recognized, and he has been invited to speak at various convenings, including the ASU+GSV conference, The New Schools Venture Fund Summit, Digital Promise's Annual Convening, and numerous others dedicated to advancing education innovation globally.

Aylon holds a BA in English from Columbia University. He delights in his roles as husband and father and is an accomplished jazz guitarist, captivating audiences throughout the Chicago area with his performances.