Chicago Public Schools

Claudine is the Senior Director of Programming working with district, school and teacher leaders to ensure that schools and system partnerships are effectively supported.

Before joining Leading Educators, Claudine provided targeted, individualized coaching support for new and experienced teachers in schools within the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) network of Chicago Public Schools. Prior to her work at AUSL, Claudine was a middle school teacher through the Inner City Teaching Corps, and a teacher and Math coach at the University of Chicago Charter School - Donoghue Campus.

Claudine holds a B.A in Sociology and French Literature from Boston College and a M.S.Ed in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University. She currently lives outside of Detroit with her husband and their two children. When not working, Claudine enjoys indoor cycling, watching college sports, and hanging out with her family and friends.

Amanda Drenth designs curriculum-based professional learning and supports direct curriculum implementation as a Director of Content and Coaching.

Amanda is a former platelet research scientist who became an educator in 2008. Throughout her teaching career, Amanda has taught every grade level from K-8. Most recently, she was a 4th grade teacher. She was a teacher in her most recent district for 8 years where she served as the President of the South Berwyn Education Association (SBEA) for four years. During her time teaching in Berwyn, she worked in collaboration with the Illinois Safe School Alliance to adopt policies to protect transgender students’ rights at the elementary and middle school levels; making her district the first school district in Illinois to have such protections.

Amanda grew up in her hometown of Maywood, Illinois, the daughter of an Irish mother and an immigrant Mexican father. Involved in political activism since her childhood, she was the Co-chair of the original Women’s March for Illinois, bussing over 3,000 people to Washington, D.C. in 2017. She was the co-chair of the 2021 inaugural Juneteenth Celebration in her current hometown of Berwyn, Illinois.

As a lady living with ADD, Amanda is the proud mother of 3 neurodiverse children, and has been married for the past 22 years to her husband Chris, who is an art teacher.
In her spare time, Amanda enjoys being the frontwoman and vocalist for her 90s cover band, and is also a singer and original songwriter with 1 album done, and one in progress.

Shondele Gillens Vazquez, is a dancer, a lifelong learner, and educator committed to developing teacher leaders into effective advocates for scholars whose voices are silenced by trauma and inequitable practices. As an educator for eight years, an instructional coach on Chicago’s South and West Side for another eight and now transitioning to Instructional Leader, Shondele works daily to look beyond numbers into tangible practices that give scholars access and voices.

She enjoys creating spaces where educators share experiences and problems of practice in an effort to learn from one another and develop collegial relationships. She is rooted in the belief that teachers with an awareness of strengths and influence have a special set of leadership skills necessary to influence and support educational efforts to promote equity and advocacy for children of color.

Shondele is driven by her strong desire to be an advocate for students whose voices are not recognized as appropriately powerful. She is excited to be a part of a team that believes all kids deserve to be heard while being committed to the “dance” that empowers and liberates teachers to be leaders in this necessary work.

Morgan Qin is an Instructional Leadership Coach – Math for the Chicago team.

Over the last few years, Morgan worked as an Implementation Support Specialist for Great Minds, facilitating coaching conversations with teachers in their instruction of the Common Core math standards through Eureka math. Before working for Great Minds, Morgan was a third-grade teacher within Chicago Public Schools in the AUSL network.

Morgan currently lives in Chicago with her husband, Simon, and their dog, Roscoe. She enjoys reading, watching Liverpool soccer games, and spending time with friends and family.

Tori is a Director of Content with Leading Educators. She supports school leaders and teachers in the Chicago area by designing professional development focused on providing students with equitable standards-based math instruction.

Previously with Leading Educators, she coached instructional leaders across Chicago as an Instructional Leadership Coach. Before joining Leading Educators, Tori worked as an instructional coach with a charter school in Chicago. She has worked in education for over 26 years as a teacher, Lead Teacher, Assistant Director, Math Coordinator, and Instructional Coach.

Tori holds a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Tufts University and a M.A. in School Leadership from Concordia University. She lives in a suburb of Chicago where she enjoys exploring the different neighborhoods of Chicago, reading, baking, and spending time with friends and family.

LeAnita is a partner to school teams within Chicago Public Schools, who uses her experiences in and out of the classroom to support them in working toward educational equity. She works to build capacity and understanding of equitable instructional practices through design and facilitation of curriculum specific professional learning for teachers as well as through coaching of school leaders and teacher teams.

Before joining Leading Educators, LeAnita provided targeted, individualized coaching to new teachers in schools within the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) network of Chicago Public Schools. That role evolved into a Network Instructional Coach where she supported teachers, teacher leaders, and school leaders in deepening their understanding of standards aligned instruction through coaching support and professional development. Prior to her work at AUSL, LeAnita was a primary and intermediate classroom teacher with Atlanta Public Schools and later with the University of Chicago Charter School-Donoghue Campus.


LeAnita holds a B.S in Early Childhood Development from Northern Illinois University and a M.A.Ed in Instructional Leadership from Argosy University.

Danielle Parker is the Program Manager for Chicago-based partnerships. She joined Leading Educators as a recent classroom teacher after navigating in-person and virtual instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Danielle taught in Kansas City, MO and Chicago for five years. In her free time, she enjoys listening to comedy shows, reading a good book, or spending time outdoors.