The Broad Center Announces 2023-24 Cohort of the Master's in Public Education Management
The 2023-24 cohort includes 32 outstanding leaders working in urban school systems across the country.
The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management has announced the 32 outstanding emerging leaders that will make up its 2023-24 cohort of the Master's in Public Education Management. The Master's in Public Education Management, one of The Broad Center's signature leadership programs, is designed for early- to mid-career school system leaders with extraordinary leadership potential who wish to increase their impact in key K-12 systems. Master's students hail from urban public school systems across the United States, including school districts, public charter organizations, and state education agencies.
Through this 14-month program, students in the Master’s program will participate in rigorous coursework, engage with leading practitioners in the field and with SOM faculty, grapple with questions of equity in action and in theory, and develop connections with one another. At the conclusion of the program, students complete an independent study capstone project that applies what they learn in the classroom to a current issue or challenge in their school systems. By continuing to work full-time while they complete the program, students are able to directly apply their learning to the school systems in which they work, with the goal of providing an immediate benefit to the schools and students they serve.
Meet the 2023-24 Master's Cohort
Biographies provided by students.
Chatara M. Benson
Chief of Staff, KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
As Chief of Staff, Chatara works to optimize and align the CEO’s capacity to KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools’ (KPPS) priorities and strategies; ensures that the region operates with a clear, practical approach to achieve the organization’s five-year strategic plan and long-term vision; and serves as the primary steward to the board of trustees. Before her role as Chief of Staff, she served as KPPS’ Managing Director of Development and Engagement. Chatara completed her undergraduate studies at The George Washington University and received her M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.
Anthony Burrell
Director of Accounting, KIPP North Carolina
Anthony Burrell is the Director of Accounting for KIPP North Carolina (NC). In this role, he is responsible for the oversight of accounting and financial reporting activities for KIPP NC’s central office and schools. Prior to joining KIPP NC, Anthony spent much of his career working in roles and organizations focused on social impact efforts in the fields of education and sustainable and ethical business practices—including being the founding member of a charter school, leading its community engagement and career development programming, and being an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) professional services associate.
Albery K. Corona
Managing Director of School Operations, KIPP New Jersey
Albery Corona is the Managing Director of School Operations at KIPP New Jersey. Albery oversees the operations and financial management of the K-8 schools in the Camden region. Prior to joining KIPP New Jersey, she was the Managing Director of Strategy and Planning at KIPP Philadelphia. In that role she led all of the strategic planning, advocacy, and communication efforts. Albery earned her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and attended Carnegie Mellon for her master's program.
Raymie Fernandez
Managing Director of Operations, Dream Charter Schools
As the Managing Director of Operations at Dream Charter Schools in New York City, Raymie Fernandez is responsible for developing and overseeing systems and processes across the organization. Raymie supports the development of the Directors of Operations, oversees the maintenance of all Dream facilities, and ensures that Dream leads highly effective school operations teams. Prior to his role at Dream Charter Schools, Raymie spent 8 years at Success Academy Charter Schools where he served as a Principal, Assistant Principal, and Business Operations Manager.
Sheel Jagani
Director of Special Populations Strategic Integration, Texas Education Agency
Sheel Jagani serves at the Texas Education Agency as the Director of Special Populations Strategic Integration, ensuring that the needs of emergent bilingual and highly mobile students are at the forefront of state initiative design and implementation. This role leverages her decade of experience in public education, from teaching high school biology in Dallas, China, and the UK to building out planning and reporting infrastructure as TEA's Director of Performance Management.
Virginia Lee
Senior Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, The Partnerships for Los Angeles Schools
As senior director of community engagement and partnerships for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Virginia Lee works with twenty L.A. Unified schools to leverage the collective expertise and resources of community partners to achieve school transformation and advance resource equity. Prior to working in education, she served in various roles at public health and social justice organizations aimed at achieving equitable health and safety outcomes for historically marginalized communities.
Danneka S. Mitchell, JD
Director of Operations, KIPP New Orleans Schools
Danneka S. Mitchell, JD currently serves as Director of Operations at KIPP New Orleans Schools and is the Board President of the Living School. Danneka’s work allows her to ensure students and teachers in her hometown of New Orleans, LA. have access to the resources needed to achieve educational excellence.
Jill Quinn
Deputy Chief of School Leadership and KIPP Forward, KIPP Texas Public Schools
As the Deputy Chief of School Leadership and KIPP Forward at KIPP Texas Public Schools in Houston, TX, Jill leads a team that supports our over 12,000 alumni with college persistence, leads career exploration and CTE programming across our schools, and ensures that the horizontal vision for each community is clear and that leadership programming supports leaders' ability to succeed on that vision. Prior to her current role role at KIPP Texas, she served as the Managing Director of High Schools, a Deputy Head of Schools, and the Founding School Leader of KIPP Northeast College Preparatory. Jill began her career as a sixth and eighth grade social studies teacher and Teach for America Corps Member in Houston, TX with Houston ISD.
Sarah Sanchez
Director of Public Accountability and Compliance, KIPP Northern California
As the Director of Public Accountability and Compliance for KIPP Northern California, Sarah Sanchez is responsible for strategically stewarding public funds, and maintaining systems that maximize funding opportunities in alignment with organizational priorities. Sarah is entering her 15th year in systems and educational compliance, and began her educational career at the same high school she attended within the Portland Public Schools system.
Helen Tzow
Director, Office of Schools, DC Public Schools
As the Office of Schools Director at the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), Helen oversees all 118 DCPS schools with the team of Instructional Superintendents and implements cross-division projects. Prior to her current role, she led the opening of new schools and re-envisioning work for DCPS while on the Strategic School Planning Team. Helen began her career teaching in Mongolia on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship followed by teaching middle school math in Washington, DC.
Yvonne A. Williams
Regional Director of Operations, Achievement First
As a Regional Director of Operations with Achievement First, Yvonne ensures school operations leaders receive the development needed to establish and maintain systems for operational excellence. Prior to taking on her current role, Yvonne worked as a Senior Director of School Operations at Achievement First Bushwick Elementary School and the Empower program; a program designed to exclusively support the needs of exceptional learners through high quality special education and individualized goal setting. She comes from a family of educators and began her career in 2010 as an Assistant Language Teacher in Miyazaki, Japan.
Erikk Bonner
Executive Director, Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services, Chicago Public Schools
As the Executive Director of the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services at Chicago Public Schools in Chicago, IL, Erikk Bonner ensures that leaders and educators have equitable access and support for more than 70,000 scholars across 600 schools to provide high-quality instruction. Prior to his role at Chicago Public Schools, Bonner served as Special Education Director of Secondary Schools with Boston Public Schools. He began his career in public education as a high school teacher in the Dallas, TX, metroplex.
Jenifer Chon
Chief of Staff, Citizens of the World Charter Schools
Jenifer is currently the Chief of Staff at Citizens of the World Charter Schools where she drives alignment across the network, leads critical strategic initiatives and serves as an advisor to leaders across the organization. She has been a change agent in both public and private sectors for organizational and team transformations. Jenifer began her journey in public education at KIPP SoCal Public Schools and Citizens of the World Los Angeles, where she served as a leader driving scalable end-to-end solutions to support positive student outcomes.
Gina D'Addario
Senior Director of Human Resources, Providence Schools
As the Senior Director of Human Resources for Providence Schools, Gina ensures that there is a high-quality educator staffed in every classroom, along with administrative and support personnel to service student and district needs. Prior to her role at Providence Schools, Gina served in a variety of leadership capacities in urban school districts in Boston, including the Director of Employee Services for Boston Public Schools and Chief Operating Officer for Bridge Boston Charter School. Gina and her partner, Jessie, live in Providence, RI with their two boys.
Michelle Gieg
Chief of Staff, Democracy Prep Public Schools
Michelle Gieg serves as Democracy Prep Public Schools’ Chief of Staff. In her role, Michelle provides direct support to the CEO, manages implementation of the organization’s strategic plan, and supports CMO staff development. Michelle joined Democracy Prep in 2014 as the founding Principal and Executive Director of the Baton Rouge region, leading the region for its first seven years. Michelle began her teaching career through TFA in an elementary school in Baton Rouge in the same neighborhood where Democracy Prep Baton Rouge is now located. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and has participated in leadership training through Relay Graduate School of Education's National Principal Supervisor Fellowship and the Cambiar Catalyst Fellowship.
Ashley Jones
Director of Postsecondary Placement, Mastery Schools
As Director of Postsecondary Placement at Mastery Schools, Ashley provides strategic coaching and training support to school based Postsecondary teams and manages the continuous improvement of the Junior and Senior seminar curricula to Mastery High Schools in Philadelphia and Camden. Prior to this role, Ashley taught postsecondary readiness to Juniors and American Government to Seniors at Hardy Williams High School in Philadelphia. Shortly after completing her undergraduate degree Ashley began her journey into Higher Education at Drexel University and now focuses her work on college access and high impact strategies to support improved student outcomes in all postsecondary pathways.
Cindy Legagneur
Senior Director of Student Information, KIPP DC Public Schools
As the Senior Director of Student Information, Cindy Legagneur establishes and implements procedures for ensuring the integrity of student information. She helps leverage student data to more efficiently operate and support student learning and data-driven decisions. Cindy joined KIPP DC in 2009 as a founding staff member of their first high school and has served in various roles focused on data, compliance, and operations during her tenure. She enjoys coaching cheerleading during her free time.
Cecilia Melgares
Managing Director of Operations, Equitas Academy Charter Schools
Cecilia is currently the Managing Director of Operations at Equitas Academy Charter Schools that serves the Pico Union community in Los Angeles, CA. Prior to Equitas she was a School Business Operations Manager at KIPP SoCal. She believes that by having strong operational systems instructional staff can maximize the time students spend learning.
Juan Manuel Cuté Ramos
Director of Compensation, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Juan Manuel currently serves as the Director of Compensation at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles, where he is responsible for developing the compensation strategy, incentive structures, and financial modeling for all staff groups. Previously, he worked in the private sector across a variety of organizations, developing financial strategies, enhancing financial processes, and providing data-driven analysis to drive business decisions. He is an active member of his community; volunteering as a mentor, translator, and teacher.
Daniel Szekely
Director of Finance and Operations, Green Dot Public Schools California
Daniel currently serves as the Director of Finance and Operations at Green Dot Public Schools California. In this role, he advises district leadership on financial strategy, oversees the development and implementation of central office and school budgets, and manages a team of district operations coaches. Prior to joining Green Dot, he held school operations roles with Success Academy and Ascend Public Charter Schools in New York City. Daniel began his career as a 2015 Teach for America Corps Member, where he taught middle school science with Providence Public Schools.
Justin Vigil
Chief of Staff and Operations, KIPP Colorado Public Schools
Justin Vigil grew up in Houston, TX, and graduated from Texas A&M University as a first-generation college student. After graduating from college, he became the Homeless Program Coordinator at Prevent Blindness Texas ensuring homeless individuals in Houston had access to eye exams and glasses. Justin has a passion for educational equity so students from underserved communities have access to get the education they deserve and the guidance they need to live choice-filled lives. Justin leads so students and families see someone who looks like him be successful every day. Justin spent a decade working at YES Prep Public Schools in Houston, TX. Justin has led as a Registrar, Director of Campus Operations, Director of School Operations, and Managing Director of School Operations. He has a passion for ensuring that systems and structures are in place to provide excellence for schools and districts to increase student achievement outcomes. In September 2021, Justin joined the KIPP Colorado team as the Chief of Staff and Operations to work with the CEO and Executive Team to advance KIPP Colorado in its next phase of strategy and growth.
Savina Woodyard
Chief Equity and Strategy Officer, KIPP Northern California
As the Chief Equity and Strategy Officer at KIPP Public Schools - Northern California, Dr. Savina Woodyard is responsible for serving as the Chef of Staff to the CEO, leading the annual planning and budgeting process for the organization, managing the School Culture team and ensuring annual equity initiatives are executed. Prior to this role, Savina served as a founding AP, and then School Leader, for KIPP San Francisco College Prep and later was the founding Director of People Initiatives for her organization.
Anthony Buatti
Senior Director of Recruitment Operations, Outreach, and Data, Mastery Schools
Since 2017, Anthony Buatti has supported Mastery Schools of Philadelphia and Camden, the nation’s largest turnaround school district, as the Senior Director of Recruitment Operations, Outreach, and Data. In this role, he and his team build talent pipelines, strengthen and grow teacher residency programming, and lead talent operations work to ensure the most diverse and effective teachers and leaders serve 14,500 students across 24 schools. Prior to joining Mastery, Anthony led the Recruitment and Admissions Team at Teach For Australia in Melbourne, Victoria and before that Teach For America’s regional recruitment team supporting Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Anthony started his career as a 3rd Grade Teacher for the Roosevelt School District in Phoenix, Arizona.
Jessica Cooper
Associate Director of School Operations Services & Support, KIPP Public Schools Northern California
Jessica Cooper is the Associate Director of School Operations Services and Support at KIPP Public Schools Northern California. Her work centers around the recruitment, coaching and development of school ops teams across 19 campuses. She also manages work around certain campus services related to nutrition, health, risk and safety. Before this, she was the Director of Operations for Promise Community Schools in Houston, TX. Jessica is originally from Detroit, MI and is a proud graduate of Spelman College and Howard University School of Law.
Brian Dickey
Director of Innovation Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools
Brian currently serves as the Director of Innovation Schools for Indianapolis Public Schools. In this role, he manages strategic and operational workstreams supporting 31 autonomous schools serving over 12,000 students within IPS. Prior to this role, he served as the Deputy Director for the Indianapolis Mayor's Office of Education and was responsible for managing charter authorizing processes for over 40 Mayor-sponsored charter schools. He began his career in education as a Middle School English teacher in Indianapolis.
Miriam Hernandez
Senior Manager of Operations and Strategy, The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools
Miriam Hernandez serves as the Senior Manager of Operations and Strategy at The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, where she supports 20 schools, staff, and communities in the Los Angeles Unified School District by removing barriers to ensure equitable funding and resources. She leads the student recruitment efforts to boost enrollment and creates efficient operational systems to improve academic success and student attendance. Before taking on this role, Miriam managed operations and strategic partnerships for a California state-wide campaign to help elect the state’s top education official. Miriam is proud to be a product of the communities she currently serves.
Eva Laguerre
Director, Licensing, Compliance, and Subsidy, Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
As Director of Licensing, Compliance and Subsidy for the Division of Early Learning in the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Eva ensures that families have access to healthy and safe environments for children to learn and grow. Prior to her role at OSSE, Eva served as human resources compliance manager at OSSE.
Aerionna Martin
Executive Director, New School Development, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
As the Executive Director of New School Development at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Aerionna Martin supports the development of high-quality educational options across the district. Previously, she worked for the City of Indianapolis as the Assistant Director of Strategic Planning in the Office of Education Innovation. Aerionna began her career as a middle school English teacher in Indianapolis.
Mark Paik
Senior Executive Director of Data, Assessment, and Accountability, Detroit Public Schools Community District
Mark serves as the senior executive director of data, assessment, and accountability at Detroit Public Schools Community District where he first started his career as a high school math teacher at Cody High School. In his current role, Mark supports the strategic management and use of data to accelerate the District’s reform efforts and improve student outcomes. Prior to his current role, Mark held several positions at the Education Achievement Authority, all of which focused on data and accountability.
Jessica Rongione
Product Manager of Assessments, Uncommon Schools
As the Product Manager of Assessments, Jessica works with operations, instruction, and curriculum leaders to ensure our assessment platforms are best in class and meet the needs of our schools. Prior to this role, Jessica worked in operations for the Uncommon NYC schools where she got to work with operations leaders, helping them build and implement systems in their buildings. Before joining Uncommon, Jessica began her career as a first grade teacher in Baltimore with Baltimore City Public Schools.
Roberto Treviño
Managing Director of College Initiatives, YES Prep Public Schools
Roberto “Bobby” Treviño serves as Managing Director of College Initiatives at YES Prep Public Schools in Houston, TX. In his role, he leads a district team to support 17 campus college initiatives teams to ensure all students have access to college. Prior to his district role, he worked with students and families directly as a Director of College Counseling at two different YES Prep secondary schools. He started his career in education 18 years ago as a college admissions officer at his alma mater, Boston University.
Hannah Wheeler
Special Projects Manager, Hartford Public Schools
A champion for educational equity, Hannah is a Special Projects Manager at Hartford Public Schools equipping leaders with the tools, resources, and strategies to execute against the District's Strategic Plan. She has directly partnered with youth both in and outside of the classroom. First, as a high school math tutor in Chicago Public Schools, then in a variety of roles as an after-school practitioner for Spark, a career exploration and mentorship program. Most recently, Hannah served as their Program Director.
