Speaker Biographies
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Speaker Biographies Michelle Johnson Armstrong has been with the US Department of Education for more than 15 years. She has managed and worked on several discretionary grant programs focusing on school choice, the arts, and teachers’ professional development. She brings expertise on program analysis and evaluation focused on evidence-based community efforts for planning and implementation and educational outcomes affecting school-age children. Before coming to the US Department of Education, Armstrong worked on evidence-based evaluation projects in Ithaca, New York, while completing her graduate studies at Cornell University. Melodie Baker is gaining attention as one of the nation’s most promising leaders. Shortly after starting her own independent research-based evaluation firm, Q&A STATS LLC, this past February she was awarded the contract to lead New York state’s First 1,000 Days Medicaid reform efforts in partnership with the Rockefeller Institute for Government and the Pritzker Foundation. Baker is also the director of education at the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, cochair of the United Way Community Schools Learning Community, cochair of RaisingNY, and chair of the Erie-Niagara Birth to 8 Coalition. In 2014, she cofounded the Charter School of Inquiry, the first inquiry-based school in Western New York. Baker has spent the last 14 years of her career working to expand opportunities for the most vulnerable and underserved people. She has demonstrated her work on national platforms and was the keynote speaker for the US Department of Education’s National Promise Neighborhoods Conference in Washington, DC, in October 2018. Baker has received numerous recognitions, including Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s 2017 Athena Young Professional Leadership Award and Nasdaq and EverFi’s Education Innovation Award. In 2014, Baker was named the John R. Oishei Foundation change agent for her work as a cofounder of the Charter School of Inquiry. Baker earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Buffalo State College and a master’s degree in executive leadership and change from Daemen College. Baker recently returned to higher education to pursue a doctoral degree in educational leadership and quantitative methods at the University at Buffalo. Ben Birkby serves as a licensed psychologist and evaluation researcher with REACH. He holds a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Spalding University and a license to practice psychology from the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology, as well as the health service provider endorsement. A long-time REACH employee, Birkby has held several positions and worked in various capacities over his 13 years at the organization. Kristin Blagg is a research associate in the Center on Education Data and Policy at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on K–12 and postsecondary education. Blagg is also pursuing a doctoral degree in public policy and public administration at the George Washington University. Mary Bogle is a principal research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on policies and place-based interventions that help low-income parents surmount economic, equity, and mental health challenges. Anthea Brady, data management and data quality expert at AEM Corporation, provides technical assistance to states with the Center for the Integration of IDEA Data (CIID) and National Center on Educational Outcomes. She has over 14 years’ experience working with states, districts, and grantees to design, provide technical assistance for, and manage implementation of statewide technology. Recently, she has supported two states with CIID’s Generate tool by providing project management and guidance on best practices for data management and relationship building within the state for the integration and reporting of IDEA Part B data. Brady has deep expertise in data management, working with the development and implementation of Common Education Data Standards in state data systems, supporting state education agencies in integrating and aligning special education data, and identifying and managing the flow of data through state systems. Brady has provided technical assistance to practitioners on implementing strategies for supporting students with disabilities in the classroom and to state education agencies on implementing response to intervention (RTI) in local education agencies, including strategies for implementing and scaling up RTI. Her engagement with students with disabilities includes a deep understanding of special education data, including IDEA Part B data requirements and IEP data. Dr. Rosa Briceno is a consultant/coach facilitator, with many years of experience working as a practitioner and technical assistance provider with programs that seek to strengthen school-family connections, promote family engagement, develop resident leadership, and foster civic participation in racially and culturally diverse settings. Briceno recently retired from Arlington Public Schools, where she was the family and community engagement specialist in the Department of Instruction. Before that, she led Project Interaction, which developed programs and strategies to promote family engagement in a highly culturally diverse school community, including supporting student learning, strengthening capacity of families as advocates and leaders, and creating a welcoming and inclusive learning community. Before her work in Arlington Public Schools, Briceno was a senior associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, where she led technical assistance and training, including helping develop a curriculum for resident-led results-based facilitation. She earned her doctoral degree in international development education from Stanford University. Frank T. Brogan serves as the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the US Department of Education. He was confirmed by the US Senate in June 2018, after being nominated by President Trump in December 2017. Brogan most recently served as chancellor of Pennsylvania's public universities. He began his career as a fifth-grade teacher in Martin County, Florida, and later served as a dean of students, assistant principal, principal, and superintendent before being elected Florida's commissioner of education in 1994. Brogan continued his advocacy for public education when he was elected to serve as lieutenant governor of Florida in 1998 and 2002. After five years in that role, he was named president of Florida Atlantic University, a position he held until 2009, when he was selected to serve as chancellor of Florida's public universities. Brogan was the first member of his family to attend college, earning a bachelor's degree in education magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree in education from Florida Atlantic University. Stanley Celestine Jr. is a nationally recognized social entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, and policymaker, despite being just 20 years old. He currently serves as the executive director of The Forum for Opportunity Youth (FOY), a nonprofit that aims to improve the lives and outcomes of disconnected youth in Louisiana. Before launching FOY, Celestine worked in both macro- level and direct-service settings, bringing educational opportunities and critical developmental support to young people, particularly those with the greatest needs and least resources. A thought leader and passionate advocate for education reform, Celestine is an elected member of the Avoyelles Parish School Board and founding member of Red River Charter Academy. He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in sociology at McNeese State University and plans to earn his doctoral degree from Southern University. Janevette Cole is a community resident engagement specialist and the government relations representative for Hayward Promise Neighborhoods. Cole has enveloped leadership in her community, shedding light on the attributes of Hayward and addressing social and economic issues by serving as a board member for Eden Youth and Family Center, Hayward Collegiate, and the South Hayward Collaboration and as an ambassador for Saint Rose Hospital. Liz Cortez, associate director of Mission Promise Neighborhood, works with community partners to address the holistic needs of children to ensure they succeed academically and that families are financially stable. Previously, she worked in various roles to strengthen community partnerships and increase family engagement and leadership development opportunities in early care and education settings such as Early Head Start and Head Start. Patrick A. Corvington joined DC School Reform Now as interim executive director in September 2018. Before this role, Corvington was a senior fellow for the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and served in President Obama’s administration as the chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Corvington also served as a senior vice president with Habitat for Humanity International, where he created a management and deployment infrastructure for the more than 1 million volunteers. Corvington served as senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where he engaged directly with some of the top social innovation intermediaries in the nonprofit sector, including Venture Philanthropy Partners and Echoing Green. He has coauthored publications such as Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out and Next Shift: Beyond the Nonprofit Leadership Crisis.