Senior Leadership Team
Denise Forte
President and CEO
Denise Forte (pronounced “fort”) is the president and CEO at The Education Trust.
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Amber Arellano, MPP
Executive Director at The Education Trust-Midwest
Amber Arellano is the founding executive director of The Education Trust-Midwest.
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Alexza Barajas Clark, Ph.D.
Interim Executive Director EdTrust-Tennessee
Alexza advises the state director and develops strategic goals and key initiatives to help advance Tennessee’s mission to advocate for equitable education for historically underserved students across the state.
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Arlen Benjamin-Gomez
Executive Director, EdTrust-New York
Arlen Benjamin-Gomez brings 20 years of experience as an education advocate and policymaker, deeply rooted in the fabric of New York.
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Wil Del Pilar, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Wil Del Pilar, Ph.D., serves as Ed Trust’s Senior Vice President.
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Nicolle Grayson
Vice President, Communications
As vice president of communications at EdTrust, Nicolle leads a high-impact team dedicated to advancing policies that dismantle the racial and economic barriers in the U.S. education system.
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Claudia Luján
Chief of Staff
As the chief of staff at The Education Trust, Claudia oversees operations and provides strategic support to the CEO on organizational priorities and initiatives.
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Augustus Mays
Vice President, Partnerships and Engagement
As vice president for Partnerships and Engagement, Augustus leads the organization’s efforts to engage policymakers and diverse coalitions of advocates to enact equity-advancing policy change at the national and state levels.
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Christopher J. Nellum
Executive Director at EdTrust-West
Dr. Christopher Nellum (he/him/his) is the Executive Director of EdTrust–West.
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Wendy Scott
Chief Financial Officer
As chief financial officer, Wendy oversees fiscal operations, including accounting, budgeting, financial planning and analysis, reporting, banking, investments, and compliance, ensuring the organization’s financial health and sustainability.
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Allison Rose Socol, Ph.D.
Vice President for P-12 Policy, Research, & Practice
Allison Rose Socol, Ph.D. serves as Ed Trust’s vice president of P-12 policy, practice, and research.
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Rachel D. Stalcup
Chief Development Officer
As chief development officer, Rachel works to strengthen the movement for education equity and bolstering EdTrust’s impact by creating and executing a diversified fundraising plan that increases revenue.
View Profile >Office of the President
Felecia Branch
Sr. Executive Assistant
Felecia is a seasoned professional dedicated to providing exceptional administrative support and ensuring the seamless operation of the CEO and President of EdTrust, Denise Forte.
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Kevin Chappell
Executive Writer
As the executive writer, Kevin leads the direction, development, and execution of written materials for the CEO as well as others on the senior leadership team.
View Profile >Communications
Redante Asuncion-Reed
Website Manager
Redante collaborates with Communications leadership and content teams to develop digital communications and website strategies.
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George Bowles
Editor/Writer
George Bowles (they/them) is an editor/writer at EdTrust.
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Brittany Coleman
Digital Communications Manager
Brittany is the digital communications manager at EdTrust. She is responsible for managing digital communications including developing digital communications campaigns, creating content, and managing EdTrust’s social media channels.
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Ameshia Cross
Director, Communications
Ameshia leads media strategy, press outreach, strategic marketing and external affairs for the Education Trust.
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Tatiana Kyle
Digital Communications Associate
Tatiana is responsible for handling the day-to-day tasks for EdTrust’s social media channels.
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Karen Lomax
Director, Art
As the lead creative of the visual voice for EdTrust, Karen develops and designs for all marketing mediums, including print collateral and online designs, and implements and maintains brand image and standards to build brand recognition for the organization.
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Letisha Marrero
Editorial Director
Letisha Marrero brings more than 20 years of editorial experience across multimedia platforms — digital, mobile, broadcast, and print — to Ed Trust.
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Gabriela Montell
Senior Editor/Writer
In her current role, Gabriela writes and edits a variety of content — including, but not limited to, blogs, newsletters, op-eds, articles, reports, and speeches.
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Iyana Moore
Assistant Communications Director, Higher Ed
Iyana leads media strategy, press outreach, and engagement for the Higher Education team.
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Carolyn Phenicie
Assistant Communications Director, P-12
Carolyn leads media strategy, press outreach and engagement for the P-12 team.
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Jalyn Tolliver
Graphic Designer
Jalyn creates high-quality designs for print, digital, and social media.
View Profile >Development
Emily Herd
Senior Associate, Development
Emily helps draft grant reports, budget narratives, and concept papers. She also processes grant awards, coordinates stewardship updates, prepares donor correspondence, manages grant and individual donor records, and conducts development-related research.
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Eliza Jarvinen
Director of Development
Eliza Jarvinen is EdTrust’s associate director of development.
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Brandi Muller
Development Associate
Brandi is responsible for collaborating with program and development teams to prepare high-quality proposals, reports, and donor correspondence.
View Profile >Finance
Zuleida Corry
Finance Associate
As Finance Associate, Zuleida is responsible for receiving and processing accounts payable vouchers and resolving payments and coding issues.
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Tia Lassiter
Senior Accounting Manager
Tia is the Senior Accounting Manager, reporting to the CFO. In this crucial role, she leads a dedicated team of two accounting associates responsible for managing accounts payable, accounts receivable, accounting systems, and the general ledger.
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Chantel McCloud
Director for Grants Management and Finance
As the director of grants management and finance at EdTrust, Chantel leads the grants management, reporting and budgeting functions.
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Maria Elena Tapia
Associate II, Accounting
Maria Tapia is an Accounting Associate II in the finance department. Previously, she worked for 25 years at a multinational corporation, where she wrote manuals and risk procedures based on Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
View Profile >P-12 Policy, Research, and Practice
Hector Biaggi
Senior P-12 Analyst, Data & Analytics
Hector Biaggi is the senior analyst on the P-12 data and analytics team.
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Ebony Daughtry
Senior Executive Assistant
Ebony Daughtry is the senior executive assistant to Allison Socol, vice president for P-12 policy, research and practice at EdTrust.
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Nancy Duchesneau
Senior P-12 Research Associate
Nancy is a senior P-12 research associate and leads the Social, Emotional, and Academic Development work at EdTrust.
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Eric Duncan, J.D.
Director of P-12 Policy – Educator Diversity
Eric Duncan is the director for P-12 policy, specializing in policies related to educator quality and increasing the racial diversity of the educator workforce.
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Carl Felton, III
P-12 Policy Analyst
As a policy analyst, Carl supports work related to social emotional learning and academic development (SEAD).
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Kristen Hengtgen, Ph.D.
Lead II, College and Career Readiness
Kristen Hengtgen is Lead II, College and Career Readiness on the P-12 policy team.
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Qubilah Huddleston
Policy Lead, Equitable School Funding
As policy lead on the P-12 policy team, Qubilah informs and manages Ed Trust’s policy positions on equitable school funding.
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Nathan Kriha
P-12 Policy Analyst
As a policy analyst on the P-12 policy team, Nathan focuses on topics related to educator quality and increasing the number of teachers of color in the educator workforce.
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Shayna Levitan
Policy Analyst, P-12
Shayna supports work related to the Alliance for Resource Equity coalition and conducts research, analysis and literature reviews related to topics such as assessments and accountability systems.
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Ivy Morgan
Director for P-12 Data & Analytics
Ivy Morgan designs and conducts data and policy analyses that contribute to EdTrust’s work to ensure that students living in poverty and students of color get their fair share of resources.
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Nicholas Munyan-Penney
Assistant Director, P-12 Policy
Nicholas oversees work on a range of topics, including resource equity, assessments and accountability, and COVID recovery.
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William Rodick, Ph.D.
P12 Practice Lead
William researches and writes about P-12 curriculum and instructional practice with a focus on representation and culturally responsive teaching.
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Anna Skubel, Ph.D.
Senior P-12 Research and Data Analyst
Anna manages qualitative and quantitative research/data analysis projects and develops research syntheses to help inform EdTrust’s P-12 work.
View Profile >Higher Education Policy, Research, and Practice
Jinann Bitar
Director of Higher Education Research and Data Analytics
Jinann manages and carries out EdTrust’s higher education research and analytical work, supports the policy work through data modeling and thought partnership and works with teams of researchers, analysts, collaborators, and consultants to create original research tools and products.
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Ivy Ellis
Senior Executive Assistant
Ivy joined EdTrust in 2000. She previously worked as an executive assistant/proposal coordinator for Facilities Management Company in Lanham, Md.
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William Freeman III
Manager of Higher Education Justice Initiative
William leads and manages the Justice Policy Fellowship, where he works with the policy team to provide an equity perspective on higher education in prison issues.
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Alexa Garza
Higher Education Justice Initiatives Analyst/Texas Policy Analyst
Alexa Garza assists with day-to-day tasks for the implementation of the Justice Fellows Policy Program. Additionally, she assists in advancing the agenda in Texas to improve access and workforce opportunities for the current and formerly incarcerated.
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Kyla Hurns
Policy Analyst
Kyla Hurns is a policy analyst on the higher education policy team. She works on policy and legislation related to affordability and student success.
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Victoria Jackson
Assistant Director of Higher Education Policy
Victoria Jackson is the assistant director of higher education policy at Ed Trust, where she leads work on college affordability and student debt.
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Phil Martin
Director, Higher Education Policy Implementation
As director of higher education policy implementation, Phil’s focus is helping federal and state policy officials clear barriers and strengthen supports on the path to education beyond high school in the U.S.
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Sayda Martinez-Alvarado
Senior Policy Analyst
Sayda works on tracking the increasing legislation across states looking to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in higher education and supporting EdTrust’s campus racial climate work.
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Sandra Perez
Senior Research Analyst
Sandra is a higher education research analyst who researches various topics, such as accessibility and cost of attendance.
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Sabreyna Reese
Research Analyst, Higher Education
Sabreyna is a higher education research analyst who is responsible for conducting quantitative research and data analysis projects, as well as synthesizing research to guide our initiatives.
View Profile >Operations
Sarah Brody
Director of Human Resources
Sarah leads the Human Resources function at The Education Trust. Her work focuses on building a diverse, thriving workforce to deliver on the organization’s mission.
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Doug Brownlee
Director for Information Technology
Doug is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the organization’s Information Technology (IT) department.
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Gwendolyn Chappell
Senior Human Resources Generalist
Gwendolyn is the primary benefits coordinator, serving as the point person for all benefits-related concerns to staff and vendors.
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Ray Galloway
Operations and Events Manager
Ray is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day operations of the national office and is the primary contact for all logistical aspects of convenings and internal/external meetings.
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Jouene Jones-Walker
Senior Human Resources Manager
Jouene ‘s primary focus in the Human Resources department is on total rewards for the organization, including compensation and benefits.
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Kwame Kankam-Boadu
Senior Systems Administrator
As a senior systems administrator, Kwame is responsible for handling day to day cybersecurity, compliance, and configurations of the information technology (IT) department.
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Davon Mason
Associate IT Analyst
Davon is responsible for handling the day-to-day tasks for the organization’s Information Technology (IT) department. This includes installing, maintaining, and monitoring all software and hardware systems.
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Suniyah Peters
IT Associate II
Suniyah is responsible for handling the day-to-day tasks for the organization’s Information Technology (IT) department. This includes installing, maintaining, and monitoring all software and hardware systems.
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Loretta Singleton
Receptionist
Before joining Ed Trust, Loretta was the administrative assistant to Floretta Dukes McKenzie, a former superintendent of schools in the District of Columbia.
View Profile >Partnerships and Engagement
Genesis Carela
Senior Policy Analyst for Massachusetts
Genesis conducts policy and data analyses to aid in the development and advancement of policy recommendations on issues related to educational opportunity and outcomes in Massachusetts.
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Jessica Ch’ng
Senior Associate, Strategic Initiatives and National Partnerships
Jessica is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships and engagement with national partners to advance EdTrust’s policy and advocacy priorities.
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Judith Cruz
Texas Assistant Director, Houston Region
Judith manages and executes policy goals and advocacy activities within the Houston region in collaboration with the Texas State Director.
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Zaria Ealy
Associate, Advocacy and Engagement
Zaria supports the Partnerships and Engagement team in activating EdTrust’s priority issues with state and national advocates and coalitions.
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Jonathan Feinstein
State Director for Texas
Jonathan serves as the State Director of Texas, where he works with and supports partners statewide to advance educational equity for students of color and from low-income backgrounds.
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Ciara Hart
External Relations Manager for Louisiana
Ciara Hart serves as the external relations manager for Ed Trust in Louisiana, where she focuses on consistent community engagement to highlight education inequities in the state.
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Tramelle Howard, J.D.
Louisiana State Director
Tramelle Howard is an educator, community advocate and a deep believer in the urgent need to advance equity in all of its forms across every context.
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Lynn C. Jennings, Ph.D
Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and National Partnerships
Lynn supervises EdTrust’s national partnership and coalition work and directs the Partnership and Engagement team’s efforts to achieve policy change and other metrics of success to advance EdTrust’s mission.
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Chanthy Lopes Toro
Assistant Director for Engagement and Communications for Massachusetts
In her role, Chanthy works alongside students, families, and community advocates to build urgency and collective will through meaningful engagement and strategic communications to draw attention to the educational inequities that affect underserved students in Massachusetts.
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Reid Setzer
Director of Government Affairs
Reid serves as the organization’s director of government affairs, working to leverage policy analysis as well as legislative tactics and strategies to advance EdTrust’s equity agenda, message, and policy proposals at both the federal and state levels.
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Andrea Thurston
Senior Higher Education Policy Analyst for Texas
Andrea manages and evaluates research projects to identify structures and policies that support Texas students’ postsecondary persistence and completion and develop policy agendas that advance educational equity.
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Jennie Williamson
State Director for Massachusetts
Jennie Williamson is the State Director for The Education Trust-Massachusetts, where she leads the development and implementation of the Massachusetts team’s strategic vision, long term and short-term goals, and priorities.
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Blair Wriston
Senior Government Affairs Manager
Blair serves as senior government affairs manager, working alongside the director of government affairs and other members of the partnerships and engagement team to develop and execute The Education Trust’s equity agenda at both the federal and state level.
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Emily Young
Associate, Advocacy and Engagement
As associate for advocacy and engagement, Emily acts as a bridge between the organization’s work at the state and national levels; helping uplift the work of EdTrust’s state offices to its national audience and crafting actionable plans to advance policy priorities in collaboration with its partners.
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