Our Regional Councils
STC creates networks of high performing schools across the country. To build, organize, and support the network, STC establishes Regional Councils (RC) comprised of local leaders who volunteer their time to facilitate network impact and support.
They have a broad range of expertise that spans industries including education, business, government, and non profit management. While RC Co-Chairs take primary responsibility for organizing network activities, they also rely on RC Members and school leaders from within the local STC network to lead professional development and to join in all RC decision-making. RCs are currently active in 15 cities across the country.
Meet Our Regional Councils:
Boston, MA
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Jenai Emmel
Co-Chair
Jenai is STC Regional Council Director where she has provided innovative approaches to STC methodology. She also is RC Co-Chair for STC Boston and is a Project Associate with School Works. She was a founding board member for three high-performing elementary schools in LA and NYC. Jenai is a TFA alumna and holds a BA in English from the University of Virginia and an EdM in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University.
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Ryan Oliver
Co-Chair
Ryan is RC Co-Chair for STC Boston and has provided unique direction for STC member school recruitment. He is a senior executive at the BUILD organization in Boston. He taught Humanities and Social Studies for 11 years. Ryan holds a BA from Harvard College and a Master of Arts in Education from Cal State Monterey Bay.
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Elizabeth Trongone
Co-Chair
Elizabeth sits on the Board of Schools That Can and is a Regional Council Co-Chair for Boston. Previously she headed the Ogilvy team working with STC. She is currently an MBA candidate at Harvard Business School and holds a BA from Brown University.
Chicago, IL
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Jennifer Husbands
Co-Chair
Jenn is the RC Co-Chair for Chicago and Director of Chicago Teacher Induction for the New Teacher Center. She received her BA degrees in Rhetoric & Communications and Afro-American Studies from the University of Virginia. She serves on the board of the Buck Institute for Education and is a former member of the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
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Elliot Ransom
Co-Chair
Elliot is RC Co-Chair of STC Chicago and a consultant for Mission Measurement. He’s a Teach for America alumni and former Performance Manger for the Office of New Schools in the Chicago Public Schools.
Cleveland, OH
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Tom Gill
Co-Chair
Tom is a Regional Council Co-Chair of STC Cleveland and the Director of Development at the Urban Community School. He holds a MA degree from the Kennedy School at Harvard University.
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Glen Haley
Co-Chair
Glenn is the Regional Council Co-Chair for STC Cleveland. Glenn is President and CEO for the YMCA of Greater Cleveland.
Indianapolis, IN
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Andrew Hart
Co-Chair
Andrew is a RC Co-Chair for STC Indianapolis and Head of School at The Oaks Academy. He received his MBA from the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
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John Huang
Co-Chair
John Huang is a RC Co-Chair for Indianapolis and Assistant Corporation Counsel for Indianapolis. He holds a BA in Political Science from UNC Chapel Hill and he is a graduate of The Law School of Notre Dame. He taught 3rd grade for two years with Teach for America in Los Angeles.
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Brandon Brown
Co-Chair
Brandon currently serves as t RC Co-Chair for STC Indianapolis and the Director of District Strategy and Alumni Affairs for Teach For America. He received his BA from Washington University.
Los Angeles, CA
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Rashad Bartholomew
Co-Chair
Rashad Bartholomew is a RC Co-Chair of Los Angeles and the Founder and Managing Member of Power Learning, LLC. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University, an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, an M.A. in Education from the Stanford University School of Education. Rashad played one year in the Professional Football League.
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Tim Colter
Co-Chair
tim.colter@teachforamerica.org
Tim is a RC Co-Chair for STC Los Angeles and Manager of the TFA recruitment team in LA. He is a TFA alumni and former KIPP Spirit College Prep 6th grade World History and Service Learning teacher, basketball coach, and End of Year Field Lesson leader. He is a graduate of Boston College.
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Lara Goldstone
Co-Chair
Lara Goldstone is a RC Co-Chair for STC Los Angeles. A former teacher through TFA, she currently works as an implementation coach for a Gates Foundation-funded initiative to dramatically alter the way teachers are supported, evaluated, and compensated. Lara holds a California professional clear teaching credential in secondary English with a license to teach ESL, a BA in literature from Yale College, and a MA in Education from Harvard University.
Julia Stuart
Co-Chair
Julia Stuart a RC Co-Chair in Los Angeles and the Human Resources Manager for The Partnership in LA Schools. Julia began her career as an elementary teacher in the South Bronx as part of TFA. She holds a BA in Development Studies from UC Berkeley, a Masters in Teaching from Pace University, and a MEd in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University.
Milwaukee, WI
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Kole Knueppel
Co-Chair
kole.knueppel@stcmilwaukee.org
Kole is a Milwaukee RC Co-Chair and board member of STC, and he’s the Co-Founder and Managing Director of School Partnerships at STC Milwaukee. Kole has a BS in English with a Secondary Education Certificate from Wisconsin Lutheran and MS in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin where he is now working towards his PhD.
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Abby Ramirez
Co-Chair
Abby is a Milwaukee Co-Chair and board member of STC. She’s also Co-Founder and Executive Director of STC Milwaukee. Abby has a BS in Commerce with a concentration in Finance from the University of Virginia and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University. She is a member of TEMPO Milwaukee, Alverno College’s Board of Trustees, and the UCC Education Committee.
Newark, NJ
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Gary Debode
Co-Chair
Gary is a RC Co-Chair for STC Newark and board member of STC. He is also the President of Edison Properties. Gary has been involved in urban non-profit work for many years, previously serving on the board of the Partnership for the Homeless in New York City and currently serving on the board of Trustees of St. Philips Academy, an independent school in Newark, New Jersey.
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Marnie McKoy
Co-Chair
Marnie is a RC Newark Co-Chair, Board Member of STC, and the CEO of the Community Charter School in Paterson, NJ. She has been recognized as citizen of the year at Pingry as well as the SEED organization. Marnie graduated from Rutgers and has an MA from Seton Hall in education leadership.
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Joshua Thompson
Co-Chair
Joshua Thompson is a RC Newark Co-Chair and the Associate Director of Institutional Advancement at STC School St Benedict’s Prep where he is an alumni. He’s been awarded a Public Service Legal Fellowship by Vermont Law School where he co-wrote the strategic plan for the creation and operation of PENewark (funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg) and then served as a Research Analyst. He received a BA from Piedmont College and studied Law at Vermont Law School and the University of Amsterdam.
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Cheryline Hewitt
Member
Cheryline is a Member of STC Newark. She holds a BA in Political Science from Bucknell University, an MA in Elementary Education from Rutgers University, and a MA in Supervision/Administration from St. Peter’s University. She began her career with TFA in New Orleans. She serves on the Board of New Leaders Council (NLC).
New York, NY
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Ellen Freeman
Co-Chair
Ellen is a Regional Council Co-Chair of New York City and member of the STC National Validation Committee. Her experience includes teaching (staff developer in the Yonkers Public Schools), administration (AP of the Ethical Culture School), and school governance (elected School Trustee of the Mamaroneck UFSD). She has a BA from Boston University, MA in Special Ed (Lesley University), and MEd in Administration (Teachers College, Columbia University).
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Meghan Mackay
Co-Chair
Meghan is a RC Co-Chair of NYC and Co-Chair of the STC Metrics Team, bringing innovative ways to STC for measuring results. She’s also the Director of Strategic Planning at New Heights Youth. She serves on the board of two charter schools, Mott Haven Academy in the Bronx and Foundation Academy in Trenton, NJ. She has a BA from Stanford and a MEd from the University of San Francisco.
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Kimberly Shannon
Co-Chair
Kimberly is a RC Co-Chair of NYC and a valuable contributor to the new STC Metrics team. She is an Associate Preferred Banker at First Republic Bank. Prior she served as Student Center Director of Aim High, a Bay Area nonprofit that delivers summertime academic enrichment programming to under-resourced middle school youth. Kimberly holds a BA in American Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Trinity College.
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Marcella Nurse
Member
Marcella is a RC Member in NYC and Senior Associate for the Fin-Tech and Transaction Processing Practice at Korn/Ferry International. She received her clinical and counseling training at Columbia University, holds a MEd in human development specializing in Adolescent Risk and Prevention from Harvard and a BA from the University of Notre Dame. She sits on the NYC area committee for Harvard’s Center for Public Interest Careers.
North Carolina
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Chantalle Carles
Co-Chair
Chantalle is a Co-Chair of STC North Carolina and a TFA HS English teacher with a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida currently pursuing her MA in Public Policy from Northwestern. She’s currently a felllow at The Duke Endowment working with non-profits to determine their effectiveness and analyze policies that effect child care, education, health care and rural churches.
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Stefan Schropp
Co-Chair
Stefan is a RC Co-Chair of STC North Carolina and a 7th grade math teacher in Charlotte with TFA. Stefan received his BAs in Political Science and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration from Yale University. He is pursuing his Master’s in Business Administration from the McColl School at Queen’s University in Charlotte.
Philadelphia, PA
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Mary W. Klein
Co-Chair
Mary is a Regional Council Co-Chair in Philadelphia, a Board Member of STC, and Chair of the STC Validation Committee. Formerly, Mary was a School Administrator in Philadelphia.
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Christine Beck
Member
Christine is a RC Member of Philadelphia. Christine is the recently retired, and long-time leader of the GESU School in Philadelphia. She is widely respected as an education leader in the Philadelphia community.
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Bianca Huff
Member
Bianca is a RC Member of STC Philadelphia. She’s a full-time development professional and part-time English Professor who started in education as a teacher through TFA. She holds a BA in Communications and Latin American Studies from University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Professional and Technical Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Julia Melle
Member
Julia is an RC Member in Philadelphia and TFA alumnae who previously served as Executive Director of Greenville Renaissance Scholars. She is now earning her JD at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she co-founded Students For Students to advocate for rights of students and parents at school discipline hearings.
Pittsburgh, PA
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Vasilios Scoumis
Co-Chair
Vas is the Regional Council Chair for STC Pittsburgh. He has served as CEO of the STC Member School Manchester Academic Charter since 2002. Prior to being appointed CEO, he was Deputy CEO and MS science and gym teacher. He is also on the board of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools and the Community College of Allegheny County’s Educational Advisory Board, and is the vice president of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.
San Francisco, CA
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Mira H. Browne
Co-Chair
Mira is a RC Co-Chair in San Francisco and Senior Account Executive at Larson Communications, a firm specializing in public education reform. Previously she worked in Mayor Bloomberg’s Administration as Deputy Director of Public Affairs for DFTA. She has a BA from George Washington University in Journalism with a concentration in Middle East Affairs.
Kevin Sved
Co-Chair
Kevin is Co-Chair of STC San Francisco and CEO at Stanford New Schools. He was the co-founder of STC Member School The Accelerated School, recognized by Time magazine as school of the year in 2001. Kevin was awarded the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award in 2006 and the Gleitsman Foundation Citizen Activist Award in 2004.
St. Louis, MO
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Carter Cunningham
Co-Chair
Carter is a RC Co-Chair in St. Louis. He was a 2006 TFA high school math teacher in St. Louis and earned an MBA at Washington University. He currently works as a financial analyst at Edward Jones and is a founding Board Member of the charter school South City Prep.
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Rachel Ruggirello
Co-Chair
rachel.ruggirello@corps2004.tfanet.org
Rachel is a RC Co-Chair of St. Louis holding a BA from Cornell, an MS in Chemistry Education from the University of PA, and is pursuing her PhD in Science Education. She’s a TFA alumna who works at Washington University doing educational outreach and partnerships.
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Robbyn Wahby
Co-Chair
Robbyn is a RC Co-Chair of St. Louis. She serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for the City of St. Louis and has been Mayor Slay’s advisor on education and children’s policy since 2001.
Washington DC/Baltimore, MD
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Christie Bauer
Co-Chair
Christie is a RC Co-Chair in Baltimore. A former Baltimore teacher, she taught second grade for three years, facilitated professional developments for the school and city, and coordinated Family and Community Engagement. She holds a MA in Early Childhood Development from George Mason University and is also certified to teach ESOL and Special Education.
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Courtney Bragg
Co-Chair
Courtney is a RC Co-Chair in DC and the College Transition Counselor at KIPP DC: College Preparatory. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Washington University in St. Louis, writing her honors thesis on racialization and urban schools.
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Paige Isaacson
Co-Chair
Paige is a RC Co-Chair of STC Baltimore and the Manager for Program Evaluations in the Office of Achievement and Accountability of Baltimore Public Schools. Formerly a Network Team Lead for the Office of School Support Networks and Baltimore teacher, she is a TFA alumna and holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Kansas and an MS in Education from Johns Hopkins University.