Darcy Soto

Darcy Soto is the Director of Learning Acceleration for Portland Public Schools, where she leads initiatives to address unfinished learning and ensure equitable access to grade-level content. Her career began as a volunteer English literacy instructor and evolved through teaching, coaching, and administrative roles in Central Mexico and the Portland Metropolitan Area. With a strong focus on racial equity, Darcy partners with schools and families to eliminate barriers and create high-impact learning opportunities for underserved students. Her leadership is grounded in service, family partnership, and a commitment to student success.

Brandis Stockman

Brandis Stockman is the Program Manager for Education and Workforce Success with National League of Cities and Executive Director of OST Training That “Sticks”. She has 25+ years of experience supporting youth and families, including overseeing school-based and afterschool programs within school districts and city government. She currently works to support municipal leaders across the country to strengthen K12 education and out of school time programs in their cities.

Yujing Sun

General Manager

Maurice Telesford

Maurice Telesford has taught science and computer science at Ferndale High School for over 15 years. He has also served as his local Education Association President for over a decade. His personal and professional passions include exposing students to perspectives and pathways that they did not know exist and simultaneously supporting their progression towards their ever-changing dreams.

Katie Tennessen Hooten

Katie Tennessen Hooten is the Founder of the Ignite Fellowship at Teach For America. Committed to realizing educational equity, Katie has led at TFA for over two decades. She began her career teaching Kindergarten in Phoenix, where she has remained since TFA brought her there over 20 years ago. Katie has led locally as a new teacher coach, head of program and most recently, Executive Director. She has also led nationally as the head of TFA's Teacher Leadership Development and Ignite teams. When Katie’s not working, she’s hanging with her husband, Matt, and their sons, Noah (9) and Owen (5).

Pa Thao

Pa Thao has served as the Executive Director of Learning and Teaching since 2024. Previously, she was the Director of Elementary Education for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools from 2019-2024 and a literacy specialist from 2017 to 2019. She also has experience as an adjunct instructor at Central Piedmont Community College and UNC-Charlotte. Pa earned her Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Gardner-Webb University, a Master of Education in Reading Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and her Add-On Licensure in School Administration from Wingate University.

Catherine Tierney

Catherine serves as Head of Product and Program at OnYourMark. She brings 15 years of experience at the interface of instruction and technology. She began her career as a high-dosage tutor at Match Education in Boston and learned firsthand the impact consistent tutoring can have on student outcomes. After several years teaching middle school science at KIPP, she transitioned in to ed-tech roles at ThinkCERCA and then Beyond 12, where she helped scale the organization’s college coach offerings by implementing AI and overseeing strategy for the mobile app.

Tom Toch

Thomas Toch is the director of FutureEd, an independent policy center at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. He is a former senior partner at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and a founder and former co-director of the think tank Education Sector. Toch was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He helped launch Education Week and served as the publication's co-managing editor. He was a writer and editor at U.S. News and World Report and has contributed to The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Post Magazine, The New Republic, Newsweek, The Washington Monthly, and other national publications. He is the author of two books on American education, In the Name of Excellence and High Schools on a Human Scale.

Roberta Trachtman

Dr. Roberta Trachtman, the Allenwood Company’s Founder and CEO, is an academic leader with a passion for improving preparation for novice teachers and developing the skills of experienced teachers. She has a successful track record of building partnerships across institutions to optimize resources, deepen support, and build knowledge. Prior to her current focus on integrating AI into high impact tutoring, she spent more than a decade at New Visions for Public Schools in New York City designing, developing, and leading a joint venture, called the Urban Teacher Residency (UTR), to prepare day-one-ready urban teachers.

Katie Trader

Katie Trader is an educational leader with nineteen years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, administrator and district strategy leader. Katie has helped design and implement several programs focused on early literacy in Portland Public Schools, including High Impact Tutoring and Summer Acceleration Academy. Currently she is an Early Literacy Education Specialist with the Oregon Department of Education where she supports district leaders in using research-based practices to elevate literacy across Oregon.

Chayne Turano

Chayne Turano is the Quality and Improvement Program Manager at the National Student Support Accelerator. She is passionate about providing high-quality education to all students to help them excel and achieve a rich and fulfilling life. She served as a Teacher in New Jersey for 13 years, serving students and families of diverse backgrounds including English Language Learners, Special Education, and Gifted and Talented students. In this role, she developed science curricula and activities that captured the spirit of the Next Generation Science Standards, developed professional development for staff, served as a technology trainer.

Maria Tuzon

Maria Tuzon is the Quality and Improvement Program Administrator at the NSSA. Previously, she spent 13 years as an ESL educator in South Korea where she was involved in building a creative curriculum and selecting high-quality instructional materials for an after-school learning program. Her time abroad sparked her interest in innovative educational practices, particularly in diverse learning environments. In her current role, she aims to use her teaching experience to contribute to meaningful changes in education and enhance learning experiences for K-12 students.

Kimberly Ueyama

Kimberly Ueyama is Chief of Staff at Accelerate where she leads efforts around strategy, communications, and advancement. Previously she served on the leadership team at DREAM, a network of extended-day, extended-year schools and programs in New York, and provided strategic support to nonprofits at CCS Fundraising. She started her career as a secondary math teacher in New Orleans where she taught at open-enrollment public schools through Teach For America. Kimberly received her B.A./B.S in English and Public Policy from the University of Southern California and her M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. She lives in North Carolina.

Rachel VanderStelt

Rachel is a dynamic professional with a background in education, non-profit administration, and youth development. As Director of Tutor Services at EQPD, she enhances K-12 academic support, expands Federal Work Study partnerships, and streamlines tutor recruitment and training. She holds a Master of Education in Adult and Higher Education from Grand Valley State University and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, Spanish, and Music from Hope College. Rachel is known for her leadership, commitment to student success, and ability to create collaborative environments that empower tutors and learners.

Sandra Velasquez

Stanford-Santa Clara USD Research Practice Learning Partnership Broker for Inclusive Education.

Sabrina Villalba

Sabrina Villalba supports aspects of all Extended Learning programs and Community School strategies as well as 21st Century Community Learning Centers programming, budgets and reimbursements.

Stephanie Wall

Stephanie Wall serves as the Director of Learning Strategy, Academic Solutions & Innovation at Kelly Education. She leads national education product development, B2B and B2C sales strategy, and professional development for Kelly Education’s 60,000+ substitute teachers, paraeducators and tutors.

Dr. Wall has accelerated the growth of our academic solutions through tutoring in innovative ways with a demonstrated commitment to delivering consistent, caring high impact tutors across the country. The reach of Tutoring Solutions has grown to 180,000+ hours of tutoring occurring annually through school and district partnerships, state and local agencies and through strategic partnerships with premier virtual tutoring providers.

Amanda Walstrum

Currently the Divisional Director of Educational Partnerships at Tutor Me Education, Amanda has been working in the education field for her entire career. Overseeing tutoring with multiple school districts across California, her team screens, assigns, and manages hundreds of tutors across widespread school sites, serving sensitive and unique populations such as newcomer students, McKinney-Vento students, foster and unhoused youth, and emergent bilinguals, focused on closing academic inequities and accelerating student achievement. Having worked with a range of ages in tutoring, after-school programs, and the traditional classroom, she brings a seasoned and diverse perspective to her programs.

Elaine Wang

Program Manager

Elaine Wassil

I began my career as a Speech & Hearing Therapist. I earned a Masters in Learning & Behavior Disorders and began a career in Special Education as a Resource teacher, special day class teacher, reading specialist and reading tutor in group homes for boys and girls. I’ve been an Elementary School principal for 31 years, 26 in a Title 1 school. I was then hired as a Program Director at Boys & Girls Clubs to scale up a program I developed in order to establish it at all their sites. I named the program WRAP, Writing & Reading Achievement Program.

Angela Watkins

Angela Hall Watkins is Associate Dean for External Relations at Stanford University. Previously, she served as Executive Director of University Priorities at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining UT, Angela was Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Huston-Tillotson University and Assistant Vice President at ACT, the leading US college admissions testing company. She previously served as Managing Director of the National Center for Educational Achievement, a K-12 educational research and advocacy organization. She has served on numerous non-profit boards including Hospice Austin, SAFE Alliance, Trinity Episcopal School, and Welcome Table. Angela received her B.A. from Stanford University and her M.A. from the University of Michigan. She is married to Craig Watkins and is mom to Cameron ’18.

Nancy Waymack

Nancy Waymack is the Director of Research Partnerships and Policy for the National Student Support Accelerator at Stanford University. Most recently she has served as a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an education policy consultant. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Nancy was the Managing Director of District Policy at the National Council on Teacher Quality. Nancy spent a decade at the San Francisco Unified School District, where she served as the Executive Director for Policy and Operations. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Nancy was the Assistant Budget Director at the District of Columbia Public Schools and an elementary school teacher in Houston.

Kesha Weekes

Kesha attended Stanford University, earning a BA with honors in Public Policy, with a concentration in Children, Youth, and Families. While at Stanford, Kesha was the Director of the East Palo Alto Stanford Summer Academy, a teacher's aide at Green Oaks Elementary School and served as an intern at Washington, DC's Institute for Educational Leadership. Kesha joined the EPATT team in 1997 as the Volunteer and Afternoon Tutorial Coordinator and has served as the Academic Coordinator, Middle School Group Director, Program Director and now Executive Director.  In that time she has also co-led a Stanford course on Effective math tutoring, served as a member of Thrive Alliance committee on Children and Education, and been a guest speaker on several Bay Area and nationwide panels on education. 

Christina Weeks

Christina Weeks works for the State of New Mexico Public Education Department in leadership and oversight of state-funded Out-of-School Time and High-Dosage Tutoring grant programs. These programs are designed to engage students, enhance academic achievement, and inspire future-focused pathways. Targeted instruction is designed to meet individual student needs, improve proficiency, and reduce learning gaps. Christina is personally committed to delivering valuable guidance, clarity, and excellent customer service to all grant recipients and partners. She aims to support school district leaders and partners to meet the needs of all New Mexico students and school communities.

Laura Wentworth

Laura serves as the Director of the Research Practice Partnership (RPP) program that helps school districts and universities across California work together in partnerships that produce and use research to improve policies, practices and student outcomes, with a focus on supporting students historically underserved by the public school system. Under Laura’s leadership, Ed Partners supports through leadership and coaching the Stanford-San Francisco Unified School District Partnership and the Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative.

Kim Whitten

Chief Executive Officer at Chapter One-US, NFP (formerly Innovations for Learning, Inc.)

Kenita Williams

Dr. Kenita T. Williams is the chief operating officer of the Southern Education Foundation, where she oversees operations and program implementation. She supports the president and CEO in building systems and culture that amplify SEF’s impact and represents the organization to key partners. Kenita’s experience spans public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including roles with Atlanta Public Schools, the Southeastern Council of Foundations, JFM Consulting, and on Capitol Hill for then-Senator Barack Obama. A Teach for America alumna, she taught in Atlanta and holds degrees from Yale, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University.

Lisa Wills

Lisa Wills, an educator with 36 years of experience, has excelled as a teacher, curriculum specialist, assistant principal, principal, Director of Literacy, and Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction. Her leadership and dedication have significantly impacted student learning and educational development.

Janet Wilson

Dr. Janet Wilson serves as the Senior Vice-President of Littera Education focusing on district solutions in the implementation of high impact tutoring, the use of outcomes-based contracting, and related research. Previous to her role at Littera, Janet worked in school districts ranging in size from 4,000 to 160,000 students in a variety of administrative roles including assistant superintendent, chief of teaching, learning, and schools, and superintendent. The role of achievement data as a foundational tool for resource allocation and design, along with the change management necessary to improve student outcomes has and continues to be central to her work.

Holly Windram

With 21 years in public and private education as a School Psychologist, Dir. of Special Education, and Chief Education Officer, Holly is the Executive Director of Hope Network’s Michigan Education Corps (MEC) implementing Ampact Reading Corps, MEC Math Corps, and Early Learning Corps. Since 2014, leveraging over $35 million in grant funds to successfully scale, Holly has authored boilerplate language for high-impact tutoring in Michigan, chaired the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Development Committee, co-founded the Michigan Partnership for Equity and Opportunity, She is an MBA candidate at University of Chicago Booth.

Jennie Wise

Jennie Wise is a dedicated instructional leader with 27 years of experience in school and district leadership. She currently serves as Assistant Director at the University of Florida’s Lastinger Center for Learning, where she leads the design, implementation, and evaluation of the Florida Tutoring Advantage program. In this role, she supports strategic partnerships with districts and vendors to drive improved learning outcomes for students statewide.

Paul Yoo

Paul Youngmin Yoo is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University.

Hannah Zey

Continuous Improvement Analyst, Strategy and Governance at Fulton County Schools.

Xing Zhang

Founder and CEO of Air Reading. We are helping underserved students learn how to read from 1st to 6th grade in high-need schools. Prior to starting Air Reading, Xing led the teacher growth at VIPKid (100K online teachers) and developed products at IXL (15M students).

Helen Zhou

Helen Zhou is a Research Associate on the National Student Support Accelerator team at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about educational equity and the role that research and data play in informing policy decisions and transforming systems. She holds a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. As a High Road Fellow at Cornell, she worked with Say Yes to Education Buffalo, a nonprofit based in Buffalo, NY, to publish a guide on the Buffalo Commons for reopening schools through trauma-informed and racial equity lenses.

Lauren Ziegler

Lauren Ziegler is Managing Director of the National Student Support Accelerator at Stanford University, where she leads the translation of research on learning acceleration into actionable guidance and tools for U.S. district and state leaders and service providers. She has spent her career advancing educational equity on national and global scales. Previously, Lauren led global research on family and community engagement in education at the Brookings Institution. She also served as a Broad Resident in Urban Education, driving strategic initiatives at Mastery Charter Schools, and began her work in education as an English teacher in France.

Pablo Zoido

Pablo Zoido is education lead specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where he works to improve the quality and equity of education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. Pablo has worked at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Stanford University and the World Bank. He studied at Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Carlos III.