Susan has been a nationally recognized expert for more than four decades. Her transformational work in public schools has centered on the development of comprehensive technical assistance for system wide change, training on educational equity and culturally responsive pedagogy and practice, school climate and culture, family, school, and community engagement, and multicultural gender-related issues. Currently, Ms. Shaffer is representing MAEC as a partner with the Chief State School Officers to create a State Consortium on Family Engagement, developing a CoP among seven state teams to develop a Birth to Grade 12 Family Engagement Framework. Ms. Shaffer has published extensively on gender equity, family engagement, civil rights, multicultural education, and disability. Her publications include a co-edited journal, Equity-Centered Capacity Building: Essential Approaches for Excellence & Sustainable School System Transformation, and co-authored book, How to Connect with your iTeen: A Parenting Road Map. Ms. Shaffer serves on several boards, including the National Association of Family, School and Community Engagement (co-founder), School of Education, Bowie State University, MD, the MD Women’s Heritage Center, and Harmony through Education, an international NGO serving the needs of children with disabilities. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her service, leadership, and significant contribution to curricular materials on women. She holds a B.A. in History and M.A. in education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Charo is an educational psychologist with over 30 years of experience on issues related to educational evaluation, English Learners, family engagement, multicultural education, and early childhood education. At MAEC, Ms. Basterra provides day to day supervision of MAEC’s programmatic and evaluation activities. She also assists the President in overseeing fiscal affairs. In addition, she provides technical assistance to SEAs, LEAs, and schools to promote the academic achievement of English Learners, K-12. Ms. Basterra has edited several books, including Cultural Validity in Assessment: Addressing Linguistic and Cultural Diversity published by Routledge. Previously, she worked at the Smithsonian Institution as Manager of Multicultural Programs and at the Organization of American States where she conducted studies on Preschool Education in Latin America. Ms. Basterra holds a B.A. from Catholic University in Lima, Peru and a M.A. in Education from Temple University. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship.

As MAEC’s Senior Education Equity Specialist, Nyla provides technical assistance and professional development to school districts seeking to advance racial, gender, cultural, and socioeconomic equity in their schools. Before joining MAEC, Nyla spent 10 years working in education, beginning with her first job in high school as a grassroots youth organizer at the Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) and continuing into adulthood as an English teacher. She also worked as a teacher consultant with the Philadelphia Writing Project, graduate school instructor on race and critical pedagogy at the University of Pennsylvania, and technical assistance trainer at The Metro Center at NYU. Nyla holds a Masters of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree with honors and an interdisciplinary focus on social inequality from Pennsylvania State University.

Michelle has over 15 years of experience working in the field of education in MD, DC & VA.  As an ELL educator, she focused on increasing English language proficiency in her students, provided high quality educational and enrichment experiences, and fostered excellence and academic growth in her classrooms.  In addition, Michelle developed and facilitated professional development training that was grounded in second language theory to prepare teachers to meet the linguistic, academic, and acculturation needs of non-native speaking students.  As the ALIVE Program Director for MAEC, Michelle manages and monitors day-to-day program activities for the after school program at Eastern Middle School.  When she’s not wearing her education hat, you can find Michelle either performing on stage in community theatres across the DMV region, or working behind the scenes as a producer, stage manager, front of house manager, or publicist for any musical production.  She holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice/Criminology from the University of Maryland College Park, and a M.A.T with a specialization in ESOL from Johns Hopkins University.

Kate has over 15 years of experience working in digital communications for non-profit organizations. In her current role, she develops and executes MAEC’s communication strategy and manages dissemination channels, including the websites, newsletters, and social media. With a focus on maximizing engagement and user experience, Kate has a background in both front and back-end website development, print publication design, and email outreach. Prior to joining MAEC, Kate served as the website and outreach specialist with a national nonprofit and as an independent consultant developing websites and communication strategies. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Writing from the University of Evansville, IN.

Nada has half a decade years of experience working with non-profits across multiple issue areas. In her current role, she assists in analyzing, coding, and reporting on information for various MAEC projects. With a focus on developing efficient means of evolution and research, Nada has a background in both software management and academically rigorous research. Prior to joining MAEC, Nada served as a research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tank and Civil Society Program. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in International relations, Economics, and Philosophy from American University.

Michelle has over 25 years of experience as a teacher, Civil Rights Investigator, and trainer specializing in the reduction of hate crimes, school-based harassment, bullying, racial tension, prejudice, and gangs. As MAEC’s Pennsylvania State Equity Coordinator and the Center’s Safe Schools Manager, Michelle is responsible for multiple statewide initiatives aimed at improving school safety and reducing youth violence. She is a certified trainer for: Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Partners Against Hate, Lifelines, and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention. She has a B.A. in English Education from Messiah College and an M.S. in Education Law from Nova Southeastern University. Michelle is a graduate of the National Institute Against Hate Crimes and Terrorism, the Anti-Defamation League’s Advanced Training School course on Extremist and Terrorist Threats, and the FBI’s Citizen Academy.

Kathleen has over 10 years of experience working with communications in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Kathleen currently is MAEC’s communications and administrative coordinator and assists the CEO and works with the Associate Director of Communications in managing the websites, social media, e-newsletters, and designs layouts for print publications. Prior to joining MAEC, she worked in the travel industry and as a communications consultant. She earned her degree in Communications at Marymount University, VA and graduate degree in Public Communications at American University, DC.

Kasia Razynska was born in Gdansk, Poland. She graduated from The Harvard Graduate School Of Education with a degree in International Education Policy with a focus on quantitative research methods. She has 18 years of experience in the education sector and 7 years of continuous experience working on projects requiring evaluation, research design, statistical programming and data management. Prior to joining MAEC she worked for ICF where she served on the internal evaluation team for the Capacity Building Center for States funded through the Children’s Bureau. She is also played an integral role with the Regional Education Laboratory Mid-Atlantic (REL MA). As the REL MA Maryland State Coordinator, she used her understanding education policy and knowledge of the state to ensure that Maryland’s needs are well represented in REL activities. In her role as Coordinator of the REL Mid-Atlantic Longitudinal Data Use Research Alliance (LDURA), she advised stakeholders on implementing new data processes. She has also worked with the Puerto Rico Department of Education on numerous research and technical assistance projects and is fluent in Spanish.  In her spare time Kasia teaches English to kids in China through an internet platform.  Having moved to the U.S. from Poland at the age of 14, she is deeply passionate about ensuring access to education for all children, especially English Learners and immigrants.

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Karmen Rouland oversees CEE’s technical assistance portfolio. Prior to joining CEE, Karmen worked at the intersection of education policy and data at the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) providing various approaches to problem-solving educational and policy issues facing DC educators and youth. Karmen has over 10 years of experience conducting research on education equity and serving as a youth mentor. Since 2006, Karmen continues to teach undergraduate and graduate-level education courses for pre-service and in-service teachers.  Karmen holds a B.S. in Psychology from Howard University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan. Karmen is a proud board member of Girls Prep, Inc. and is a Commissioner with the Montgomery County Maryland Commission for Women.

Phoebe has over 20 years experience as a lawyer, writer, editor, and budget manager. At MAEC, she divides her time between finance and editing. Under finance, she manages contracts, grants, budgets, A/P and A/R. She writes and edits publications, including grant proposals. Prior to joining MAEC, she was an attorney and a managing editor. Phoebe has served on several non-profit boards, and is currently the President of the Board of the non-profit Kids’ Corner Day Care Center in Washington, D.C. Phoebe has a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of Rochester and a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.