Academic Cabinet
This team of extraordinarily accomplished education leaders draws on decades of academic experience to provide a unique perspective on the challenges today’s educators are facing.
Get to know the people behind the technology
Achieve3000 is an education technology company, but what really fuels our success is our people—innovative professionals who are dedicated to accelerating learning growth for all students.
This team of extraordinarily accomplished education leaders draws on decades of academic experience to provide a unique perspective on the challenges today’s educators are facing.
This committee, which stands for Community Action for Respect and Equity, was formed to help the organization foster a diverse and inclusive working environment that promotes respect, equity, and access for all employees, customers, and partners.
An unparalleled day of learning and inspiration to accelerate literacy growth for each and every student.
Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, James Madison University
Dr. John Almarode has worked with schools, classrooms, and teachers all over the world. John began his career teaching mathematics and science in Augusta County. Since then, he has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on the application of the science of learning to the classroom, school, and home environments. In addition to his time in PreK – 12 schools and classrooms, he is an Associate Professor and Executive Director of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at James Madison University. At JMU, he works with pre‑service teachers and actively pursues his research interests including the science of learning and the design and measurement of classroom environments that promote student engagement and learning. John and his colleagues have presented their work to the United States Congress, the United States Department of Education as well as the Office of Science and Technology Policy at The White House. John has authored multiple articles, reports, book chapters, and over a dozen books on effective teaching and learning in today’s schools and classrooms.
Author and Educator
Joseph Assof is a high school and community college mathematics teacher and the math department chair at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego, CA. He leads his department’s reform efforts to align to the Common Core Standards – with a focus on high quality instruction. He is a member of the San Diego County Math Leaders Task Force, whose mission is to support every student in meeting the rigorous expectations of the Common Core. Joseph co-authored Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, High School, Teaching Mathematics in the Visible Learning Classroom, Grades 6-8, and The Teacher Clarity Playbook, and his classroom is featured in a number of Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12 videos.
Chief Academic Officer
Kevin Baird (MBA, ALEP) serves as Chief Academic Officer for Achieve3000. Kevin is a noted leader in college and career readiness content, strategies and standards. He has participated in educational research on every continent save for Antarctica, consulted with governments to create college & career readiness initiatives, and has served as trainer and consultant for states and districts across North America. Kevin has served as Chairman and Senior Faculty at the non-profit Center for College & Career Readiness.
Kevin creates graduate-level programs in College & Career Readiness for school administrators, and is a sought-after speaker around the world. An expert in the use of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence in education, he has helped to create a variety of K-12 and higher ed technologies. Kevin has collaborated with Achieve3000 for more than 15 years and also contributes as a member of our Educator Leadership Council.
Chief Financial Officer
Nick Bates joined Achieve3000 in August 2018. As Chief Financial Officer, Nick is responsible for financial planning, risk management, analysis, and reporting. He brings more than 18 years of financial management experience to the company, having served as Chief Financial Officer at both Liberty Tax, Inc. and Catapult Learning, LLC and holding various financial management roles within MedQuist, Inc. Nick earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Rutgers University.
Chairman, Board of Directors Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners
Adam Berger is a partner and Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners, a New York-based private equity firm that has raised over $18 billion, which is focused on software and obsessed with accelerating revenue and profit. Adam works across Insight’s portfolio and deal teams, primarily during the diligence and post-investment value creation phase.
Adam currently serves as Chairman of Achieve3000; Chairman of Campaign Monitor, a global leader in B2B marketing automation; Chairman of Diligent Corporation, the leader in corporate governance software; Chairman of E2Open, a leader in supply chain management software; and Chairman of Vela, a leading provider of low latency trading solutions.
Adam has an extensive track record in building software and marketing-driven companies. Until January 2017, he was CEO of Digital Room Incorporated, an online printer and former Insight Venture Partners’ portfolio company. He and his team increased revenue from $26 million to $170 million through aggressive organic and acquisitive growth strategies and exited the business at over four times invested capital.
Previously, Adam served as Chairman and CEO of Spark Networks Inc., a publicly traded firm with online dating sites such as JDate.com and ChristianMingle.com, and was CEO of WeddingChannel.com, Inc., a venture-backed start-up providing multi-media bridal services, which he sold to The XO group in 2006. Adam began his career as an engineer with The Procter and Gamble Company, later moving into brand management on Tide and Downy. Following P&G, he was a case leader at The Boston Consulting Group and then became President and COO of The Franklin Mint, where he turned around the $600 million Philadelphia-based global direct marketer. He also served as interim management on behalf of Texas Pacific Group during its early investment in J. Crew.
Adam earned his Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and later an MBA from The Harvard Business School. He has been a member of YPO since 1998, initially in Philadelphia and subsequently in Los Angeles, where he currently resides.
Co-Chair, Internal Professional Development Subcommittee
Romana Bertolotti is currently the Senior Professional Services Director for the Northeast Team at Achieve3000 and Co-Chair, Internal Professional Development subcommittee for C.A.R.E. Ms. Bertolotti was hired in 2015 to work in partnership with districts and schools in New York, New Jersey, and New England. She provides high-quality professional development services, develops and maintains relationships with and serves as liaison between Achieve3000 and partner districts. Ms. Bertolotti has 24+ years of quantifiable success developing and implementing powerful professional development.
Ms. Bertolotti has taught critical thinking, communication theory, and history of mass media at New York University and Marymount Manhattan College. She holds a master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Perugia as well as a master’s degree in Media Studies from New York University. Her areas of interest include language and culture, critical theory, literacy, and writing.
Co-Chair, Data Subcommittee
Dr. Sara Bhonsale serves as the Regional Director of Partnerships supporting both Alaska and Hawaii schools. She is Chair of the Data subcommittee for C.A.R.E. The subcommittee’s purpose is to research, analyze, and share recommendations based on data gleaned relative to increasing the organization’s diverse reach and ensuring our partners are effectively supported in all demographic and socio-economic territories.
Dr. Bhonsale has been in education for over 20 years, beginning as a teacher and moving into school turn-around working with schools to develop equitable and results-based practices. She joined the Achieve3000 team in 2014 and continues to be passionate about helping all students use literacy as the primary tool towards equity.
Chief Technology Officer
Rob Bruno is the Chief Technology Officer of Achieve3000. Rob joined Achieve3000 with more than 20 years of experience managing technology in the education sector, with expertise in strategic roadmap execution and change management. He served as CTO and Chief Architect of Penn Foster, one of the world’s largest operators of accredited online high schools, career schools, and university programs serving hundreds of thousands of students on its platforms. Following Penn Foster’s acquisition by the Princeton Review, Rob served as Chief Technology Officer of the combined $215 million publicly traded company from 2010-2012. Prior to joining Penn Foster in 1997, he worked as a programmer and software developer in the perfume, telecom, and pharmaceutical industries. Rob earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Math from King’s College.
Co-Chair, Internal Professional Development Subcommittee
Cranston Chester has over 23 years of IT experience in various industries with over 18 years experience in education technology. In his role as Technical Onboarding Services Manager at Achieve3000, one of his primary functions is the technical implementation and support of Tier 1 customers, utilizing his well-honed project management and communications skills and technological expertise. In addition, he serves as Co-Chair, Internal Professional Development subcommittee of C.A.R.E. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and enjoys mentoring teenage boys of color on STEM based careers, life skills, and the importance of giving back. He is active in Boy Scouts with his two teenage sons and enjoys traveling and learning about other cultures.
CEO at Institute for Integrative Nutrition
Lynda Cloud comes to the Achieve3000 board of directors with deep experience in the K-12 school market as an executive leader, and product development and marketing expert. Mrs. Cloud has built some of the most significant education platforms currently in use in schools around the world. Mrs. Cloud currently serves as CEO at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the world’s largest nutrition school that trains health coaches online. Immediately prior, Mrs. Cloud served as the founding CEO of EqualEd, a division of GEMS Education, a global school operator and curriculum provider. She served as Executive Vice President of Product and Technology at K12 Inc., where she additionally served as General Manager of the $100 million institutional K-12 schools division. Mrs. Cloud started her education career and spent 24 years at Pearson in a variety of technology, product, and marketing roles, where she culminated her tenure there as General Manager and Senior Vice President of Science, Humanities, and the Online Learning Exchange. She has a BA in English and Elementary Education from Susquehanna University.
Senior Vice President,
Customer Advocacy
Dr. Debi Crimmins, Senior Vice President of Customer Advocacy for Achieve3000, has a true passion for providing white-glove service and strategic literacy leadership, with her Tier 1 Customer Advocacy Team, for our largest customers across the country. Debi has an over 20 year history in developing results-based literacy solutions, marketing and sales execution, and leading key, strategic partnerships through her executive leadership roles in several technology companies. A former Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, Debi managed the district’s Secondary Language Arts Department and has taught literacy education programs for several colleges. Debi holds a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ed.D. from the University of Central Florida, all focused on literacy equity and access for all students. Additionally, her research has been published in the English Journal, Phi Delta Kappan, and by the ASCD.
President at Houghton College in New York
Dr. Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. brings to the Achieve3000 board of directors executive leadership experience in K-12 education, higher education, and state government, as well as deep academic and educational thought leadership. Dr. Lewis was recently named president of Houghton College in New York. Before that, he served as the inaugural Dean of the School of Education at Belmont University in Nashville, where he oversaw undergraduate and graduate educator preparation programs. Dr. Lewis has also served in Kentucky state government, most recently as the state’s Commissioner of Education and prior to that as Executive Director of Education Policy and Programs in the Education & Workforce Development Cabinet. He spent 10 years at the University of Kentucky as a faculty member and graduate program chairperson in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies as well as an affiliated faculty member with the African American and Africana Studies Program. He started his career in education as a middle and high school special education teacher in Louisiana and North Carolina. Dr. Lewis holds his Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy analysis from North Carolina State University and a master’s in urban studies and public administration from the University of Akron, with post-baccalaureate studies in special education from the University of New Orleans. He also currently serves on the board of directors of Future of School, a public charity focused on fostering innovative education models, and on the Practitioner Council of the Hoover Education Success Initiative (HESI) at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Senior Vice President,
Program Impact
Mason Davis brings 23 years of education experience to the Achieve3000 team. He most recently served as the Chief Academic Officer for Duval County Public Schools, the 20th largest school district in the nation. During his tenure there, student performance for African-American, Hispanic, Free & Reduced Lunch, and Students with Disabilities were Top 3 in the nation on the NAEP TUDA assessment in both 2017 and 2019. Mason also led efforts to improve infrastructure for transition to a blended learning environment for both students and staff, allowing for a smooth transition to remote learning. He has also served as a Regional Executive Director of School Improvement for the Florida Department of Education, where he led transformation efforts for underperforming schools in 20 counties.
Mason has presented across the country on school improvement, instructional materials procurement, special education transformation, closing the achievement gap, and organizational management. He has provided assistance to city and school governance for summer programs, fiscal management, subgroup analysis and improvement, and operational efficiency.
Executive Director of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion
Dr. Davis is a Professional Services Director in the Mid-Atlantic Region and Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Achieve3000 Literacy. She also serves as Co-Chair of the C.A.R.E. (Community Action for Respect & Equity) Committee to advance the internal and external understanding of the importance equity, diversity, and social justice in the development of the company’s employees as as well as our products and services.
Dr. Davis has an extensive background as a turnaround administrator with over 23 years of experience. She has held a number of roles in education, including consulting and training for the Department of Juvenile Justice and serving as an elementary, middle and high school principal and as an adjunct college professor. Dr. Davis has also served as a consultant, working to assist low performing schools by helping them to effectively use data to improve educational programs and instructional practices.
Senior Vice President,
Sales
Rem Fairlamb joined Achieve3000 in December 2018. As Senior Vice President of Sales, Rem is responsible for building the Achieve3000 brand and enabling the sales organization to share Achieve3000 solutions with more school districts across our nation. Rem brings over 20 years of experience leading high performing sales teams selling SaaS solutions to the K-12 market. Prior to joining Achieve3000 he led annual double-digit growth for many years at Frontline Education, Teachscape, and Kaplan K12.
Rem holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Professor of Educational Leadership, San Diego State University
Dr. Fisher is Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College having been an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Gray Citation of Merit, an Exemplary Leader Award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE, as well as a Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as Visible Learning for Literacy, Building Equity, and Assessment-Capable Visible Learners. Dr. Fisher serves as Chair of the Achieve3000 Math Advisory Board.
Specialties: literacy instruction; differentiated instruction; education leadership
Director of Customer Advocacy
Tiffany Glasper is a Director of Customer Advocacy for Achieve3000, where she builds collaborative solution-driven relationships with key school districts across the country. She is also Co-Chair of the Internal Professional Development subcommittee of the C.A.R.E. Committee. In her role as Director of Customer Advocacy she regularly conducts nationwide webinars, drives leader-focused remote and in-person presentation, and guides critical conversations around districts’ needs and opportunities. Prior, she has held many roles in the education industry including teaching all elementary subjects, being an AVID middle school instructor, a private sector curriculum director, education project manager, and non-profit education director. She is most passionate about educating the whole child and strives to impact the students and educators she encounters in meaningful and empowering ways.
Senior Vice President,
Corporate Development &
Strategy
Harris Goodman is responsible for overseeing mergers and acquisitions, international business development, and customer support. He has focused his efforts on bringing stable growth to the international division as well as leading Achieve3000's most recent acquisitions including Actively Learn, LearnBop, and Teachonomy. Prior to joining Achieve3000 in 2016, Harris co-founded Late Nite Labs, an online virtual science program for Higher Education, which he successfully sold to Macmillan Publishing in 2013. Harris attended Yeshiva University and graduate school at Johns Hopkins University.
Vice President of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion
Monique Hamilton currently serves as the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion where she partners with other members of the Executive Leadership Team to oversee the company’s commitment to ensure that our solutions, company philosophy, practices, and employees represent the culturally diverse partners that we serve. Prior to serving in this position, Monique has worked with Achieve3000 for the past four years as a Project Manager, Professional Learning Services Director, and as a Co-Chair of the Community Action for Respect and Equity (C.A.R.E.) Committee which was formed to advance the internal and external understanding of the importance around the inclusion of equity, diversity, and social justice in the development of the company as well as stakeholder partners.
Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital's Principal Transactions Group
Larry Handen is a Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Capital’s Principal Transactions Group and has more than 25 years of experience as a principal investor, operator, and consultant primarily in the field of technology and services. During his career, Larry has been involved as a principal investor in more than 125 M&A and equity financing transactions and served on the Board of Directors of more than 30 companies throughout the Americas, Eastern & Western Europe, and Australia. Additionally, he has advised over 100 other companies in various capacities.
He joins Macquarie Capital from Insight Venture Partners, a leading growth equity and venture capital firm, where he served as Managing Director. Prior to Insight, Mr. Handen was a General Partner at UBS Capital where he led the firm’s Software, Internet & Services Group. Previously, he was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting. While at PwC, Larry led a practice specializing in corporate-wide growth and recovery solutions for companies in the technology, information, communications, and entertainment industries.
Larry received a BA in Economics and Political Science from Bucknell University and a MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business
Author and International Curriculum Leader
Karin Hess, author of the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrices, is recognized as an international leader in applying research-based learning progressions to the development of PreK-12 curriculum and assessment systems. During 15 years at the National Center for Assessment, she distinguished herself as an assessment and content expert in multiple content areas, conducting alignment studies and developing test blueprints for large-scale assessments (NECAP, SBAC).
Dr. Hess was a classroom teacher (15 years), a curriculum director and principal, and the NJ state director for gifted education. She has been a program evaluator for the Vermont Mathematics Project and the developer/editor of Science Exemplars, piloting performance assessments and annotating student work samples. Her publications include articles, book chapters, and books that provide practical, classroom-tested tools and strategies to support deeper learning for all students, such as A Local Assessment Toolkit to Promote Deeper Learning and Deeper Competency-Based Learning.
Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners
Ryan Hinkle joined Insight in 2003 and has worked across many industries, geographies and deal structures, spanning internet, e-commerce, infrastructure and application software companies in Europe, Australia and North America. Ryan’s investments include growth equity, leverage buyouts, growth buyouts, and platform roll-ups. Current investments include eCommerce companies (Hayneedle, Fanatics, Newegg, Ozsale), mobile solution companies (AdColony, Branding Brand, Kony Solutions), SaaS/applications software companies (Smartsheet, Workforce Software) and education companies (Chegg, iParadigms, Pluralsight). Ryan also works with Syncsort, a big data infrastructure company.
Ryan oversaw Insight’s investments and subsequent acquisitions of Argus Software (acquired by Altus Group Ltd), ECI (acquired by the Carlyle Group), Football Fanatics (acquired by GSI Commerce, now eBay) and Punch! Software (acquired by Navarre Corporation). Ryan works closely with the executive management of his investments and has stepped in as deputy-CFO on several occasions to help the teams. Ryan is also a key manager of the Analyst program at Insight with responsibility for recruiting, training, and mentoring. He has been named to Growthcap’s list of Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors.
Prior to Insight, Ryan began his journey as a lifelong technology enthusiast by developing real-time electricity trading productivity tools with PPL Corporation. Ryan also worked with Morgan Stanley where he observed trader behavior and built software tools to increase their efficiency.
Ryan is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Finance from Wharton and Electrical Engineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Originally from rural southeastern Pennsylvania, he has spent over 10 years living in New York City with his wife, Sara and his son, Dylan and daughter, Sadie.
Co-Chair, Internal Professional Development Subcommittee
Halene E. Holland currently serves as the Manager of Sales Operations Support and Accounts Receivable for Achieve3000. She also serves on the C.A.R.E. Committee as Chair of the Special Events subcommittee. This subcommittee is responsible for creating and conducting multiple monthly internal and external events to advance the understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Holland has over 20 years of previous experience working as a Sales Support Manager and as a Loss Prevention/Risk Manager for two major international corporations. Holland also served as one of the founding steering committee members for her former company’s Diversity Committee helping to build the committee and promote better understanding of diversity and work-life balance issues.
Holland currently resides in central New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.
Co-Chair, Content and Services Subcommittee
Lee Anne Housley is the Regional Vice President for Professional Services (International and Southwest) and Co-Chair, Content and Services subcommittee of C.A.R.E., As RVP of Professional Services she is responsible for the operational management and quality assurance of Achieve3000 implementations in 49 countries along with the Southwest region. She has been in education for 21 years and brings her passion for serving all students through a differentiated and strengths-based approach to this role. Her previous roles include award-winning high school science teacher as well as positions with other education companies including Vice President of Instructional Excellence, Director of Operations for Literacy First, Director of School Partnerships, and Senior Consultant. Her work experience includes operational management of professional learning programs along with managing 75 consultants working nationally and internationally, consulting, coaching, and delivering professional development for public and nonpublic schools, developing new products and curriculum, and presenting at national, regional, and state level conferences on a variety of topics.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Janette Jankowski joined Achieve3000 in August 2012. As Chief Human Resources Officer, she is responsible for human resource strategy and planning, staffing, talent management, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and corporate learning and development. Janette has specialized in HR for more than 20 years. During that time, she has held many national and global positions spanning various industries. Prior to joining Achieve, Janette was Vice President of Human Resources for EducationDynamics and U.S. Head of Human Resources for Cooper Notification, where she was the U.S. delegate to the international HR council for the safety division.
Janette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from West Virginia University. She also holds an SPHR certification from the HR Certification Institute and an SHRM-SCP certification from the Society for Human Resource Management.
Senior Vice President,
Commercial Operations
Danny Lipsitz joined Achieve3000 in September 2018. As Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Danny is responsible for coordinating Achieve3000’s go-to-market approach across Sales, Account Management, Professional Services, Marketing, and Finance. Danny began his career in finance at SAC Capital (now Point72 Asset Management) and Citigroup, and most recently worked at Flatiron Health for over three years through hypergrowth from early stage to a $2 billion acquisition by Roche in Q1 2018.
Danny earned Bachelor of Art degrees in Ancient Studies and Economics from Columbia University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and studied on exchange as an Oxbridge Scholar in Classics at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Mathematics Instructor and Department Chair
A mathematics instructor and Department Chair, Tammi Marshall has been at Cuyamaca College since 1997. In 2010, Tammi and her colleagues began working with the California Acceleration Project (CAP) to redesign Cuyamaca’s developmental math sequence, culminating in the launch of Cuyamaca’s Math Pathway program in 2016. Since then not only does every first-time student have access to transfer-level math, the department has increased completion of transferable math nearly sevenfold among students who would previously have been designated “underprepared.” Tammi also serves as one of the CAP math coaches, is a facilitator for the Dana Center’s Math Pathways, and has presented to college and university audiences in California and nationally. Tammi’s passion for all students to realize their dreams is taking shape, and the Math Department at Cuyamaca College has worked hard to make this happen. Tammi holds a master’s degree in Math Education and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.
President of Successful Practices
Network
Mr. McNulty is the President of Successful Practices Network/National Dropout Prevention Center and a senior fellow to the International Center for Leadership in Education, having previously served as its president. Prior to joining the International Center, he was a senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he worked with leading educators on improving the nation’s high schools. Mr. McNulty is a past president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and author of It’s Not Us Against Them — Creating the Schools We Need.
An educator since 1973, he has been a teacher, vice principal, principal, and superintendent, as well as Vermont’s education commissioner. Ray is committed to raising performance standards for both teachers and students and to building solid connections between schools and their communities.
Specialties: educational renovation
Co-Chair, Content and Services Subcommittee
Jenny Miranda-Gonzalez is a Professional Services Director for Achieve3000’s Florida region. She’s responsible for developing customized professional development sessions for administrators, teachers, and support staff. In addition to this role, she is Co-Chair, Content and Services Subcommittee of C.A.R.E. Prior to her role at Achieve3000, she served as a sales and implementation director at McGraw-Hill, Inc and as a Director of the Adult Ed Center and Parent Academy in Miami-Dade Public Schools, developing curriculum and coordinating logistics to offer Pathways to Citizenship, G.E.D, ESOL, Workforce Readiness and parenting classes. Ms. Miranda-Gonzalez has 20+ experience working with students, teachers and instructional technology in NYC Public Schools and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She and her family reside in South Florida.
Author and Educator
Dr. Muhammad is an award-winning author and international thought leader. He currently serves as the CEO of New Frontier 21 Consulting, a company dedicated to providing cutting-edge professional development to schools all over the world. A former teacher and school administrator, he served as a practitioner for nearly twenty years.
Dr. Muhammad is a leading expert in the areas of school culture and Professional Learning Communities (PLC). He has worked with schools across the globe and in all 50 U.S. states.
Dr. Muhammad’s books include Time for Change: The Four Essential Skills of a Transformational School Leader, Overcoming the Achievement Gap Trap: Liberating Mindsets to Effect Change, The Will to Lead and the Skill to Teach; Transforming Schools at Every Level, and Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division.
Specialties: educational leadership; school culture; professional learning communities
Former Assistant Superintendent,
Chula Vista
Dr. Nelson is a dedicated instructional leader, expert in the use of technology to improve student outcomes, and passionate advocate for English language learners. During his tenure as the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services at the Chula Vista Elementary School District in California, he oversaw the district’s dramatic improvement in academic performance and high-stakes test scores through the implementation of a student-centered instructional framework and a cloud-based differentiated instruction solution. With four decades of experience in education, Dr. Nelson has also worked as a classroom teacher, ESL instructor, school principal, and lecturer at San Diego State University.
Specialties: accelerating student achievement; Common Core State Standards; leadership coaching
Senior Vice President,
Marketing
Meg Roe is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Achieve3000. Meg brings to Achieve3000 over 30 years of leadership experience in the development and execution of corporate strategy, and expertise in the K-12, special education, and direct-to-consumer markets. Most recently, Meg led the School Marketing team at Learning Ally, where she played a critical role in the company’s expansion into the K12 school market. Prior to that, Meg held the position of Vice President of Marketing at Catapult Learning, where she led product marketing, student enrollment, and sales enablement for the company’s Title I instructional services programs and special education schools. In addition, Meg also served as Senior Vice President at American Reading Company. Before her move into EdTech, Meg spent fifteen years at Doubleday Entertainment / Bookspan, where she was Senior Vice President and Group Product Manager for direct-to-consumer catalog and e-commerce product lines serving over one million book club members. Meg attended Villanova School of Business and earned her bachelor’s degree from Marquette University.
President, MetaMetrics
Dr. Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., is the president of MetaMetrics, an educational measurement and research organization. Together with co-founder and CEO A. Jackson Stenner, Ph.D., Dr. Smith created The Lexile® Framework for Reading; El Sistema Lexile® para Leer, the Spanish-language version of the widely used reading framework; The Lexile® Framework for Writing; and The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics. Focused on fostering literacy and mathematics excellence, Dr. Smith strives to make education measurement useful and actionable in classroom instruction and the home.
Specialties: Lexile Framework; educational measurement
Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners
Peter Sobiloff joined Insight Venture Partners as Managing Director in 1998, bringing to the firm 20 years of operational experience in executive leadership positions, sales management and worldwide operations. Peter was President of Think Systems, an Insight portfolio company focused on supply chain management, which was acquired by i2 Technologies; thereafter Peter served as Vice President of Business Development at i2 Technologies. Prior to Insight, Peter was President of Datalogix, a vendor of enterprise application software for process manufacturers. He also held senior executive roles at Ross Systems, a provider of financial application software. Peter was part of the management teams that executed IPOs for both companies. Subsequently, as President of Datalogix, Peter led the sale of Datalogix to Oracle corporation.
Peter is a well-known executive in the software industry and regularly speaks on industry panels. He served as Chairman of Greenfield Online (NASDAQ: SRVY) for six years, including three years as a public company. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Medidata Solutions (NASDAQ: MDSO) for seven years, the final two as a public company. Other notable previous investments include Argus Software (acquired by Altus Group), DWL (acquired by IBM), GETPAID (acquired by Sunguard), Netsmart Technologies (acquired by Genstar Financial), iMany (IPO), Nistevo (acquired by Sterling Software), Paisley (acquired by Thomson Reuters), PerTrac (acquired by eVestment), Primavera (acquired by Oracle), Rockport Trade Systems (acquired by QRS Corp), Shunra (acquired by Hewlett Packard), and Overdrive (acquired by Rakuten).
Peter currently serves on the board of directors at Achieve3000, Anaqua, DrillingInfo, Filmtrack, Kinnser Software, Kony Solutions, Mediaspectrum, Planview, Syncsort, and Workforce.
In his role as investor, Peter specializes in mentoring management teams to foster technological change in existing markets in order to produce greater productivity and deliver incremental value to customers. Peter enjoys working to create successful liquidity events that positively change the lives of entrepreneurs and employees.
Senior Vice President,
Learning
Deep Sran is the Senior Vice President of Learning at Achieve3000. In 2012, Deep co-founded Actively Learn, a digital platform to promote close reading and deeper learning in ways that required technology built on sound theory and proven pedagogical practices. He was Chief Academic Officer and Company Counsel at Actively Learn. When Actively Learn was acquired by Achieve3000 in 2018, Deep joined Achieve as SVP of Learning.
Deep completed his Ph.D. in Human Development with research on the preconscious influences on decision making. He is also an attorney, with a focus on corporate law.
Looking for more freedom to show how beautiful school could be, he founded Loudoun School for Advanced Studies (LSAS) in 2008 in Ashburn, Virginia. LSAS is a small school that aims to increase the level of academic challenge while simultaneously improving how meaningful and enjoyable school is for students. He was the lead teacher and principal at LSAS until 2018.
Clinical Professor of Literacy,
New York University
Dr. Stahl is a Clinical Professor of Literacy at New York University where she teaches graduate courses in literacy and directs the NYU Literacy Clinic. She taught in public elementary school classrooms for over 25 years. Her research focuses on reading acquisition, struggling readers, and comprehension. Dr. Stahl’s books include Assessment for Reading Instruction (3rd Ed.), Developing Reading Comprehension: Effective Instruction for All Children in Prek-2, Reading Assessment in an RTI Framework, and Reading Research at Work: Foundations of Effective Practice. Her articles have appeared in Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Urban Education, and the Journal of Literacy Research. She has been the recipient of Harvard’s Jeanne Chall Visiting Researcher Award and the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Teaching Excellence Award.
Specialties: reading acquisition; struggling readers; and comprehension
Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Jon Star is a Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Star is an educational psychologist who studies children's learning of mathematics in middle and high school, particularly algebra. Star's current research explores the development of flexibility in mathematical problem solving, with flexibility defined as knowledge of multiple strategies for solving mathematics problems and the ability to adaptively choose among known strategies on a particular problem. Star also investigates instructional and curricular interventions that may promote the development of mathematical understanding. In addition, Star is interested in the pre-service preparation of middle and secondary mathematics teachers. Prior to his graduate studies, Star spent several years teaching middle and high school mathematics.
Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, College of Education at Northern Illinois University
Dr. Tonks is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education at Northern Illinois University. He researches academic motivation, focusing on reading engagement in children and adolescents. Additional research interests include measuring student motivation, the interplay of culture and motivation, and Japanese culture and education. Dr. Tonks presents regularly at national and international conferences and has co-authored numerous articles and chapters in a variety of academic journals and books. His research has been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, he regularly teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on motivation, educational psychology, child and adolescent development, policy, and research methodology.
Specialties: Measuring student motivation; the interplay of culture and motivation; and Japanese culture and education.
Vice President, Government and Community Partnerships
Javier Trujillo joined Achieve3000 in October 2020. As Vice President of Government and Community Partnerships, he is responsible for managing Achieve3000's government affairs strategy at the federal, state, and local government levels. He facilitates and maintains ongoing interaction between the company, school district leaders, and elected officials, and assists in the identification and implementation of school-community partnerships throughout the United States.
Javier directly joins Achieve3000 after thirteen years with the City of Henderson, Nevada where he most recently served as Director of Government and Public Affairs. Prior, he worked with the Clark County School District as a project facilitator in Curriculum and Professional Development. He was named the 2012 Hispanic of the Year by the Latin Chamber of Commerce of Nevada; the 2009 Staff Person of the Year by the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities; and the 2004 Outstanding Hispanic Educator by the City of Las Vegas.
Chief Executive Officer
Stuart Udell brings significant extensive experience in the education industry, currently serving as CEO of Achieve3000, a comprehensive edtech solutions provider of differentiated instructional platforms for more than five million PK-12 students in 40,000 schools. Prior, he served as CEO of K12 Inc., CEO of Catapult Learning, CEO of Penn Foster, and held division President roles at Kaplan and Renaissance Learning.
Stuart currently serves as a Commissioner on the Learning 2025 National Commission on Student-Centered Equity-Focused Education, AASA’s appointed group charged with making recommendations to transform American education. Stuart also serves as Vice Chair of Future of School. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of the Successful Practices Network and its National Dropout Prevention Center division, USA Test Prep, and Ventris Learning. He received the Education Warrior Award from the I Have a Dream Foundation and is a founding member of his high school Hall of Fame. Stuart has dedicated his 33-year career to helping students achieve success in school and hails from three generations of education professionals. Stuart holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BS from Bucknell University.
Co-Chair, Data Subcommittee
As a Professional Services Manager with Achieve 3000, Nakoa’s goal is to provide high quality professional learning sessions, classroom modeling consulting sessions, and collaborate with district and school stakeholders to ensure customized yet efficient implementations. Nakoa has been in education for 18 years. In this arena, she has served as an instructional coach, educational consultant, curriculum specialist, district/state professional learning facilitator, ESOL teacher, and general education teacher. Additionally, she is the Co-Chair of the Data subcommittee for C.A.R.E.
Prior to joining Achieve3000, Nakoa was an Instructional Coach and district professional learning facilitator from Atlanta Public Schools
Nakoa received her bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education from Morris Brown College and her master’s in Teaching Elementary Literacy and Educational Leadership Certificate were obtained from Walden University. Nakoa resides in Atlanta, Georgia with her toddler son and husband.
Chair, Partnerships Subcommittee
Darrell Wilson is a National Director of Strategic Partnerships for Achieve3000 and Chair, Partnerships subcommittee of C.A.R.E. In both roles, he works with civic leaders and various organizations to build strategic initiatives that accelerate literacy in communities. He recently formulated the Achieve3000 national partnership with EDU, Inc Common Application to 58 Historically Black Colleges. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to creating support for students in need by connecting with major organizations such as the NFL, ESPN and Fox among others. In 2017, he was named National Geographic’s Consultant of the Year for Career Readiness. He has previously worked with National Urban League, La Raza, Kaufman Foundation and The Buffett Foundation to secure grants providing students access to college readiness and literacy materials.