Our Staff

Jen has twenty-four years of experience in math education. She has taught at the elementary, middle, and high school level, but has a special place in her heart for middle school students and teachers. She has served in several leadership roles, most recently as the K-12 math director in Guilford County Schools. In that role, she led curriculum implementation and professional development at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. As the director of mathematics leadership at UnboundEd, Jen will work on the development and management of the MILA (Math Identity Leadership Accelerator) grant, along with supporting coaches during the virtual summits. Jen is passionate about all students seeing themselves as mathematicians.

Rolanda Baldwin has worked in mathematics education for nearly 2 decades as a middle and high school math teacher, a math instructional coach, and a math curriculum coordinator at Guilford County Schools in North Carolina. She began her career at UnboundEd as a math specialist before transitioning to the math director role. Currently, as vice president of mathematics, Rolanda coordinates development across all UnboundEd math programs. Rolanda also contributes to organizational strategy, cross-functional workstreams, and external partnerships. She is passionate about everyone being a “math person” and is committed to influencing the systems and structures to support educators in providing grade-level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful math instruction.

Jonathan Bolding is a seasoned educator with a background in gifted and special education. A passionate staff developer, he has coached general/ special education teachers and school leaders while working in the central office of the Metro Nashville Public School System. Prior to UnboundEd, Jonathan served as a state coordinator at the Tennessee Department of Education and managed a grant portfolio that included, but was not limited to, Title IX (MckInney-Vento) and Title I, D (Neglected/Delinquent) in the Division of Consolidated Planning and Monitoring. Moreover, Jonathan was appointed the ESSA Foster Care Point of Contact ensuring the educational stability of students in foster care. He was in the first cohort of educator fellows with the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (TN-SCORE). Jonathan was selected by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) to receive the 2015-16 Javits-Frasier Scholar Award.

As a forever learner, Sharone started off her journey as a career educator 21 years ago. She was educated in the Baltimore City Public School System where she later poured back into the same community she grew up by educating students as a middle school teacher of math, social studies, and English, and high school algebra. She has held various positions at all levels in two Maryland School Systems from teacher, coach, mentor, grant writer, assistant principal, network lead, principal to district administrator. While serving in these various roles, she began her own equity journey and as a result, has provided racial equity support for staff members through a consortium of professional learning opportunities and conferences. She has served as a facilitator of Standards Institute, Virtual Summit, and the System Leaders Academy program to support school leaders and educators across the country in building their capacity around the implementation of standards-aligned instruction and pedagogy keeping equity at the center. Currently, Sharone is the vice president of research, strategy, and evaluation at UnboundEd overseeing the implementation of a federally-funded initiative, the Math Identity Leadership Accelerator (MILA) program focused on transforming how school leaders raise math achievement through the design of professional learning and a focus on culturally relevant and responsive practices. Sharone holds a doctoral degree from Morgan State University in Urban Educational Leadership with a concentration in Social Policy.

As a math specialist at UnboundEd, Sonia Cintron develops and implements professional development for the Math Identity Leadership Accelerator (MILA) program. Before coming to UnboundEd, Sonia was a third-grade and middle school math teacher. She served in teacher leadership positions such as math department chair and grade-level chair in both public and charter schools. Sonia also served as Lake County District's Middle School math program specialist. In that role, she supported teachers in lesson development and implementation, created and facilitated professional development, and managed initiatives related to the implementation of higher educational standards in mathematics.

Erica Coca began her career working closely with a number of nonprofit organizations to uplift and support underserved communities in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York. For the past decade, Erica has worked in education, specifically in charter schools, both in student and family-facing roles and more recently as director of recruitment at Explore Schools, a K-8 charter management organization in Brooklyn. As UnboundEd's director of talent operations, her focus is on talent systems and practices, HR support, and DEI work. Erica obtained her BA in Media Studies and MS in Business Management & Leadership from CUNY Hunter and SPS respectively.

Lakisha Covert has worked 20+ years as an educator. As the deputy chief, program implementation & delivery, she leads the strategic planning and execution of various Unbounded programs and services. Lakisha taught grades K–5 for 11 years before becoming an academic dean and principal in DC, Maryland, and Virginia for 6 years. Specializing in school leadership and professional development, Lakisha’s certification in mentoring and coaching leaders contributed to her work with educational leaders across the country. Previously, Lakisha worked at New Leaders as regional leadership facilitator where she facilitated leadership sessions for three different leadership programs with a focus on leadership team development, school culture, equity, and instructional observation and supervision. She also coached first-year principals in Baltimore, MD. Throughout her career she has received recognition as teacher of the year in two different districts; the visionary educator award from Center City PCS in Washington, DC; and the effective educator award from Prince George’s County Public Schools. Her passion for equitable education stems from her background in urban education both personally and professionally. She is also a doctoral candidate, published author, and certified life coach.

Brian works relentlessly to ensure each student learns mathematics at a high level. As the director of mathematics leadership at UnboundEd, Brian co-leads the development and management of the MILA (Math Identity Leadership Accelerator) grant, along with supporting coaches during the virtual summits. Prior to UnboundEd, Brian supported equitable access to great math instruction in many school systems across the country as an associate director of instructional support and prior to that as a math lead for Instruction Partners. He also served as the senior instructional specialist for Pasco County Schools where he led the teaching and learning of mathematics for over 30 schools, as an instructional coach where he helped facilitate the turnaround of a school from an “F” to an “A” rating, and has taught at the middle and high school level. Brian currently resides in Tampa, FL with his wife and is a proud daddy of two.

Patti is a theater and education professional with 15 years of combined experience on stage and in classrooms. She has worked with many theatres as both a performer and educator, including Florida Studio Theatre’s Write a Play program, George Street Playhouse’s Educational Tour, the ShowPlace Ice Cream Parlor at Surflight Theatre, and was a company member at Vital Theatre Company. At Vital, Patti performed in multiple shows, held teaching residencies in NYC public schools, and helped with the day to day administrative work of running a non profit theatre in NYC. She is able to apply those administrative skills at UnboundEd, where she works closely with Onika King to manage scheduling, travel, expenses, and often assists with office technology. Patti graduated from DeSales University, where she studied theatre and secondary education.

Kristen Ehlman has worked for more than 30 years as an educator, with expertise in school leadership, organizational development and adult learning. As interim chief program officer, Kristen works alongside UnboundEd's leadership team to ensure coherence of all UnboundEd's programs and services in alignment with our vision. Before coming to UnboundEd, Kristen served as the national director of principal support at New Leaders, a nonprofit which trains aspiring school leaders. Kristen began her career as an elementary and middle school teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she also spent more than a decade as a staff and organizational development specialist.

Joshua Ellis joined the UnboundEd team in June 2021. He has a passion for education and professional development and began his teaching career at age 20, teaching middle and high school English/Language Arts in Texas public schools. In 2012 Josh transitioned into higher education and served as the director of student teaching at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. For the past 8 years, Josh has served as a professional development and sales leader, serving schools across the country in their implementation of education technology and best teaching practices. Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and a Master of Education in Education Administration from Sam Houston State University.

A career educator, Andrea Hancock has served in several capacities within the district where she was educated during her formative years: Baltimore City Public Schools. Andrea worked as an elementary school teacher, instructional coach, principal, network lead, and instructional leadership executive director charged with supervising principals across a network of PreK-8 schools. Andrea transitioned from the district to lead the Baltimore division of the Emerging Leaders Program at New Leaders and served as an advisor for the Transforming Teams program. Currently, Andrea is the deputy chief, program design & development at UnboundEd, overseeing the staff who design and develop the cohort, math, ELA, leadership, and teacher prep programs. Andrea also supports organizational strategy, cross-functional workstreams, and external partnerships. Andrea holds a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and was a member of the Baltimore New Leaders Principal Program, Cohort 6.

Jenna Johnson started her career as a classroom math teacher, with experience teaching both abroad and in the United States, before transitioning into instructional design. Leveraging her experience in corporate training and degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Jenna's work focuses on applying learning design principles to the development of training materials. She is passionate about equitable math education across gender and race so all students can be successful “math people”.

Taknauth Khilawan has worked in finance for the past ten years. As senior director, finance and operations, Taknauth manages the financial operations including financial analysis, financial policies and procedures, accounts payable and receivable, contract management, and HR system operations. Previously he was the director of budget and analytics for the Core Instruction and Professional Learning division at the NYC Department of Education. Prior to that, he worked at Amplify Education as a senior accountant, finance manager at Associates for Bilingual Child Development and an accounting analyst at Collective Media.

Onika King began her career as an executive assistant in commercial real estate. She brings over thirteen years of experience managing executives in the Commercial Real Estate and Consulting firm industry. As administrative manager, she manages scheduling, travel, expenses, executive assistant coordination, and coordinates large team projects. Previously, she worked as an Executive Assistant at Boston Consulting Group, where she managed the operations and logistics of her managers, teams and company.

Connie Landinez has over 15 years of experience in relationship management, as well as in project/program planning and execution. Connie is a results-driven individual who specializes in conceptualizing and executing programs from start to finish, managing complex milestones while adapting to changes and shifting priorities. In her role as director, program implementation and delivery, Connie works closely with cross-functional teams in developing and delivering comprehensive project plans including timelines and team protocols, systems’ structures and criteria for fulfilling bottom-line results. Previously, Connie worked at Amplify as a senior account manager where she successfully managed a diverse portfolio of accounts totaling over 3M annually in revenue. These complex, district-level implementations of educational software included some of the largest school districts in the nation such as Miami Dade, New York City DOE, Boston Public Schools, as well as Statewide strategic partnerships.

Joyce Macek has led coaching, organizational change management and talent development around the implementation of new educational standards for the past decade. She is a former high school English teacher for students with disabilities in Greater New Orleans. As the director of partnerships, Joyce manages relationships and quality assurance metrics with key stakeholders receiving professional development, including goal setting, strategic planning and ongoing evaluation of local professional development. Previously, Joyce was a fellow for educator engagement at the Regents Research Fund. During this time, she created an extensive library of more than 400 K-12 teacher and principal practice videos. Joyce was also the national director of assessments, recruitment and admissions at the national nonprofit New Leaders, which trains aspiring school leaders.

Na Auni began her career at Bay Area Community Resources, another educational non-profit, as an administrative assistant. Since then, she has graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Economics and Social Science. After obtaining her degree, she continued her administrative career in the legal field before joining UnboundEd.

Rachel Nicolay is a mission-driven problem solver with a passion for learning. She comes with a diverse background in communications, marketing, and education in the nonprofit and private sectors. As director of digital product & marketing technology, Rachel oversees the product development and management of UnboundEd’s digital products and internal marketing technology platforms. Prior to joining UnboundEd, Rachel managed marketing and PR for a global architecture firm, provided marketing consulting to start-ups and nonprofits, and spent a year teaching English at a public school in South Korea.

As deputy chief of research, strategy, and evaluation, Pamela Paek leads the way UnboundEd conceptualizes its organizational strategy and how it measures its impact. With over 25 years of experience, Pamela has worked in research and development, scaling work from local to national levels for a wide variety of programs, tools, processes, and products. She works to analyze complex data and research, creating compelling stories that provide actionable insights. Pamela’s goal is to transform K-12 education in her lifetime. Her methodology includes interrogating how educators can better uncover the invisible, and bring those to light, to provide insights and solutions that would otherwise not be possible. Pamela received her MA and Ph.D. from the graduate school of education at the University of California, Berkeley in Policy, Organization, Measurement, and Evaluation.

Taya Page has over 17 years experience leading strategy and design for products that deliver rich learning experiences and support meaningful assessment practices for both K-12 and higher education organizations. Taya leads the development of a suite of tools that support teacher learning and classroom pedagogy. Taya has also led teams building career management tools and content publishing platforms. Most recently she was the product director at Artsy, building a marketplace that taught new audiences how to develop the language to describe their artistic taste and how to navigate buying works from fine art galleries and auction houses. As an active instructor and mentor in the New York product community, Taya is excited to bring those personal teaching experiences to UnboundEd.

As a mathematics specialist at UnboundEd, Deborah Peart works with a team to develop and implement professional development programs for K-12 mathematics. Prior to joining UnboundEd, Deborah was the lead writer for second grade for the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Math Curriculum project. Now based in FL, Deborah taught for over 25 years in NY, CT, and GA in the public and private sectors. Deborah is the founder of My Mathematical Mind and speaks on a variety of topics related to math identity and literacy connections to mathematics. Blending her training in yoga and mindfulness with mathematics instruction, Deborah advocates for a mindful approach to teaching mathematics in order to address math anxiety, build confidence, and support the development of positive math identities. She has dedicated her career to helping other educators approach teaching in innovative ways that allow students to see themselves as valued mathematical thinkers and lifelong learners.

Laura’s more than two decades of teaching and leadership experience is centered around the belief that all young people deserve to be successful in their education and that a high-quality education is key to a just and equitable society. As vice president, client engagements, Laura works with partner district leadership to cohesively improve learning conditions for staff and students across UnboundEd's programs and services. Most recently, she was the chief schools officer for Envision Schools, a charter management network in the Bay Area, where she oversaw the schools, leaders, and instructional program for the Envision network. Before that, Laura was the principal at Envision Academy high school, the managing director of programs for New Leaders in the Bay Area, and a founding leader of Elmhurst Community Prep, a middle school in the Oakland Unified School District. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a Master's in Education from Stanford.

As Chief Executive Officer of UnboundEd, Lacey Robinson sets the vision for equity-driven national change as she carries generations of pride and tears of her enslaved ancestors along with the native sons and daughters of this sacred land. While keeping an eye on the design, delivery, and quality of all the organization’s antiracist work, she ensures UnboundEd’s health, sustainability and future-driven vision for what teaching and learning can be in the 21st century. From the organization’s infancy, in the role of Chief of Program and Engagement, Robinson engaged with industry partners to support standards-aligned, content-focused, equity-driven adult professional learning and development. While supporting vital design and execution elements for UnboundEd’s signature professional learning opportunity, the industry-leading Standards Institute, Robinson contributed to the rapid growth of an organization respected for its national programs and customized professional learning for K-12 educators, work that pivoted online during the pandemic to meet the specific needs of educators. As a teacher, principal, and staff development specialist, Robinson maintained a focus on literacy, equity, and school leadership for more than two decades. Her life’s work aims to help educators in school systems disrupt systemic racism and all of its legacies in classrooms. Inspired by Langston Hughes, her path is to build temples for tomorrow, strong and brave as she knows how, and to ensure that future generations can stand free within themselves to be whomever they choose to be. As CEO, she pursues this passion by leading an organization known for the highest integrity in professional development experiences; experiences which honor us all as professionals in educating our nation’s children, and in leading the schools that serve them.

Shakiela Richardson has over 15 years of experience in education. She has served in several capacities such as a high school English teacher and instructional coach for Newark Public Schools and teachers assistant for students with special needs at A. Harry Moore, a laboratory school at New Jersey City University. She has also facilitated curriculum training and professional development learning opportunities for English teachers for organizations such as NCTE and Student Achievement Partners. Shakiela transitioned from the district and joined UnboundEd in 2015. From that time she has held various roles such as ELA specialist, ELA director, and co-leader of the internal diversity, equity, and inclusion work. In her current role as a senior director, Shakiea supervises the operations and content development of the Virtual Summit leadership pathways. She also creates professional development content in partnership with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Amy Rudat has worked in the education field for 20 years as a teacher, literacy coach, and coordinator for school and district support. As senior director, Amy ensures the coherence of ELA across organization-wide programs including the Standards Institute, Virtual Summits, and the Chief Academic Officer's Academy. Previously, Amy worked for New York State’s Education Department, where she led, advised, and engaged in the design, development, and revision of EngageNY’s curriculum, and contributed to state-wide assessment development. and supported school improvement initiatives including advocacy for students with disabilities, English learners, and anti-racist.

Ashley is a third-generation educator and has worked in the field for over 10 years. She has served as a leader within one of the largest school districts in New Mexico, a leader of an ESOL program, and a college professor. Her work in post-secondary and K-12 have facilitated a clearer understanding of the needs of leaders, teachers, students, and the community to ensure all students are supported and engaged within their educational endeavors. As an educational leader, Ashley has worked within various systems - nationally and internationally - to engage leaders and teachers in examining critical leadership and teaching methods with a focus on praxis. Ashley has her doctoral degree from New Mexico State University in Curriculum & Instruction, with an emphasis in Critical Pedagogy and Teacher Education. In her current role with UnboundEd, Ashley is supporting the implementation, research, and evaluation of the Math Identify Leadership Acceleration (MILA) program.

Jason Schweid is a research scientist, expert in Evidence-Centered Design, Validity Theory, and assessment policy. Jason advises UnboundEd on its SEED project, leveraging his expertise in research, evaluation, and psychometrics. In addition, he serves as a general research methodology resource for UnboundEd and partner organizations. Previously, Jason was a fellow for assessment at the Regents Research Fund, where he led the redesign, development, implementation, and research for the New York State Testing Program and the New York State Teacher Certification Examinations. Jason’s research appears in journals including Teachers College Record, Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, and Journal of School Counseling. He started his career as a public school teacher, first in South Texas and then in Harlem.

Steve Sebelski designs mathematics curriculum and assessment, and has more than 10 years of experience as a teacher and instructional coach. As director, mathematics, Steve is responsible for the development of mathematics content for UnboundEd’s curriculum offerings and assists in the creation of professional learning experiences. He also supervises content and product development for Teacher Advisor with Watson, an initiative of the IBM International Foundation. Previously, Steve taught and supervised middle school mathematics in New York, NY and Camden, NJ.

Laura Smith has developed and implemented strategic initiatives for educational organizations for nearly 20 years. As chief operating officer, Laura leads day-to-day operations, finance and strategic planning and also oversees digital product development. Previously, she was vice president of professional services for an ed-tech nonprofit, and was an assistant commissioner at the New York State Education Department. She also served as an executive director for the New York City Department of Education and as deputy director of High School Renewal for the San Diego Unified School District. Laura was in the inaugural cohort of the Broad Foundation’s Residency in Urban Education. She started her career teaching environmental education for nonprofit organizations in the Florida Keys and San Juan Islands. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and is currently a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Diane Takata Powell is an educational professional and servant leader. She began her career developing marketing campaigns and communication strategies for financial services and internet start-up companies before transitioning into education. Diane has served as a paraprofessional, teacher, coach, facilitator, dean of instruction, and, most recently, the director of literacy for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, where she was able to focus her passion and drive for equitable educational opportunities for all children. Diane also worked as a director of professional services at Amplify designing and leading district, state, and national-level professional learning engagements. In her role at UnboundEd, Diane develops and implements the strategic alignment of client and partner engagement, marketing, communications, and support.

Sierah Tyson is responsible for the development of ELA content for UnboundEd’s programs and products. As the director of ELA, she leads the design and execution of professional learning experiences for the Cohort Programs, The UnboundEd Planning Process, Virtual Summits, and other partner work. In her most recent role as an ELA specialist, Sierah developed and revised professional development that supported educators with implementing equitable instructional practices and improving student outcomes. Previously, Sierah was a 10th grade English teacher at University Preparatory High School located in Detroit, Michigan. She served with the Teach for America program. She holds a bachelor’s degree for Georgetown University and received her Master's in Education from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Sierah also curated The Education Nomad project, where she traveled around the United States to capture best practices and amplify teacher voices via blog. Sierah proudly coordinates UnboundEd’s Woman of Color Affinity group and The Kindness Project, which both aim at empowerment, wellness, and unity.

Brittany has been involved in music education for more than 15 years. She has a piano studio, Hitchpin Piano, where she enjoys developing and teaching foundation skills to beginning musicians. As the information systems manager, Brittany assists with the selection, implementation, and training of UnboundEd’s SaaS internal and external facing platforms. Previously, Brittany has worked with the Sarasota Orchestra, Avid Technology, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Mónica has worked in education for over 25 years. As deputy chief, talent and organizational development, Mónica leads the design and implementation of our talent systems, practices, policies, and cultural norms needed to enact our core values with diversity, equity and inclusion at the center, as well as internal communications that foster transparency, and helps to ensure that UnboundEd structurally evolves in alignment with our vision and values. Prior to UnboundEd, Mónica served as chief talent officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools and chief human resources officer for the San Francisco Unified School District, as well as advised school districts and state departments of education across the country on talent practices and policies. She began her career as a bilingual Spanish teacher in Los Angeles, CA, and taught at the upper elementary and middle school levels. She holds degrees in sociology and anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has completed Harvard’s Public Education Leadership Program, as well as the Equity Lab’s inaugural national Nexus Fellowship on race, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Brandon White is a former middle school ELA teacher and Restorative Practices educator for the Rochester City School District. As a student, Brandon found that he could connect with the instruction through the language and culture of hip-hop; as an educator, he would provide cultural relevance and responsiveness through pedagogy and content. As an ELA specialist, Brandon selects, adapts, and sequences open educational resources, as well as supports the creation of professional development materials and resources. In addition to providing these elements via traditional school settings, he has worked for seven years as a servant leader intern and site coordinator for Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Summer Literacy Programs located in Rochester. He has also advocated for these practices through his participation in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Teacher Advisory Council and through providing professional development at BMGF-sponsored Elevate and Celebrate Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2) Conferences.

Alice Wiggins has close to 30 years of experience applying instructional design principles and adult learning theory to the development of training and development materials across various domains. As vice president, instructional design & products, Alice focuses on ensuring cohesive instructional design across all of our products and offerings--including alignment to our organizational vision and approach. In previous roles, Alice was responsible for ELA partner engagement work, curriculum development, and supporting professional development programs for the Standards Institute. Alice is a passionate educator with a keen interest in equitable instruction that bridges the research to practice gap. Her research and writing includes the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and Teacher Handbook; Scaffolding With Storybooks: A Guide for Enhancing Young Children's Language; An investigation of four hypotheses concerning the order by which 4-year-old children learn the alphabet letters; and Literacy Achievement and Assessment in Emergent Literacy. Alice's interests and expertise in education are enhanced by her 15 years as a consultant and project manager in the private sector.

Lauren Wolford has more than seven years of combined experience working in client relationship management and support. In her role as coordinator, partnerships, Lauren manages and maintains UnboundEd’s support help desk where she ensures inquiries are resolved in a timely manner and followed through to resolution. She ensures a positive client experience through high-quality service, organization, and communication, by supporting educators with their needs (from registration to financial inquiries). Lauren is a customer advocate at heart and works diligently to assist clients and in building positive relationships. Lauren works closely with the senior director of engagement to help sustain relationships with key stakeholders nationally, and ensure they receive professional development. Her role includes assisting in relationship management, strategic planning, implementation of professional development, and ongoing evaluation. Previously, Lauren worked as a federal loan officer, supporting students in their financial aid process. She has also worked as an event planner, where she designed, organized, and executed virtual and live events for groups of 10-1,200.