Janice Bigelow (Treasurer)
Janice K. Bigelow is the Chief Financial Officer for Communities In Schools Inc. (CIS), the leading community-based organization helping children succeed in school and prepare for life.  She is responsible for all aspects of the business and financial operations of CIS. Prior to serving as Chief Financial Officer for CIS, she served as the Director of Finance at St. Coletta of Greater Washington. Ms. Bigelow has over 20 years experience in accounting and finance, and has held management-level positions with BDO Seidman, Kiplinger Washington Editors, and Pew Center for Global Climate Change.She holds a CPA from the State of Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lycoming College.

Lauren Bright
Lauren Bright is an Associate General Counsel for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  A member of the bar in New Jersey and the District of Columbia, she has concentrated her practice on the legal representation of nonprofit organization clients for over 12 years.  Ms. Bright has counseled trade associations, professional societies, and other nonprofit organizations in various areas of the law and has represented institutions of higher education and national associations of higher education on a variety of policy matters before Congress and United States administrative agencies. Ms. Bright is the author of several articles on association practice and management and has written on the impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the educational achievement of African Americans in the United States.  Ms. Bright received her undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College and her law degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Shanita Burney (Secretary)
Shanita Burney serves as the Assistant Director for Project My Time at the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation where she assists in building and delivering an integrated and coordinated out of school time system that assures high quality opportunities for DC middle school students so that they will engage fully in their development and learning, and enter high school better prepared for success. Previously, she served as the Director of Prevention for Covenant House Washington since its inception in January 1999.  Over this time period, she grew the Peer-Supported Pregnancy Prevention Program for adolescents (PSP“), into a Prevention Services Unit, tripling in size and locations and housing multiple programs. Ms. Burney has served on numerous committees and councils within the DC Public Schools System as well as community-based organizations and served as a counselor for adolescents in the District as well as in Prince George's Public School System.  Ms. Burney received her B.A. in Psychology from Winthrop University and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Bowie State University.

Michael Duffy
Michael F. Duffy serves as Chairman of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and is awaiting Senate confirmation to a second term. A member of the DC Bar, he has written extensively on matters relating to labor, administrative, and environmental law.  Chairman Duffy received his B.A. in English from the Catholic University of America and his J.D. from George Washington University. While attending law school at night, he taught high school English and law at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., and served as chairman of the English department.  A District resident, Chairman Duffy tutors and moderates a book club for foreign students in a non-profit, English as a second language program in D.C.

Dr. Doran Gresham
Dr. Doran Gresham serves as the Director of Educational Programs with CaseNEX, LLC which provides professional development courses to educators.   Dr. Gresham earned his doctoral degree in Special Education from The George Washington University, where he studied general education teachers’ perceptions about the overrepresentation of elementary aged black males in classrooms for students with emotional disturbance.  He is an active member of 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, D.C., and a prior recipient of the “Elliott Hair Member of the Year” award which recognizes efforts that made a significant difference in the Greater Washington, D.C. chapter of 100 Black Men.  He is also a proud member of Guerilla Arts Ink, LLC, which is a grassroots organization that seeks to strengthen the bonds that exist between the arts and education communities in and around the Washington, DC. 

Todd Lieberman
Todd Lieberman is a Vice President and Development Manager with Bank of America Community Development Banking’s Real Estate Development Group in Washington, DC.  As part of his position with Bank of America, Mr. Lieberman manages Parkside, a 3 million square foot, 15.5 acre mixed-use, mixed-income, transit-oriented development located in Ward 7, east of the Anacostia River.    Mr. Lieberman is committed to the growth and development of the District of Columbia, specifically the communities east of the Anacostia River. 

Valerie Mitchell
Valerie Mitchell is the Mentoring Specialist for the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholars Program, which is administered through the United Negro College Fund.  Ms. Mitchell is committed to the education of traditionally underserved young people.  Ms. Mitchell holds a BA in English from Spelman College and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of California at Berkeley.  She had the privilege of teaching for four years at the highest performing middle school in Massachusetts, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School and working as an administrator at the SEED Public Charter School of Washington, D.C. (7^th through 12^th grade) for three years.   

Kathleen Padian (Chair)
Kathleen Padian is currently the Vice President of Building Hope, a private foundation dedicated to assisting public charter schools with their facility needs.  She is in charge of leading the strategy for a national expansion effort for the foundation, acts as the lead spokesperson for the organization, and oversees all marketing, advocacy and grant-making activities.  Prior to joining Building Hope, Ms. Padian served as the National Director of Development for New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS), a non-profit organization based in New York City that recruits, selects and prepares principals for urban school districts in several major metropolitan areas. Other positions included Director of Strategic Initiatives at Fight For Children and at St. Coletta of Greater Washington, a regional non-profit organization and independent school serving children and adults with severe cognitive disabilities, where she transitioned from her role as teacher to create an annual fund program that generated $1 million per year in operating support and a successful capital campaign for a new facility.  

Michael Watts
Michael I. Watts, Jr. is the President and CEO for the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization (MHCDO), one of the most respected community development organizations in the city.  Since 1979, MHCDO has undertaken community development activities in the Ward 7 area of the District of Columbia.  Prior to MHCDO, Mr. Watts served as the Executive Director for the Center for Youth Family Investment.  He was the first Chief of Staff for the District of Columbia’s newly created Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the jurisdiction’s juvenile justice agency.  Mr. Watts also served as the Executive Director of both Public Allies-DC and City United. He is a member of the Hospitality Federal Credit Union board of Directors, board member of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development and a member of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. He is a co-author of the Ford Foundation’s Healing the Hearts of the City and the Public Advocacy Manual: Tools for Young People.  Mr. Watts is a fifth generation Washingtonian who attended D.C. Public Schools as well as University of the District of Columbia.

Shantelle D. Wright (Head of School, ex-officio member)
Shantelle D. Wright serves as the Head of School  for Achievement Prep, spearheading the effort to develop and found a successful charter school.  Ms. Wright attended Hampton University where she received a BA in Sociology.  After undergraduate school, Ms. Wright attended The George Washington University School of Law where she received a JD.  After practicing commercial real estate for a few years, she left the life of a corporate lawyer to serve as an administrator at an urban public charter school in D.C. where she served for three years.  Ms. Wright recently completed the highly competitive Building Excellent Schools Fellowship where she received rigorous, year-long training in general charter school management, curriculum development and design, governance, finance, budgeting, school operation and non-profit management.

Ursula Wright (Vice-Chair)
Ursula Wright is the Chief Financial Officer for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Her professional experience includes corporate finance and business development positions at some of the nation¹s leading firms, including The Chase Manhattan Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cassidy & Associates, and, most recently, GXS (formerly a General Electric subsidiary). Ms. Wright has been active in the World Bank¹s Development Marketplace Business Plan Competition and continues to volunteer her time with a variety of organizations. She earned an Economics degree from Spelman College and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.