Futurity Fellows
MEET THE 2024 COHORT
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Brett Leghorn currently serves as Senior Director of Operations at Ednovate Inc. Prior to that, he spent several years at KIPP SoCal Public Schools and Achievement First, where he held various leadership roles in operations. Brett holds an MBA from Yale School of Management and a Bachelor's degree from Princeton University. Brett lives with his wife and two children in Los Angeles, CA and enjoys playing basketball and trombone.
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2024 Futurity Fellow
DIONNE L. HAYES
Senior Director of Network Operations, Mastery Charter Schools
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Dionne L. Hayes sas been serving the students and staff of the Mastery Charter Schools Network for over 18 years, from Assistant Principal of School Operations, Network Director of School Operations, and currently as the Senior Director of Network Operations.
Before devoting years to Mastery Charter Schools, Dionne helped to support the Philadelphia Reads Project, Managed Facilities and Operations for IKON Office Solutions, one of the world's largest independent provider of document management systems, copiers, and services for 8 years.
Dionne is a service-leader who aims to provide excellence in operational systems for schools to function at their very best.
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2024 Futurity Fellow
JENNIFER FELIX
Managing Director of Operations, MAS Charter School
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Katie Hartshorn serves as the Director of Operations for Gem Innovation Schools, where she leads the in-house school operations department across the organization. In this role, she is dedicated to fostering continuous growth and improvement in areas such as building safety, enrollment, school programs, and services while supporting school-wide stakeholders and coaching her department team.
Katie holds a Bachelor of Science in Workplace Training and Leadership from Idaho State University, as well as a Certificate in Training and Development and a Certificate in Organizational Leadership. Prior to that, Katie completed an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts and Social Science at the College of Western Idaho.
Driven by a passion for personal growth and helping others, Katie is committed to making a positive impact within her professional and community circles. As a mother of two and wife, she actively supports the activities her family participates in, such as competitive swim and hockey alongside local community events. In her spare time, Katie enjoys spending time outdoors, attending her kids' sporting competitions, and spending time with family and friends.
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Leslie is the Managing Director of Operations and Compliance for KIPP Northern California Public Schools, where she oversees two teams: the Regional Operations team and the Public Accountability and Compliance team. Prior to her role at KIPP NorCal, she worked for KIPP NYC for 10 years, spending the beginning of her time there as the Director of Operations for KIPP Washington Heights Elementary School, and then as the Director of Regional Operations where she led the strategic initiative to scale core operational areas at a time when the region grew by 50 percent. Before joining KIPP NYC, she entered the education realm as the Founding Director of Operations and Communications for the Newark Trust for Education, a nonprofit organization launched to strategically coordinate and align resources aimed at supporting public education in Newark, NJ.
When she's not working, she can be found doing all things outdoorsy with her husband and son in the San Francisco Bay Area, or building her newest woodworking jig in the shop in her garage.
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Maddy has worked in education for 10 years, serving as a Operations Fellow, Director of Operations and Regional Superintendent of Operations before recently moving into the Head of Operations role for Uncommon NYC. Prior to joining Uncommon, Maddy got her MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, and has worked in journalism and finance. Maddy lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Dilly, and enjoys tennis, hiking, pottery, and lazy rainy days reading murder mysteries and watching home renovation or trashy reality TV shows.
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Mary Jean "MJ" O'Malley is an educator focused on systems and leadership development. Currently Director of Operations at DSST Public Schools, MJ firmly believes in creating and supporting contexts, experiences and conditions that address the needs of people their success. Equity, social impact, and social justice are values that drive her work professionally and personally. Originally from Denver, MJ is firmly rooted in Colorado's Front Range and focused on supporting people and organizations that make Denver even better. In addition to sustainability, O'Malley enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time in Colorado's great outdoors with her puppy, Jimmy.
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Nii Sai has been dedicated to K-12 education since 2010, serving at Aspire Public Schools, where he applies his expertise in technology and data operations to create impactful solutions for stakeholders. With a foundation in technology consulting at IBM and PwC, he combines a strategic approach to problem-solving with a deep commitment to meeting the needs of the communities he serves. A lifelong learner with a joyful and optimistic outlook, Nii Sai prioritizes people, fostering strong relationships and well-being to drive collaboration and meaningful outcomes.
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Zoranlly Burgos is a lifelong learner. She joined Teach for America in 2011 and has been dedicated to closing the achievement gap ever since. Ms. Burgos holds a B.A. in Spanish from the Honors Program at The City College of New York, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, and a Master's Degree in School Leadership from Touro University. She is certified as a School Building Leader and School District Leader in New York. Ms. Burgos is also working on her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction at Capella University.
Ms. Burgos spent earlier years tutoring a range of students from kindergarten through college in all subjects with Kaplan Tutoring. She has had many roles since, including kindergarten teacher, Spanish teacher, Reading Content Specialist, Summer in the City Program Director, Grade and Reading Content Lead, and ELL Specialist. She has founded two schools as a Principal in the Bronx, Brilla Veritas and Brilla Caritas. She continues to serve learning communities by developing teachers and leaders to flourish in their roles. As a trailblazer for her family, Ms. Burgos is excited to continue giving back to the community through education. She enjoys organizing and spending time with her children - Jordan, Jonah, and Stella.
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Nina is currently the Vice President of Operations and Infrastructure at Democracy Prep Public Schools, where there are 17 schools serving 6000 children. Nina joined Democracy Prep 9 years ago as the founding Operations Manager at Democracy Prep Endurance HS. She is proud to have grown that school from 2015 to graduating it's first class in the spring of 2019 before moving to the CMO in 2020. Since joining Democracy Prep she has held both operational and school leadership roles and is proud to now lead operations across the national network. She lives in White Plains just outside of NYC and when not at work enjoys spending time with her family including her two young children, Hailey and Olivia, and her dog Waffles, baking tasty treats and reading.
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Sheeva is in her third year as Vice President, School Operations at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. In this role, she supports the business operations, enrollment, network operations lead teams to provide training, guidance, direct services, and coaching to 26 school sites across Los Angeles. A life-long educator, Sheeva spent over 10 years working in several school-site role in different locations around the country, including teacher, Director of Student Supports, and Director of Operations. These experiences have provided her with a well-rounded picture of the many moving parts and day-to-day needs of schools. A graduate of UCLA and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Sheeva is happy to have made it back home to Los Angeles to work in service of scholars where she is from. In her free time, you'll find her chasing her toddler and spending time with family.
Positions and organizations listed show the roles fellows held during their fellowship year.
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Stacy-Ann brings over 12 years of operations experience from both Jamaica and United States. Before joining the world of education, she was leading the charge of prestigious national events in Jamaica, such as the Prime Minister Awards and the Annual Jamaica Grand Gala. Stacy-Ann came to America to continue to pursue her other passion in the performing arts. A fun fact – Stacy-Ann has traveled the world touring and even performed on Broadway!
Before joining Prospect Schools, she served as a Director of School Operations for 2 schools and a Senior Director of Operations for 1 school at Achievement First Charter network. During her tenure at AF, Stacy-Ann partnered with her principals to create continuous positive adult culture and leading seamless operations that aided in producing exceptional academic student outcomes. When she is not working, she enjoys having mommy daughter dates traveling with her 21 years old daughter, working out and hosting events for her friends.
MEET THE 2023 COHORT
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Anne Felter is passionate about helping people use data and technology to support students. They have worked at Collegiate Academies for the last decade and run a team of awesome nerds. Prior to that, they worked as a teacher in the Mississippi Delta before returning home to Louisiana in 2007, where they worked in a middle school as a teacher coach and then principal. Anne holds a Political Science Degree from THE Ohio State University, resides in New Orleans with their attorney wife and two unemployed cats, and believes the NFL is perpetually scheming for the New Orleans Saints to not win the Superbowl.
DERRIC JONES
Director of Operations, Empower Community School
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2023 Futurity Fellow
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"Prior to starting at Catalyst, Dustin was the Director of Finance and Administration for Engineered Software in Lacey, WA. While at Engineered Software, Dustin focused on operational efficiency, policy and process improvement, business systems development, and financial analysis. In his time at Engineered Software, he implemented many new policies and practices to ensure compliance with state and federal laws as well as improve operational efficiency. Prior to Engineered Software, Dustin was an executive team leader of logistics and operations at Target. He helped develop new operational procedures for the logistics team, to help improve guest experience as well as overall operations of the business.
Dustin graduated in June of 2019 with an MBA in Finance from Washington State University. He also obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Saint Martin's University. In his free time, Dustin loves to spend time with his wife, 2 children, and 2 dogs, exploring the pacific northwest and traveling."
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Jen Venegas-Gibbons is in her third year as Regional Superintendent of Operations at Uncommon School where she supports the development and leadership of six middle school DOOs in Newark. Prior to her current role, she was the founding DOO of Lincoln Park Elementary School. She is passionate about people development, enjoys solving complicated organizational problems, and best understands the world through asking lots of questions. In addition to work, she is a parent of three young kids, dog mom, spouse, sister, and oldest daughter in her family. She is a proud Latina, avid reader, daydream traveler, and want-to-be workout regular.
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Julia is a member of KIPP Capital Region’s regional team as the Managing Director of School Operations and manages schools in Albany and Troy, New York. Julia has been working in school operations for over 10 years, both in school-based and regional operations roles. She served as co-leader and the Director of Operations at Troy Prep Elementary School for 3 years in Troy, NY. Julia’s start in education began as a Teach for America corps member in Charlotte, North Carolina. She taught for 2 years at an elementary school in Charlotte and then 2 years in Washington, DC at KIPP DC: Promise Academy. In addition, Julia earned a master’s degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. Julia loves spending time with her family, most especially her wife, Kolbe, and children, Wilder and Bodie.
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Karina is a problem-solver, a figure-outer, and an Early Childhood & Elementary School Educator of 7 years who has now been out of the classroom for 3.5 years. She is a former DIII college athlete who is still fiercely competitive. She appreciates fuzzy blankets, categorized lists, colorful pens, and watching mini-systems run as they should. When she's not juggling ops responsibilities 10+ hours a day, you will likely find her outdoors, exploring a new place, or spending quality time with friends & loved ones.
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Naiema Carolina is currently the Managing Director of Operations at KIPP NJ, where she leads the management of the Regional Operations Leadership Team. She and her team manage school operations, financial planning and budget management, student enrollment, growth, compliance, and wraparound services for the region’s 17 schools. Prior to KIPP NJ, Naiema was at Achievement First Inc. where she served as the liaison between school based operations leaders and regional operations leaders to improve payment processing systems as well as network partnerships. After 18 months, while also attending graduate school at Teachers College, Columbia University, Naiema founded Achievement First Aspire Middle School. She led a high performing operations team of six and scaled the campus from one grade of 95 students to a fully grown campus of 420 students (serving 5th-8th grade). Before Achievement First and after completing her undergraduate degree at New York University, Naiema joined the National Urban League where she utilized her Finance and Operations skills to revamp the Accounts Payable systems and structures in the Accounting Department. Naiema graduated from Teachers College, Columbia university in 2018 and recently was accepted to UPENN Graduate School of Education to pursue her Doctorate in Education.
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Natasha Bailey was born and raised in Queens, New York. She graduated from Penn State University and moved to Washington, DC to begin her career in education. She is currently the Senior Director of Operations at DC Prep. Natasha enjoys working out, yoga, eating out, and spending time with family and friends.
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Pablo Tavarez has dedicated his professional career in education to serving students from all backgrounds in various ways. As someone who comes from a low-socioeconomic background, a life as a public servant has always been at the core of what is most important to Pablo—outside of his two beautiful children Zion and Kayleigh. Professionally, when not focused on his work in schools, Pablo is also a member of the New Jersey Army National Guard. Much of Pablo’s personal life is centered around spending time with his kids enjoying various activities such as gymnastics, football, reading comic books, and playing basketball.
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2023 Futurity Fellow
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2023 Futurity Fellow
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Tiffanie was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After graduating high school, she attended Tulane University, where she was a 4-year track and field lettermen. After graduating from Tulane University, Tiffanie decided to expand her education and attend graduate school at Tulane. After Tulane, she began her career in corporate operations. Tiffanie started her career in school operations with KIPP. She is currently the Regional Director of School Operations for KIPP Nashville. Outside of school, she loves to spend time with her husband and 4 boys, read, travel, and cook.
Positions and organizations listed show the roles fellows held during their fellowship year.
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"Trey is a Mississippi native and has long been interested in education equity, social justice, and law. Growing up in a small town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Trey attended public schools in the Hancock County School District and then moved to Jackson, MS to pursue a degree at Millsaps College. During his time at Millsaps, Trey served as the Student Body President and was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity. Trey graduated from Millsaps College with a B.A. in Political Science with minors in Spanish, Economics, and Latin American Studies. Trey currently serves on the Millsaps College young alumni board.
Trey has been with RePublic Schools since 2016 starting as an Operations Fellow, then a Director of Operations for three years, and now as the Senior Director of Operations since 2019. Trey oversees the operations of four elementary and middle schools in Jackson, MS and co-leads enterprise level operations for the RePublic Schools network as a whole. Trey is currently launching a fellowship and residency program to train prospective operations leaders in the Mississippi charter sector. Trey is deeply involved in his community and chairs the board for Leadership Greater Jackson which focuses on developing civic leaders to positively impact communities in Jackson.
Trey lives in Jackson, MS with his wife, Faith, and two children: Andy and Charlie."