Staff
Tom Blanford, Vice President of Programs
For the last seven years Tom has been Associate Director of the Teacher Quality Department and the lead on creating the NEA Academy, NEA’s on-line professional development site.
Prior to coming to NEA, Tom taught engineering and technology in high schools in Detroit and North Carolina. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and was Chair and Executive Director of the North Carolina Teaching Standards Commission. He has received several state and national awards recognizing his contributions to Education. Tom was one of the first public school teachers selected to participate in the three-year Kellogg Foundation leadership development program. He holds a Masters in Education Technology from George Washington University. He also holds a degree in History from the University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin, and a M.A. in Education from Wayne State University.
Susan Burk, Special Projects Director
Susan has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector. Currently, she staffs the Board of Directors and manages the Awards for Teaching Excellence and the Salute to Excellence in Education Gala. She is actively involved in her 15-year-old son's education at the High School Without Walls, a public, specialty school in the District of Columbia.
Rudy Careaga, Vice President of Programs
Rudy assists in the provision of technical assistance to sites participating in the Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative, and manages several smaller grant programs for the Foundation. Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, he served as a senior associate at the Public Education Network. He holds a degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University, and is currently completing a Doctorate of Education at the University of Maryland–College Park.
Bonnie Cullison, Field Liaison
Bonnie Cullison retired from teaching in 2009 and came to work at the NEA Foundation Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. She works with joint union-district teams on how to design and implement authentic educational reform.
Bonnie is a career special education teacher and teacher union activist. Trained as a speech pathologist, she taught students with moderate-to-severe language disabilities for 23 years. She served as president of the Montgomery County Education Association, Maryland with over 11,000 members from 2003—2009. Bonnie retired from Montgomery County Public Schools in February 2010. In November 2010, Bonnie was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, so she now serves a broad community of constituents and addresses education at the state level, as well as all other aspects of government.
Liz Dunning, Senior Vice President of Programs
Liz guides the design, implementation, and management of programs affecting the Foundation’s mission and activities to strengthen public education reform.
Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, she was a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, focusing primarily on organizational development and change issues for private- and public-sector clients.Liz has also served as the Director of Programs for the Higher Achievement Program, a DC nonprofit focusing on academic enrichment for middle school students, and as a Training Consultant for NeighborWorks America, designing community economic development curriculum for practitioners.
She received a Masters of Business Administration from Yale School of Management, with concentrations in Strategy and Nonprofit Management, and a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College.
Jesse Graytock, Grants Manager
As the NEA Foundation's Grants Manager, Jesse oversees the Learning & Leadership and Student Achievement grants offered by the Foundation. He has coordinated various national education grant programs and has more than four years experience in the field of grants management. Jesse is a graduate of Bucknell University.
Jeff Howard, Innovation and Development Assistant
As the Innovation and Development Assistant, Jeff supports strategic partnerships and innovative initiatives that advance the NEA Foundation’s mission to prepare America’s children for today’s world through public education. He works to drive opportunities for development as well as helping to implement creative innovations in education.
Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, Jeff was the Senior Vendor Relations and Fulfillment Associate at DonorsChoose.org. He also spent several years managing and leading fundraising teams for organizations like Amnesty International, the British Red Cross, and Children International. Jeff holds a B.A. in Political Science with an Emphasis in Public Law (Honors) from Webster University.
Carrie McCloud, Communications Associate
As Communications Associate, Carrie assists in the promotion of the NEA Foundation’s work and mission, provides media outreach, and shares the Foundation’s latest news and updates on the web with educators, supporters, and the public.
Carrie is a multimedia journalist and writer, whose work has appeared in a variety of publications for the past three years. She earned an M.A. in Journalism and Public Affairs in 2011 from American University, where she studied new media techniques and worked as a research assistant for the Investigative Reporting Workshop. She received a B.S. in International Business and B.A. in Spanish from the College of Charleston.
Nancy Moll, Senior Vice President of Finance
Nancy oversees all of the Foundation's financial activities including, banking, investments, insurance, monthly recording and reporting of financial information, coordinating the financial statement audit, and financial analysis for the staff and the Board of Directors.
Nancy is a licensed CPA and has worked with nonprofit organizations since 1990. She worked for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as financial manager and the Child Welfare League of America as CFO prior to joining the NEA Foundation. In addition, Nancy taught accounting and business math courses at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA.
Michele Morgan, Development Officer
As the Development Officer, Michele helps to foster a culture of philanthropy within the organization by planning, coordinating and implementing strategies to develop donor relationships as well as seeking contributions from foundations, corporations and federal agencies which support the Foundation’s work. Michele works closely with the President & CEO and the Senior Vice President of Innovation to keep the organization’s fundraising efforts consistent with new giving trends that align with the organization’s mission and vision.
Michele has a wealth of fundraising experience both internationally and domestically. She headed up Habitat for Humanity International’s fundraising program in Ghana, West Africa and consistently surpassed revenue goals during her tenure with the National CASA Association in Seattle, Washington. Michele holds an Executive Masters degree in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University and Certification in Fund Raising Management from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Janice Ough, Program Assistant
As program assistant, Janice provides support to the Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative and Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. She previously taught elementary school in Seoul, South Korea. Originally from Wisconsin, she graduated from Edgewood College with degrees in Elementary Education and Science Education.
Betty Paugh-Ortiz, Senior Vice President of Innovation
Betty leads the development and advancement of innovation initiatives that support the mission of the NEA Foundation. She works with educators to identify innovative solutions to instructional practices as well as provides opportunities for the public to support educator efforts to close the student achievement gaps.
Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, she was Vice President of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP), where she managed the organization’s programs and events, supervised staff, conducted trainings, and developed curricula. She also served as director of the University of Puerto Rico-DC Initiative and as director of Maternal and Child Health at the National Council of La Raza. She holds graduate degrees from DePaul University and a Bachelor’s degree from American University.
Harriet Sanford, President & CEO
Harriet is a former public school teacher and the parent of a Maryland public school student. Sanford's senior executive career spans more than 25 years, with 19 years as the president and chief executive officer of non-profit organizations including the Arts and Science Council in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Fulton County Arts Council in Georgia.
Previously, Sanford spent 10 years in leadership positions in the City of Atlanta government. Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, Sanford served as the primary consultant to "South by South Africa: Crafting Cultural Understanding," a project that built economic links and cultural understanding between South Africa and U.S. partner cities.
Sanford has managed annual budgets of more than 18 million dollars and capital funds of $200 million. A recognized specialist in the field of charitable fundraising, Sanford has led several initiatives that have raised more than $55 million to support the mission of various non-profit organizations. She has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of some 10 non-profit organizations, having contributed her vision and managerial expertise to institutions including a merger of The National Association of Local Arts Agencies and The American Council for the Arts that resulted in the major arts advocacy organization Americans for The Arts.
Sanford's contributions to the advancement of arts education, culture, and cultural understanding have been recognized by numerous non-profit organizations including the North Carolina Arts Education Association, Americans for the Arts, National Black Arts Festival, the National Association of Counties, and The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Through the generous support of grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, Sanford also served as a United States Information Agency (USIA) fellow to South Africa in the late 1990s. She currently serves as the chair of the Board of The NAMES Project Foundation, and a board member of Americans for the Arts, Hispanic College Fund, Festivals DC, Caversham Centre ( South Africa) and The NEA Foundation.
Sanford holds an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and a BA in Education from New England College, as well as a MPA from the University of Connecticut.
Anna Smith, Database Coordinator
As Database Coordinator, Anna provides database management for the grants and development programs. She has a diverse background in administrative, graphics and database management that ranged from government to private companies. She has attended George Mason University.
Nicole Smith, Finance Associate
As Finance Associate at the NEA Foundation, Nicole assists in the daily oversight of all administrative, financial and HR activities. She has over 10 years experience as a Finance Assistant and is currently a student at the University of Maryland pursuing a B.A. of Accounting.
Janice Ward, Special Assistant to the President
As Special Assistant to the President, Janice provides administrative, programmatic, and research support to the Foundation's President & CEO.
Janice has a diverse background in regulatory and educational affairs from working as a business analyst at a Fortune 500 company to coordinating outreach projects for an education non-profit. She has a Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University and a B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech.
Edith Wooten, Senior Vice President of Communications
As Senior Vice President of Communications, Edith promotes the Foundation's work and mission to educators, stakeholders and the public.
Edith has more than 20 years of experience in communications, working at some of the nation's top PR agencies, including Ogilvy PR and Ketchum PR, where she led account teams for well-known brands, including MasterCard International, the National Institutes of Health National Eye Institute, and USAID. She ran her own PR consulting firm that included the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the NEA Foundation as clients. She served as press secretary for a US Member of Congress and began her career as a reporter. She received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.