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.
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.
Christopher provides support for the Foundation’s Development efforts, including performing donor research, producing revenue reports, and tracking gifts.
Before joining the NEA Foundation, Christopher’s various professional experiences in the education field allowed him to develop a skill-base that is a valuable asset to the Foundation. His experiences with the DC Teaching Fellows and as a Special Education instructor have made him realize the importance of quality teachers and their pivotal role in closing the achievement gap. Prior to teaching, Christopher served as a City Year AmeriCorps volunteer, as a tutor and mentor of sixth grade students. Christopher was mostly raised in the great state of New Jersey and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Ramapo College of New Jersey. During his college years, he fed his love for traveling while studying and interning abroad in Australia and Great Britain.
email Lauren
Lauren provides support and assistance for the Foundation’s programs and projects, with a focus on Closing the Achievement Gap Initiative, Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, and our annual Cross-Site Convening. Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, Lauren spent a year serving at a home for adults with developmentally disabilities in Spokane, Washington. She is a certified elementary school teacher and has taught in the U.S. and Australia. She has participated in an educational global fellowship as a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar in Egypt and Tanzania. These many experiences have built her passion for promoting collaborative and innovative public education. Lauren received her BA in Elementary Education and Human Development at Boston College.
Rudy leads the Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative, shaping technical assistance to participating sites and managing knowledge generation. 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.
David Donaldson is the Vice President of Programs at the NEA Foundation Institute for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, with a particular focus on curriculum.
Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, David was the Director of Education at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, where he oversaw K-12 classroom resource development, conducted pre-service and in-service educator trainings, and acted as the Vice-Chair of the UNICEF National Committee global competency network. David was a classroom teacher in: Slovakia, as a Peace Corps Volunteer; Montgomery County Public Schools, MD; and at Two Rivers Public Charter School, Washington, DC. David also served as an Education Program Specialist for the Peace Corps and as a Program Supervisor for the Collaborative Teacher Education Pathway at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
David earned his Master of Education from the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He obtained a Bachelor of Science from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and earned certification in elementary and special education.
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.
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 of experience in the field of grants management. Jesse is a graduate of Bucknell University.
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.
Meg brings more than 20 years of expertise in nonprofit management and resource development to her position as Vice President of Development for The NEA Foundation.
Prior to The NEA Foundation, Meg worked at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, joining the staff in 2000 to manage a $21 million capital and endowment campaign, and subsequently leading Wolf Trap’s individual major gift and foundation grant fundraising programs. Earlier in her career, she led the National Gallery of Art’s membership program, The Circle, for six years and managed a direct mail program for a national medical research organization.
Meg is active in the community through volunteer service and philanthropy. She is a graduate of Leadership Fairfax, Inc.'s community leadership development program and now serves on their Board of Directors. She is a member of the Rainmaker’s Giving Circle of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, and has also volunteered time in recent years to the Catalog for Philanthropy – Greater Washington, the Arts Council of Fairfax County, College Summit, and Teardrops to Rainbows. She earned a BA from Duke University and a MPA with a focus in nonprofit management from George Mason University.
Danielle assists with the Global Learning Fellows Program, as well as other special projects in Innovation. She previously led new initiatives with Melibee Global Education Consulting, an international education startup company, and worked with the co-authors of How to Live Your Dream Volunteering Overseas for an update of their book. She is a study abroad enthusiast and spent time living and working in China and Taiwan. Danielle holds a M.A. in International Communication and a B.A. in International Studies from American University.
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.
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.
Harriet Sanford is the President and CEO of the NEA Foundation and has led the work of the Foundation since 2005. The Foundation’s work is built on its commitment to support the collaborative efforts of public school educators, their unions, school districts, and communities to focus on learning conditions that improve student performance. Harriet began her career as a public school classroom teacher, which led to a senior executive career that spans more than 28 years, with 22 years as the president and chief executive officer of non-profit/ public organizations including the Arts and Science Council in Charlotte, North and the Fulton County Arts Council in Georgia. Her career is bound together by an unwavering commitment to strengthening community by building on the skills, talents, and aspirations of each of its members.
Prior to joining the NEA Foundation, Sanford served as the conceptual lead and manager of "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 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 $58 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 on the Board of The NAMES Project Foundation, Hispanic College Fund, Caversham Centre (South Africa), the DCJazz Festival, and she is an advisor to the Communities for the Public Education Reform.
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.
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.
In collaboration with the President & CEO, Janice leads the advancement of the Foundation’s innovation initiatives. She works with educators to integrate global competencies into instructional practices which prepare students for the 21st Century.
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 is currently working on a Master of Education degree from Northeastern University; she also holds a Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University and a B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech. Janice is an alumnus of the Washington DC, Education Policy Fellowship Program.
As the Senior Vice President of Communications, Edith shares knowledge gained from the Foundation's work to support the collabortive efforts of public school educators, their unions, school districts, and communities to improve student performance.
Edith has more than 20 years of experience in communications, working at some of the nation's top PR agencies, including Ogilvy 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 consultancy, which 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.
She is delighted to be the granddaughter, daughter, sister, neice, aunt, and friend of public school educators and is honored to promote this important work.
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