Darlene Brown

Darlene Brown is a Senior TA Consultant in AIR’s Education Program. Dr. Brown has more than 33 years of experience providing TA and PD to districts and SEAs. Dr. Brown has served as the state manager for Louisiana and as deputy director of the SECC. Currently, she leads needs-sensing and collaborative activities for the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest (REL SW). Dr. Brown earned her doctorate and master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of New Orleans. She also received her bachelor’s degree as a speech, language, and hearing specialist from Northeast Louisiana University, currently operating as the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Tammie Causey-Konaté

Tammie Causey-Konaté is a Senior TA Consultant in AIR’s Education Program. Dr. Causey-Konaté has nearly 30 years of experience as a professional educator, with her years in K–12 and higher education divided equally. She presently serves as deputy director of the SECC. In this role, she supports SEAs in their efforts to further equity, school turnaround, and strategic communications. She also has worked with SEDL’s REL program as alliance liaison for the REL Southwest’s Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance and Louisiana Charter Schools Research Alliance. In addition, she has supported the REL Southeast’s multistate charter school alliance. Dr. Causey-Konaté has international and regional experience in developing school leaders for urban and rural education contexts and guiding the development of research agendas informed by daily practice. Her practice hinges on the transformative role of culture in educational leadership and teacher preparation across the PK–16+ continuum and includes her service as a middle and high school teacher, a Teach for America (TFA) support director, an assistant dean, associate professor (tenured), accreditation coordinator, and doctoral program coordinator. Dr. Causey-Konaté earned her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of New Orleans.

Lynn Holdheide

Lynn Holdheide is the Deputy Director for the GTL Center and a Principal TA Consultant for AIR with more than 10 years of experience in providing responsive TA of the highest quality to both SEAs and regional comprehensive centers. She also serves as the project manager to the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR Center) supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, and led by the University of Florida. Additionally, she serves as a TA facilitator and is on the systems change team for the National Center for Systemic Improvement. She is a veteran in providing TA through in-depth, face-to-face collaboration, as well as through online platforms and the development of customized resources that are directly responsive to state needs. With experience as a special education teacher, project coordinator, and education consultant at the Indiana Department of Education, Division of Exceptional Learners, she is sensitive to the needs of teachers of students with disabilities and has a deep understanding of the challenges that SEAs face in education reform. She also is well positioned to advance coherence and alignment across special education and educator quality reform initiatives. She holds a master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and an undergraduate degree in Special Education from Ohio State University.

Bill Horwath

As a Senior Consultant with Education First, Bill Horwath provides K–12 education strategy and policy consulting support to a variety of clients at the local, state, and national levels. Through the EASN, he helps states develop and implement educator equity plans to ensure the best teachers are serving the students who need them the most. He also managed the firm’s work supporting states as they implemented reforms through their Race to the Top grants and helped school teams in Syracuse design new teacher leadership roles. Prior to consulting, Bill worked as an assistant superintendent in human resources for Boston Public Schools and the Houston Independent School District. He earned an M.B.A. and M.P.P. both from the University of Chicago, a B.A. in Public Policy from Duke University, and has completed the Broad Residency in Urban Education. He lives in Houston with his wife and two daughters.

Tery Medina

Tery J. Medina is Associate Director of the Southeastern Equity Center. She is a veteran educator with over 30 years of experience. She began her career in special education and early childhood education, became an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, adjunct professor of ESL and Bilingual Education (BE), and an equity consultant. She came to the U.S. as a Cuban refugee and has devoted much of her professional life to building bridges across cultural differences towards mutual respect and understanding.

Lucy Steiner

Lucy Steiner is a Senior Consulting Manager and the Senior Vice President of Professional Learning and Leadership with Public Impact. She spearheads implementation of Opportunity Culture models in schools and districts nationwide, leads complex projects, manages and develops consultants, and serves on the firm wide management team. Her work often provides a bridge between district leadership, school leadership, and instruction, and she works with project teams to deliver research, training, and consulting on a variety of critical education issues, including teacher and leader policy, school restructuring, and charter school policy. She also provides internal and national leadership on the professional learning and development of teachers, teacher-leaders, principals, and district leaders, in both district and charter school contexts.

Monica Young

Monica Young is Director of the U.S. Education Department-funded Equitable Access Support Network. In this role, she and her colleagues support states, districts, and other TA providers as they work to ensure equitable access to excellent educators for poor and minority students. Dr. Young has expertise in developing metrics and methodologies for educator, school, and district accountability systems and educator supply and demand while at the New York State Education Department. She also provided TA to districts in understanding and using growth measures and relevant data collection. Dr. Young previously taught graduate courses to preservice teachers in pedagogy, action research, statistics, and research methods, and undergraduate courses in physics and fluid mechanics, and has co-authored research in the field of science teacher beliefs, practices, and preparation.

Karen Wyler

Karen Wyler serves as the Georgia Department of Education’s Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Induction and Higher Education Evaluation Specialist. Dr. Wyler provides induction support for Georgia school districts, regional education service agencies (RESAs), and institutions of higher education. Additionally, she provides support for Georgia’s college and universities with Georgia’s Teacher Keys and Leader Keys Effectiveness Systems. Dr. Wyler’s school level administrative and teaching experiences, coupled with her teacher and leader effectiveness work, have broadened her knowledge and understanding of all levels of education. She currently represents GaDOE on the state Network for Transforming Educator Preparation team, serves as the co-lead on Georgia’s CEEDAR Center teams, and serves as the state lead for the Georgia State Consortium of Educator Effectiveness team.