yolie@4teachingexcellence.org

Yolie Flores serves as CEO of Communities for Teaching Excellence and is a former member of the board of education at the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the nation. In her tenure on the school board, Yolie championed some of the most significant educational reforms, including Public School Choice, Teacher Effectiveness, and Parent Engagement. Over two decades, Yolie has served in leadership and management capacities that promote policies and strategies to improve the lives of children and families, including roles with the Los Angeles County Children's Planning Council, Center for Community Economic Development, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the City of Los Angeles. Yolie earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Redlands and a Masters in Social Welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles.

alaslett@4teachingexcellence.org

Alison Laslett serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Communities for Teaching Excellence. For twenty years, she has worked in leadership positions, unifying organizations into efficient, effective working teams. Alison was the contracts negotiator and manager for Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, one of the largest private agencies in Los Angeles serving over 6,000 emotionally disturbed children. There, she managed multi-million dollar contracts, defended audits and advocated passionately for the rights and care of emotionally disturbed children. Wishing to engage more fully with the children themselves, she became the co-director of a residential summer camp for teenagers, immersing herself for five summers in an eight-week program in the mountains of Vermont as the leader of one hundred people. The program educated children on social justice values such as anti-racism, pacifism, personal responsibility and community building. Alison then became an independent business consultant, working with companies from Florida to Maine to Mexico before returning to Los Angeles, where she now resides. She holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College.

jbliss@4teachingexcellence.org

Jeanne Bliss serves as the Director of Communications for Communities for Teaching Excellence. Jeanne has more than 15 years of experience in public relations, public policy, education, and education advocacy, working to ensure that all students are taught to the highest levels. Most recently, Jeanne spent three years teaching middle school English in a diverse secondary school in Fairfax County, Virginia. Prior to teaching, Jeanne served as Vice President for K-12 education clients at Lipman Hearne – one of the largest marketing and communications firms exclusively serving non-profits. Before that, Jeanne was the Communications Director for the Education Trust in Washington, D.C., where she oversaw the organization’s strategic communications and media relations operations. Prior to the Education Trust, Jeanne served as an editorial assistant for The New York Times and as a correspondence director and writer for U.S. Representative David E. Skaggs. Jeanne earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Kansas, and is certified to teach secondary-level English in the state of Virginia.

cmercer@4teachingexcellence.org

Charmaine Mercer is Communities for Teaching Excellence’s Director of Policy & Research. Prior to joining Communities for Teaching Excellence Charmaine Mercer worked for Congressman George Miller as the co-lead for the House Education and Labor Committee’s K-12 education team. She previously served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education where she supported the Assistant Secretary in attaining the Department’s legislative and budgetary priorities from Members of the Appropriations Committees. Before that she worked with the House Committee on Appropriations, Labor-HHS-ED Subcommittee, handling appropriations for the Department of Education. Charmaine was also an education policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service where she worked on issues surrounding Pell Grants, minority-serving institutions, and Veterans’ education benefits among other things. She has a doctorate in Political Science and Education Policy from the Claremont Graduate University (CA), as well as a Masters in American Government. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

jfogarty@4teachingexcellence.org

James Fogarty is a community organizer and attorney with extensive experience with political and advocacy campaigns. Prior to joining Communities for Teaching Excellence, he coordinated the United Way of Allegheny County’s “Govern for Kids” initiative working with child advocates and parents to speak directly to the candidates for Governor. Additionally, he worked with the Power of 32, a regional visioning initiative to conduct more than one hundred fifty-six community conversations garnering the input of over three thousand residents. Before that, James served as Field Organizer for the Obama-Biden 2008 Campaign in Pittsburgh’s Southside neighborhoods. For three years, James counseled social media companies and venture capital funds in Silicon Valley as a corporate finance attorney and also mentored with First Graduate, a program for children who are the first in their families to attend college. As a college sophomore, James won a seat on Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E, with a coalition of student, faculty and neighborhood support. In addition, he has taught middle school students in San Francisco, Sacramento and Washington, D.C. as a teacher with the Breakthrough Collaborative. James holds a J.D. from U.C. Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. in American Studies from Georgetown University.

Karen Jackson currently serves as an assistant director in the Office of Student Conduct & Academic Integrity at Vanderbilt University. Karen has 15 years of experience in education that includes work in K-12 and higher education institutions. Her higher education experience includes work in admissions, financial aid, academic advising and student conduct. She is a former elementary school teacher in public and private schools in Virginia, where she also worked with districts to identify candidates for gifted education programs. Karen has worked with non-profit organizations on professional development programs for teachers and administrators. Additionally, she has performed research on projects that investigated education reform, gifted education, and the education of African American males. Karen earned an Ed. D. in Education Administration & Policy Studies from George Washington University, a M. Ed. in Higher Education from The College of William & Mary and a B.S. in Public Administration from James Madison University.

jmandell@4teachingexcellence.org

Jason Mandell serves as the Communications Specialist/Writer for Communities for Teaching Excellence. As a freelance writer for L.A. Weekly, Jason has reported on various political and social issues, from public education to city council races. Jason began his journalism career at the L.A. Downtown News, where he served as a staff writer and, subsequently, city editor. He has also written for the L.A. Times, American Theatre Magazine, and the New York Press. A former tutor and substitute teacher, Jason has volunteered with several mentoring programs including School on Wheels, which provides academic assistance and support to homeless students. Born and raised in New York, Jason received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Pomona College in Claremont, California.

213.500.7704
smendoza@4teachingexcellence.org

With a combined 25 years of nonprofit, philanthropic, state government and entrepreneur experience, Sandy Mendoza has held executive and voluntary positions. During her career, she co-founded two nonprofits serving children and youth, ran a food service business and served in the administration of Governor Pete Wilson. While at United Way of Greater Los Angeles, she launched two watershed reports on the status of Latinos in Los Angeles: American Dream Makers and the Latino Scorecard. She created the Parent Survival series, a parent education program drawing thousands of parents annually, earning the Leadership Award from La Agencia de Orci and Univision. In 2005, Sandy helped mobilize a grassroots campaign with community organizations, civic leaders, parents, and students aimed at making A-G high school courses, required for entrance to the University of California and the California State University systems, available to every L.A. Unified School student. In 2009, Sandy co-led a campaign to raise parent awareness and understanding of learning conditions in schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District through the inaugural 2007-2008 School Report Card. Sandy attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she majored in Sociology.

202.281.9772
cmorgan@4teachingexcellence.org

Carlye Morgan is a product of Hillsborough County Schools and is a third generation educator. Both her grandfather and mother taught in HCS for over 30 years. She started her career as a middle school language arts teacher in Texas, where she was named Teacher of the Year for her campus. She then moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a graduate degree and to work as a legislative assistant for education and arts policy to a member of the United States Congress. Since then, she has moved back to her hometown to serve as a congressional outreach director and to continue being a part of the dialog on education in America on the local level. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Southern Methodist University and a master's in Public Administration from American University.

lmulfinger@4teachingexcellence.org

Laura Steen Mulfinger is the Policy & Research Analyst for Communities for Teaching Excellence. Before that, Laura was a Senior Researcher with the Claremont Graduate University (CGU) where she served as Co-Research Director and Evaluator of the Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative, a five-year education reform and community development initiative. She is a co-author of Learning From L.A.: Institutional Change in American Education (Harvard Education Press, 2008), a four-year study of education reform in Los Angeles. Prior to her work at CGU, Laura worked as a development officer in the fields of education, health care and social services. She is also a long-time volunteer in the local public schools and with her community’s food bank and homeless shelter. She earned her Ph.D. and Master’s in Education from the Claremont Graduate University (CA), and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

oquinones@4teachingexcellence.org

Olivia Quinones serves as the Executive Assistant for Communities for Teaching Excellence. She grew up in Lincoln Heights and is working to obtain her associate’s degree. Olivia has more than twelve years of administrative experience working in civic offices, most recently serving as the Executive Assistant to Los Angeles Unified School District School Board Member Yolie Flores.

naboulhosn@4teachingexcellence.org

Nasrin Aboulhosn is the social media intern for Communities for Teaching Excellence. Before that, she worked in Beirut, Lebanon as an editorial and marketing assistant for Turning Point Books. As a freelance copy editor and writer, Nasrin has written articles for The Alhambra Source, one of which was featured in LA Observed. Nasrin has been involved in community service for more than ten years, volunteering mostly with children and youth. She grew up in Alhambra, CA and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Writing from the University of California, San Diego.