Lupita Cortez Alcalá has over 20 years of experience in advocacy, policy, project development, and executive and administrative leadership, in service of championing better educational outcomes for the children, youth, and adults. Lupita leads strategic planning and management projects in pre-K-12 and postsecondary education including developing master plans for state and local early learning and care and higher education learning systems (e.g., California Master Plan for Early and Learning and Care) that resulted in dramatic expansion of opportunity aimed at long-term outcomes to school and workforce readiness. Other recent work includes guiding the development and implementation of the California Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, which involves building strong partnership and connection across health and education agencies. Lupita served as the first Latina Chief Deputy Superintendent for the California Department of Education. She has served in numerous leadership roles including as Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission, becoming a prominent voice in the statewide discussion on college affordability and financial aid reform. Lupita holds a B.A. in Political Science from the UC, San Diego, and a Ed.M. from Harvard University, School of Education.

Rachel Antrobus provides technical assistance to the field to improve college and career pathways within K-16. Prior to joining WestEd Rachel managed a portfolio of projects designed to support community colleges via research and professional development aligned with the guided pathways at the RP Group. Rachel has been focused on policies and practices that ease the transition from high school to college as a college administrator and partnership manager at Career Ladders Project and at Gateway to College’s National Network (now Achieving the Dream). Rachel holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California and a Master of Public Administration and Bachelors of Arts in Communication Studies from Cal State Long Beach. Her doctoral research is focused on the power of experiential learning to inform college and career outcomes for low income students. She is a proud alumnus of California’s community college system where she continues to teach political science as an adjunct instructor.

Karen Beltramo’s main focus is on the creation, maintenance, and alignment of the LaunchBoard, a suite of data inquiry tools that provide information on offerings, students, progress, success and employment and earnings outcomes for community colleges as well as for K-12 and adult education schools for their students transitioning into postsecondary. She has extensive experience working with various entities connected with the community colleges as a Data Research Analyst on gathering, structuring, interpreting, analyzing, and sharing labor market and student data to help stakeholders make informed strategic decisions on how to improve outcomes for students. Karen also has experience in the private sector working in the US and Europe in financial and strategic forecasting and planning. She has an Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis on Strategic Management from L’Ecole HEC Paris and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and French from the University of California at Berkeley.

Allie Bollella is responsible for project implementation and oversees data collection, management, analysis and visualization across several adult education projects. In previous roles she worked on community development grant evaluations and conducted qualitative interviews to evaluate nonprofit leadership program efficacy. She received a Bachelors Degree from the University of Redlands in Sociology and Women’s Studies.

Kathy Booth leads projects that help translate data into action. She currently serves as the Process Facilitator for the development of the California Cradle to Career Data System. In addition, she supports the Guided Pathways movement, including conducting research with the Community College Research Center on how colleges have integrated career and transfer partnerships into their pathways reform efforts. For over five years, she served as the Project Manager and architect for the LaunchBoard, a suite of dashboards that make data on student progress, completion, employment, and earnings outcomes available to educators for the purpose of program improvement. She also helps to map data across systems, including crosswalking K-12 and community college offerings, documenting educational pathways to employment, and aligning data captured by educational institutions and social service agencies that support workforce development. In her previous role as Executive Director of the RP Group, she led research and technical assistance projects in the areas of multiple measures, skills-builder pathways, and student support.

Since joining WestEd in 1998, Grace Calisi has conducted extensive research on high school reform, teacher leadership, and postsecondary programs for underserved youth. She has designed and overseen numerous evaluation plans, developing instrumentation and processes that support successful practices. She has also been a key architect in the development of strategies to support continuous improvement efforts and build upon existing practices. She provides technical assistance to clients and consults with them and colleagues on results, implications, and lessons learned from evaluation and research data. She received an EdM in education from Rutgers University.

Marisa Castellano has extensive research experience at the nexus of K12 and postsecondary education, aligning curriculum and other opportunities to improve student transitions. Marisa is motivated by a desire to improve life opportunities for underserved populations. She has worked with K12 and community college districts to conduct program needs assessments, quality reviews, and evaluations. Prior to joining WestEd, Marisa directed studies on student outcomes in career pathways at the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education. Marisa’s teaching experience includes teaching work-based English as a Second Language (ESL) in a union-based hospital program and English as a foreign language at the university level in Chiapas, Mexico. Marisa holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kyle is a Senior Research Associate with a background in data science and data architecture within the context of California Community College, California K12, and Economic data systems. Kyle’s primary focus is on the consistency and accuracy of WestEd’s dashboard projects, working collaboratively with its partners to ensure a quality product. Kyle enjoys working on technical problem solving, and has worked to develop an efficient data architecture to increase the repeatability and sustainability of both the development and coordination of the LaunchBoard suite of dashboards. Since joining WestEd, he has also brought a strong analytical focus to WestEd’s data testing protocols. His experience with the California educational data systems along with his former role as a financial advisor provides a unique background to serve as a subject matter expert in the areas of educational and workforce trend data. Kyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, and a Certificate of Data Analytics, both from the University of California, Davis.

Quay Dorsey’s work focuses on evaluation and data systems, and projects that improve close equity gaps for students of color and other marginalized groups. Before joining WestEd, he spent a decade working within the Washington DC Public school system as a curriculum writer, STEM educator, a teacher coach, and a school leader. He was introduced to California education systems during his work as a Project Manager for CalPASS Plus data system projects. He is passionate about research and initiatives that close gaps for students during the transition from K-12 to postsecondary or career. Quay’s current project involvement with projects at WestEd span a broad range. Notably, he’s leading the charge on the creation of a new K-12 career and technical education dashboard for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. Quay earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Penn State University and a Master of Science in K-12 Education from Johns Hopkins Graduate School of Education.

Ann Edwards has more than 30 years of professional experience in mathematics education aimed at improving the learning experiences and outcomes of students at all levels of education. Her projects center around the reform of mathematics education in the secondary, postsecondary, and adult education sectors in order to achieve greater equity through curricular redesign, professional development on equitable and effective teaching practices, and technical assistance on institutional implementation. Edwards is the Director of the Carnegie Math Pathways, a network of community college educators, researchers, designers, students, and content experts committed to increasing student success in developmental and gateway mathematics and overall college and career outcomes. She has also led numerous research, development, and evaluation studies funded by federal, state, and local agencies and private philanthropies. Edwards came to WestEd from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and, prior to that, from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she was a faculty member focusing on mathematics teaching, teacher learning, and professional development. She received a BA in applied mathematics from Harvard University; and an MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in education in mathematics, science and technology.

Angela Estacion directs applied and basic research studies as well as evaluation projects in partnership with institutions of higher education, local and state education agencies, and local and national nonprofits. Her portfolio of work is primarily multi-year, mixed methods research/evaluation design that is funded through federal grants and foundations. She strives to reach diverse audiences by disseminating actionable research results to policy makers, practitioners, and community leaders. Angela’s areas of research/evaluation are focused on topics including access and readiness for postsecondary training and education, broadening participation in postsecondary settings, especially within Hispanic Serving Institutions and STEM programs, supporting successful pathways to graduation, especially among historically underserved groups, and workforce development.

Pamela Fong focuses on college and career readiness, K14 pathways, and postsecondary program improvement. She analyzes complex research and communicates information by developing accessible, concise, and evidence-based resources to inform decision making and implementation of practices in K12 and postsecondary education. Pamela’s recent work involves statewide, intersegmental workforce initiatives aimed at improving student access to college and increasing social mobility, within which she develops public-facing publications and internal materials for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and a regional community college consortium. Additionally, Pamela applies her research and communication skills to report on a breadth of high-leverage topics stemming from the REL West research-practice partnerships for the Institute of Educational Sciences. Previously, Pamela taught literature and writing to students in high school and college and literacy instruction to pre-service secondary teachers, as well as developed professional learning for teachers in K14. Throughout her career as an education researcher and as a teacher, Pamela has always placed advancing equity at the center of her work. Pamela earned a B.A. in English and a teaching credential from San Francisco State University and a M.A. in Education of Language, Literacy, and Culture from University of California, Berkeley.

Linda Friedrich is the Director of Literacy. She leads Reading Apprenticeship, which has a proven track record in improving disciplinary literacy in middle school, high school, and college. She also co-leads the Colorado READ Act evaluation and focuses on building WestEd’s literacy portfolio.

For nearly three decades, Linda has worked at the intersection of practice and research to engage teachers in collaboratively improving teaching and learning with a strong focus on literacy.

Prior to joining WestEd, she served as the National Writing Project’s Director of Research and Evaluation, where she led writing assessment efforts and co-led an initiative focused on improving academic argument writing.

She has won competitive program and research grants, co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, edited collections of teachers’ research including Working Toward Equity, and, with Ann Lieberman, coauthored How Teachers Become Leaders: Learning from Practice and Research.

Linda earned her PhD in Administration and Policy analysis at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education and holds an AB in History from Bryn Mawr College.

Beth is a Research Associate II on WestEd’s Postsecondary Pathways and Career Mobility team. She is an experienced researcher with expertise in community college success, student decision-making, postsecondary transitions and pathways, and education policy. Beth leverages a variety of methods including interviews, focus groups, and surveys to investigate the barriers community college students face to upward mobility. Prior to joining WestEd, Beth was a Research Associate at the Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research where she provided research on emerging economic trends and technical assistance that shaped career and technical education (CTE) program development at the California Community Colleges. Beth holds an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. She attended Berkeley City College before transferring to the University of California, Santa Cruz where she earned a BA in Psychology summa cum laude.

Greg Hill Jr. leads and supports research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects, principally in the areas of adult education and community college career pathways. As an individual contributor, he specializes in applied data science, geospatial intelligence, and data visualization in R, Tableau, and ArcGIS, which he uses to inform systems change initiatives and strategic planning. He is experienced in quantitative and qualitative methods, survey design, data collection, and analysis. He is also a skilled facilitator adept at helping decision-makers and teams use data to measure progress toward shared goals and increase operational effectiveness.

Tracy Huebner leads statewide and national projects to best serve all learners and in particular those most underserved. In her work she bridges research and practice to help build systems of support that show evidence of change. Most recently Tracy supported California’s statewide K12 Strong Workforce Program to ensure $600 million dollars was put into the field to develop and sustain intersegmental relationships between local education agencies and community colleges. She will support similar work in Colorado through its Regional Talent Development Initiative Grant Program. Tracy holds a B.A. from Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University.

Jessica Keach (she/her/hers) uses her technical expertise in research, data, and policy analysis to manage research and planning projects using a holistic approach that is grounded in equity. Her current focus areas include adult education and data tools and resources that support equity and achievement in student outcomes and access to meaningful and living wage work. One of her main projects at WestEd is the management of California’s Adult Education Pipeline Dashboard, which synthesizes data from hundreds of adult education providers, to support community-driven planning and program improvement.

Jessica has a background in community college workforce development, adult education, and institutional research and comes to WestEd from Southwestern Community College District where she served as Senior Research and Planning Analyst. Jessica earned her Master of Public Policy from UCLA, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science with distinction in Sociology from Southern Methodist University. Jessica is also a graduate of the 2019 YPC Academy, which a San Diego LGBT Center leadership training program for emerging LGBTQIA+ leaders.

With over two decades of experience in education, Kelsey Krausen’s areas of expertise include higher education and K-12 strategic resource allocation, systems planning, and education leadership. Her work focuses on improving outcomes for students in underserved communities through the strategic and equitable allocation of resources and systems improvement. She has worked on a range of projects including leading research and facilitation support for the Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) Oversight Committee, a committee charged with reviewing and evaluating the early implementation of California’s new community college funding formula, and research support for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office 17 Percent Committee. As part of her support for the SCFF Oversight Committee, Kelsey helped direct the research team’s analysis of college and course enrollment data, demographic data, cost of living, and financial aid data to understand its impact on various funding models. She also has experience leading strategic planning efforts and organizational reviews for state and local education agencies. Kelsey has a PhD in school organization and educational policy from the University of California, Davis, an MA in public administration from San Francisco State University, and a BA in literature from the University of California, San Diego. She also attended both Merritt and Laney Colleges.

Laura Lara-Brady focuses on building intentional student and community centered higher education systems. Her work also includes working alongside partners and organizations to amplify and align their efforts and create meaningful and sustainable change that supports the needs of marginalized communities. Previously, Laura supported the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office by establishing a model for a statewide approach to Guided Pathways implementation being implemented by 17 coordinators to support all 116 colleges. Her work has been highlighted and replicated across California, and she has presented at numerous conferences across the country. Laura obtained her doctorate degree from the University of Northern Colorado on Educational Psychology with two minors; research & statistics, and special education.

Lisa Le Fevre coordinates and conducts research, technical assistance activities, and evaluations of education, standards implementation, and workforce development projects and grants. In addition, Lisa explores innovation strategies and collaboration aimed at building opportunities for students’ academic, career, and life success. Lisa also has secondary and postsecondary teaching experience with instruction for English learner students, understanding the challenges of underserved and vulnerable populations, and working with social issues and community-based learning at the university level. Lisa studied Applied Anthropology at Teachers College, Columbia University and holds a PhD.

Joy Lewis is a Senior Research Associate focuses on program implementation and improvement involving postsecondary institutions, districts, schools, states, and education policy leaders. Over the past 15 years, her work has centered on K-12 policy and reform, large-scale assessment, accountability, curriculum alignment, early childhood education, and implementation of educational software and data solutions. Joy’s work addresses the implementation of the new content standards, and support for resource development projects, as well as statewide efforts to deliver broad change management systems for school improvement. She holds a M.A. from Stanford University in Education Policy and Administration and a B.A. from University of Wisconsin, Madison in Sociology.

Alexandra leads professional development and capacity-building activities that empower practitioners to address equity gaps across workforce development and postsecondary education systems. In her role as Senior Project Manager, Alexandra draws upon training in human-centered design, policy analysis, and program evaluation as well as her experience leading university initiatives aimed at improving access and outcomes for historically marginalized students. She is passionate about convening postsecondary stakeholders to work collaboratively across roles, systems, and sectors and develop collective impact strategies that yield meaningful change for students. Prior to her work at WestEd, Alexandra led projects to improve career outcomes for first-generation and low-income students at public research universities with the University Innovation Alliance, as well as administered statewide college access and preparation programs with the University of California, Office of the President. Alexandra holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy.

With 15 years of experience working in the nonprofit, public and private sectors Jasmine McGee’s passions live at the intersection of social justice and women’s rights. Additionally, she is adamant about changing the educational landscape in her communities. She has funneled her passions into education services in Northern California through agencies/institutions like the East Oakland Youth Development Center, College of Alameda, American River College, and Youth Radio. During her tenure, she acquired skills in strong technology management, leadership development, functional analysis, instructional teaching and academic advising.

Valentin Pedroza provides evaluation services to stakeholders such as school districts, universities, and state Departments of Education by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data and creating data visualizations using Tablueau. His responsibilities include proposal development, coordinating data collection, creating data management systems, instrument development, data collection, online survey administration, data management, statistical analysis, and report writing. Valentin has a wide breadth of experience working on key educational areas focused on equity, including, teacher preparation programs, college STEM pathways, at-risk students, charter schools, technical assistance, and arts integration.

Phyllis focuses on program implementation and improvement involving postsecondary institutions, districts, schools, states, and education policy leaders. She brings unique knowledge to the team both from attending and working at community colleges, a background in librarianship, and work experience in nonprofits, local and state government, and higher education. With experience in both the front- and back-ends of Canvas, online learning, and resource organization, Phyllis provides direct support for professional development course development. Phyllis holds a Masters of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University and a BA in Public Policy from Mills College.

Mary Rauner’s portfolio of work focuses on improving postsecondary access, persistence, and completion for historically marginalized populations, with an emphasis on cross-sector collaboration. As the Director for the College Promise Project at WestEd, Mary studies, evaluates, and coaches College Promise and scholarship programs. Her commitment to equitable strategies and practices led her to convene a cross-agency team to develop WestEd’s Anti-Racist Evaluation Strategies Guide and a related webinar series for WestEd staff to learn how colleagues are using the Guide in their work. Mary has more than 25 years of research, evaluation, strategic planning, and teaching/coaching experience in a wide range of organizational settings, including local and federal government and the nonprofit, academic, and private sectors. She holds an MA in Sociology, and MA in International Educational Development, and a PhD in Education from Stanford University.

Ravinder Singh is Project Manager for the LaunchBoard, a suite of dashboards that visualize data on student progress, completion, employment, and earnings outcomes for California’s community college system. Prior to joining WestEd, Ravinder worked for the University of California Office of the President and University of California San Francisco, where he focused on issues of equity and diversity by analyzing and reporting on the university’s efforts in raising the academic achievement of educationally disadvantaged students. Ravinder likes to work on issues that affect our work lives and communities. In the past he has served as Chair of the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies and is the current chair of the City of Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board. Ravinder has a Master of Science in History and Philosophy of Education from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and History from Millsaps College.

Hayley Spencer supports data collection and analysis for a variety of mixed methods evaluations. She has experience working in and with colleges, research centers, and the Florida Department of Education. Her research and work experience has been in postsecondary education, with a focus on postsecondary career and technical education. She was an ECMC Foundation Fellow for postsecondary CTE research. Hayley has worked on several projects with the Florida College System and previously served as the Director for Research and Analytics.

Jenna Terrell develops research and evaluation studies and leads data analysis for education research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Justice. She has expertise in designing and leading rigorous impact evaluations of educational interventions and is a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse Group Design Standards. Her recent work includes leading impact studies of statewide programs for community college students and serving as the principal investigator for an evaluation of teacher professional development programs in South Carolina. Previously, Jenna led a staged randomized control trial of a student advising program, a cluster randomized controlled trial with minority-serving institutions across the country, and a longitudinal study of postsecondary outcomes for STEM students in minority-serving institutions. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia State University and master’s degree in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Randy Tillery has 23 years of experience related to building and implementing workforce development, community development, and educational strategies to increase economic mobility for vulnerable low income communities and individuals. His former professional roles include Senior Dean of Workforce and Economic Development for the Contra Costa Community College District, Director of Neighborhood Economic Development for the East Bay Local Development Corporation, Workforce Development Director for the Spanish Speaking Unity Council, and 10 years as a workforce and educational consultant. Randy specializes in large scale collaborative strategies between educators, workforce professionals, and human service agencies that leverage capacity across systems to increase economic access and success for high poverty communities and populations. Randy completed his Bachelors in Liberal Arts at the Evergreen State College, his Masters in Cultural and Visual Anthropology at Temple University, and is ABD in Social Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Thomas Torre Gibney partners with school districts, states, educators, and other stakeholders to study the effects of educational policies and programs. Thomas’s work focuses on interventions intended to improve equitable access to educational opportunities and reduce inequalities across the P-20 continuum, with a special focus on identifying equitable strategies for promoting college and career readiness in high school settings, including career and technical education programs. His research combines rigorous quantitative analytic approaches with qualitative methodologies to understand implementation variation and stakeholder perceptions. Prior to joining WestEd, Thomas designed and implemented CTE policy for the Division of College, Career, and Technical Education at the Tennessee Department of Education. There, he managed a multiyear process to revise the state’s CTE standards, leading the department’s research to align programs of study with postsecondary pathways and regional labor market needs.

Blaire Willson Toso engages in work that supports adult learners in realizing their education, career and life goals. At WestEd she manages the California Adult Education Pipeline Dashboard project, conducts research, provides professional development on topics such as career pathways development and using data and research to inform best practices. Additionally, she is a subject matter advisor on an IES adult education numeracy research grant, is a strand lead for the OCTAE-funded Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans project, and a subject matter expert and trainer for the national IET Toolkit and Design Camp project. Before joining WestEd Blaire led her own consulting company and worked at two Penn State centers—The Institute for the Study of Adult Learners and The Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy. She has conducted research and evaluation projects, taught family literacy and adult education courses, as well as designed and developed professional development, including the roll out of College and Career Readiness Standards for adults in Pennsylvania and career pathways implementation. She is interested in how and what supports adult learners successfully navigate educational systems. She earned a Ph.D. in Adult Education at Penn State and a Master’s in TESOL at The Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Alexandria Wright is a Senior Research Associate for Economic, Labor Market & Educational Data. She has been engaged in the field of regional economic development and labor economics for 15 years, emphasizing resilient communities and workforce development. She has served as director for economic and workforce development divisions at three community college districts where she provided economic & labor analysis for industry, academic program review and economic development partners, designed novel adult education IET and IELCE programming that corresponds to pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships to increase access for underserved populations, and expanded entrepreneurial education through the Small Business Development Centers. She specializes in strategic planning to build strong economies in rural America and American Indian Nations, and the design of key performance indicators across economic, social, and environmental dimensions of a community. Alexandria publishes in the field of sustainable development and currently serves as adjunct faculty in Economics at Cal Lutheran University. She holds an extended BS in Economics, a MA in Public Policy and a Ph.D. from the School of Politics & International Affairs at Northern Arizona University.