Our team
Fiercely committed to the promise of American education, to our families, to our students, and to one another
Ascend team leaders
Steven F. Wilson
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer and Founder Steven F. Wilson has been a driving force in the education reform sector since its inception. Wilson is the former CEO of Advantage Schools, an urban school management company that enrolled nearly 10,000 students, was an executive vice president of Edison Schools, and is a past board president of Building Excellent Schools, a national training program for aspiring charter school founders. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. As special assistant for strategic planning for Massachusetts Governor William Weld, he helped shape the state’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act that made Massachusetts schools the highest performing in the country. Prior to joining the administration, he was co-executive director of the Pioneer Institute, where he drove the development and passage of the Massachusetts charter school law. He is the author of two books: "Learning on the Job: When Business Takes on Public Schools" and "Reinventing the Schools: A Radical Plan for Boston." He is a Pahara-Aspen fellow and a graduate of Harvard University.
Susan Pollock
President
As president, Susan Pollock leads communications, development, real estate, board management, external affairs, authorizer relations and reporting, and with the CEO, Ascend’s strategic work. Pollock joined Ascend from CPC Resources (CPCR), the development arm of the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), where she served as senior vice president, large scale projects. At CPC and CPCR, she held positions in both the lending and development organizations, overseeing the redevelopment of thousands of affordable housing units throughout New York City, and spearheading a successful program to stabilize the city’s coop market during a period of economic retrenchment. As principal project manager of the Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment—the largest commercial real estate project in Brooklyn—Pollock was responsible for the vision and implementation of a rezoning effort involving extensive government and community negotiations. Since joining Ascend, the network has launched six newly financed and renovated facilities, been awarded two new charters, and raised over $10 million in public grants. Pollock attended Harvard College and graduate school in City and Regional Planning at the University of California at Berkeley.
Andrew Epstein
Chief Financial Officer
As chief financial officer, Andrew Epstein oversees all financial matters, including financial policies, planning, and reporting; budgeting, accounting, regulatory compliance, payroll, employee benefits, insurance, equipment leasing, purchasing systems and controls, and borrowing. Since joining Ascend, he has managed growth in revenues from $19 million to $99 million, and staff growth from 138 to 725. Epstein previously worked at Charter School Business Management (CSBM), providing non-academic technical support to schools. Earlier, he served as senior director of finance at Democracy Prep Public Schools, a network of high-performing charter schools. Prior to that, he worked in the music industry, starting at Universal Music Group and later serving as director of operations for the promotion department at Island Def Jam Music Group. Epstein is a former teacher and Teach For America corps member. He taught middle-school science at KIPP Academy in the Bronx and at the New York Settlement School, and helped develop and lead a summer camp for special needs children. Epstein holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia University.
Kelly Garnes
Chief Operating Officer
Chief Operating Officer Kelly Garnes is responsible for establishing the vision and culture for all operational functions at Ascend schools, including student recruitment, school operations, meals, transportation, procurement, student information systems, safety, school openings, and human resources. Garnes joined Ascend from Philip’s Education Partners where she served as chief operating officer, charged with developing and implementing a strategic plan for the CMO. Earlier, Garnes taught at Philip’s, and served as a founding history department chair and member of the leadership team at KIPP NJ, and later as Deputy Director of KIPP through College, where she placed and provided support to close to 400 college-aged alumni across the United States. After completing her MBA, Garnes served as a management associate at Citibank, where she conducted analytics and financial modeling to help expand various business lines including consumer credit, commercial banking, and mortgages. Garnes received her bachelor’s in history from the University of Virginia, her Ed. M. in administration planning and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Betsy Goldfarb
Chief Talent Officer
Betsy Goldfarb, Ascend’s chief talent officer, oversees strategic outreach and talent recruitment for Ascend. Prior to assuming this role, Goldfarb served as a managing director of schools at Ascend for three years, managing the launches of Brooklyn Ascend High School—the network’s first high school—and Bushwick Ascend Middle School. Goldfarb came to Ascend from the Hyde Leadership Charter School, a successful K-12 program in the Bronx, where she was head of school. Goldfarb successfully led Hyde Leadership’s expansion and ultimately managed three divisions located across two campuses. Of the first senior class, 94 percent graduated and 95 percent gained college acceptance. Prior to becoming head of school, she served as the school’s director of instruction and assistant head of school. Goldfarb began her career at a private high school in Bath, Maine, where she taught Advanced Placement U.S. History and Algebra II and coached varsity women’s basketball and varsity men’s tennis. She holds a master’s of education in school leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.
Erica Murphy
Chief Curriculum and Instruction Officer
Chief Curriculum and Instruction Officer Erica Murphy oversees the design and implementation of Ascend’s unique liberal arts curriculum. For the past five years, Murphy served as school director of Brownsville Ascend Lower School. Over that time, her school’s proficiency rates increased 30 percentage points in English language arts and 34 percentage points in mathematics. In school year 2016-17, Murphy’s school achieved the second-highest score improvement among New York City charter schools. Murphy joined the Ascend network as a second-grade teacher, team leader, and instructional coach at Brooklyn Ascend Lower School where she consistently posted the highest math results in the network. Before joining Ascend, she was a research associate at the New York City Department of Education’s Research and Policy Support Group. Earlier, Murphy spent several years as a teacher in a NYC Department of Education school. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs; a master’s in elementary education from Lehman College; and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington University in Saint Louis.
Brandon Sorlie
Chief Schools Officer
Chief Schools Officer Brandon Sorlie leads all of Ascend schools’ line structure; he and his team offer a wide range of instructional supports to Ascend schools. Sorlie oversees the managing directors and the school supports and data and analytics teams, coaches the school directors, and strengthens the implementation of Ascend’s educational model. He has launched a successful resident director program, ensuring successful openings of new Ascend schools. Formerly school director of Brooklyn Ascend Lower School, Sorlie has been with the network since its inception in 2008. Over the past two years, under his leadership, network performance has improved by 20 percentage points in both English language arts and math on the grades 3 through 8 New York State Common Core exams. Sorlie began his career as a Teach For America corps member in the Bronx where he taught special education for five years. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, he holds two master’s degrees, one in teaching from Pace University and one in school leadership from the Teachers College at Columbia University.
Ariana Ames
Network Director of Operations
Ariana Ames supports, coaches, and provides technical and other resources to the Ascend schools’ directors of operations and designs systems to ensure greater efficiency, improved data analysis, and compliance. Prior to joining Ascend, Ames was the director of facilities at Brooklyn Lab Charter School and a business operations manager at Success Academy Charter Schools. Ames began her career in the criminal justice field as a corporate investigator on Wall Street and a criminology professor at John Jay College, before transitioning to education to serve disadvantaged students and families. Ames holds a doctorate in law and policy, with a specialization in education policy, from Northeastern University; a master’s in criminal justice from John Jay College; and a bachelor’s in sociology and political science from William Paterson University.
Luisa Batiz
Director of Talent Recruitment
Director of Talent Recruitment Luisa Batiz previously served Ascend as a talent recruitment manager. She joined the recruitment team after four years as a teacher and grade team leader at Brooklyn Ascend Middle School, where she started her career as a Teacher for America corps member. Batiz is the co-founder and community organizer for Brooklyn Education Alliance, an organization created to encourage teachers, parents, and community members to address issues impacting students in Brooklyn. She is also an inaugural regional board member of Teach For America: The Collective—a group dedicated to ensuring that TFA alumni of color in New York are reflected in the greater organization. Batiz earned her bachelor’s degree at Binghamton University, State University of New York, and holds a Master of Arts in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education.
Dellianna Burrows
Managing Director of Schools
Managing Director of Schools Dellianna Burrows oversees a portfolio of schools and supports the school directors to achieve academic and organizational goals, build and maintain a strong presence for the school in the community, and develop and cultivate relationships with students, teachers, parents, and community members. Previously, Burrows oversaw the design and implementation of Ascend’s literacy curriculum for the lower schools, working closely with school leaders and K-4 teachers across the network. During the 2013-2014 school year, as a talent coach for the New York City Department of Education, Burrows helped principals measure educators’ effectiveness based on consistent criteria to promote achievement. She began her career at Ascend as the founding school director of Bushwick Ascend Lower School, leading the school to exceptional ELA and math scores, and creating a strong culture of achievement. Burrows earned her bachelor’s degree at Baruch College of the City University of New York. She holds two master’s degrees from St. John’s University of New York, the first in childhood education and the second in school building leadership.
Aaron Daly
Network Director of Operations
Network Director of Operations Aaron Daly supports, coaches, and provides technical and other resources to the Ascend schools’ directors of operations and designs systems to ensure greater efficiency, improved data analysis, and compliance. Prior to joining the network, Daly was responsible for all non-academic operations at Brownsville Ascend and Ascend’s Pitkin campus, including oversight of all programs and practices related to the school’s distinctive culture; he continues to serve as director of operations for Brownsville Ascend Lower School. Daly came to Ascend from The Harlem Children’s Zone, where he served most recently as assistant director of programs, managing four program sites and a budget of approximately four million dollars. Previously, he founded Prep Step, Inc., a New York nonprofit organization that places at-risk student-athletes in competitive and productive learning environments where they can excel. Daly is a graduate of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
Genevieve de Gaillande
Director of School Operations
Director of School Operations Genevieve de Gaillande is responsible for supporting Ascend’s school-based directors of operations on all technical aspects of their role. She also oversees student recruitment and enrollment across the network and is responsible for school compliance and reporting. She came to Ascend from Community Partnership Charter School in Brooklyn, where she was director of operations. Previously, de Gaillande managed the operations start-up process for the charter school initiative of New Visions for Public Schools. In this role, she also supported schools in all reporting requirements and served as the main compliance officer. Prior to joining New Visions, Genevieve worked as a film production manager and commercial casting director. She is the board chair for Falconworks Artist Group, a community-based organization centered on arts advocacy for youth in south Brooklyn. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California at San Diego.
Nicholas Diaz
Director of Talent Outreach
Director of Talent Outreach Nick Diaz leads Ascend’s efforts to develop and implement strategies to source the highest quality teachers and leaders for Ascend schools. After beginning his career as a middle school English teacher and Teach For America corps member in Miami, FL, Diaz pivoted to recruiting new corps members to the program. As a recruitment manager and most recently as recruitment director for TFA’s Northeast region, Diaz managed campus recruitment activities, coordinated efforts between local recruiters and regional offices, and developed an organization-wide applicant retention strategy that reduced application withdrawal rates by nine percent. A New York City native, Diaz holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Latino studies from Cornell University.
Sue DuFrirsz
Director of Publications
As director of publications, Sue DuFrirsz ensures that all curricular and assessment materials deployed in the network adhere to Ascend’s standards for editorial quality, typographical accuracy, design, and ease of use. Previously, DuFrirsz was the editorial department manager for Questar Assessment (formerly Touchstone Applied Science Associates) producing materials for as many as 16 statewide assessment programs. Prior to Questar, DuFrirsz worked as an advertising copywriter for McCaffrey and McCall Advertising in Manhattan. Accounts included JCPenney, Exxon, Pfizer, and ABC News and Entertainment. While at McCaffrey, DuFrirsz was also part of the team creating the original Schoolhouse Rock music videos. DuFrirsz earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York.
Sarah Engle
Director of Lower School Literacy, Grades 3-4
Sarah Engle, director of lower school literacy for grades 3-4, joins the Ascend team with a wealth of instructional and curriculum development experience. Formerly, Engle taught third grade at Uncommon Schools’ Leadership Prep Ocean Hill in Brownsville for four years, during which time she also served as a literacy instructional coach and an ELA curriculum writer for the network. She has also consulted on curriculum development and instruction with schools across the country. Most recently, Engle founded UsPlus Learning, a non-profit providing public elementary school teachers with free and accessible curriculum resources to develop their students' relationship skills. Engle holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Brown University, a master's in elementary teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, and a M.Ed. in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Marsha Gadsden
Managing Director of Schools
Managing Director of Schools Marsha Gadsden was formerly the school director at Brooklyn Ascend Middle School, where earlier, she was the director of student life, seventh grade dean of instruction, and the director in residence. In her leadership roles, she supported and coached teachers and leaders, used data to guide instruction, and prepared students for high school and college. Gadsden previously taught eighth-grade English at the Achievement First Endeavor Charter School in Bedford-Stuyvesant as a Teach For America Corps member. She was also the director of ENCORE, an after-school program, and operated a Saturday empowerment program for girls at Achievement First. Before joining Brooklyn Ascend, Gadsden served as a founding board member of Bushwick Ascend Charter School. She began her career at the Administration for Children’s Services and Prep for Prep in New York. Gadsden earned her bachelor’s at Georgetown University and her master’s in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she co-founded and co-directed the Student Public Service Collaborative and served as vice chairwoman of the school’s Black Policy Conference.
Janna Genzlinger
Managing Director of Leadership Development
As managing director of leadership development, Janna Genzlinger focuses on the development of Ascend’s future leaders, through her design and guidance of the successful resident director program as well as the teaching fellows program. Prior to accepting this role, Genzlinger was the managing director of schools where she trained and supervised school directors at multiple Ascend schools and designed network-wide training programs for resident directors, deans, and teachers. She first joined Brooklyn Ascend Charter School as the dean of students, and later became school director. Prior to her work at Ascend, Genzlinger was an adjunct professor at Hunter College and RELAY Graduate School of Education, where she designed courses for teachers pursuing their elementary education certification. She also worked as the arts director and music teacher at Excellence Boys Charter School in Brooklyn. Genzlinger earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s from Teacher U at Hunter College.
Adina Goodman
Director of High School Humanities
Director of High School Humanities Adina Goodman oversees the design and implementation of Ascend’s high school humanities program and facilitates professional development for high school teachers and deans. Most recently, Goodman served as a literacy consultant for grades 6-12, where she led professional development initiatives and collaborated with district and school staff to support literacy instruction. Prior to that, Goodman served as an English language arts teacher and department chair at the Democracy Prep charter network. She began her career in education as a Teach For America Corps Member, teaching English language arts in Prince George’s County, MD. Goodman holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Barnard College of Columbia University and a master’s in literature from New York University.
Mark Hall
Director of Teaching Fellowship Program
As director of the teaching fellowship program, Mark Hall oversees the design and implementation of Ascend’s prestigious Summer and Graduate Teaching Fellowship programs. Before his tenure at Ascend, Hall was the director of the Prep 9 Preparatory Component of Prep for Prep, where he supervised the leadership development program aimed at preparing low-income public school students of color to achieve outstanding success at top boarding schools. Prior to becoming director, Hall held the roles of interim director and dean of students where he was responsible for building and maintaining a student culture characterized by high expectations for both academic achievement and behavior. Hall has also taught Spanish at Westminster School and Thayer Academy, and spent his summers teaching history through Project RISE. Hall holds a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a master’s from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Daniel Hayman
Director of Data and Analytics
Daniel Hayman manages academic data and analytics for all schools in the Ascend network. Previously, as a policy data analyst for the New York City Charter School Center, he was responsible for collecting, synthesizing, analyzing, and presenting all publicly-available operational, demographic, and performance data for all charter schools in New York State. A former high school math teacher, Hayman taught at The Facing History School. Through his performance as a Teach for America corps member at Herbert H. Lehman High School, he earned the Amgen Fellow award in 2007, given to the top 50 Teach for America applicants in math, science, or engineering in the nation. As an undergraduate at Claremont McKenna College, Hayman created a highly effective, student-staffed consulting agency to support the development of nonprofit organizations. After graduating from Claremont McKenna, he earned a master’s degree in teaching secondary math from Pace University.
Emeka Ibekweh
Managing Director of Information Technology
As managing director of technology, Emeka Ibekweh oversees the administration, service delivery and security of Ascend Learning’s technology and strategic planning initiatives related to the organization’s infrastructure. Before joining Ascend, Ibekweh was director of technology at Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc. and Promise Academy Charter Schools in New York. Among the initiatives he led were the design and implementation of a virtualization plan for converting and consolidating their data center servers to virtual servers, implementation of a web-based student information system, and establishing a technology audit and controls throughout the organization and network schools. In this role, he managed technology multi-million dollar budgets. Previously, Ibekweh spent several years at Lehman Brothers/Barclays Capital, where he rose from analyst to vice president. He is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
Dejan Ilich
Director, School Projects and Construction
Director of School Projects and Construction Dejan “Dan” Ilich is responsible for the design, scoping, and construction oversight of facilities for Ascend. Ilich is a licensed architect and experienced construction project manager with years of experience working on real estate projects in the education sector, including the NY Institute of Technology and St. John’s University.
Anthony Lanzi
Director of Facilities
Anthony Lanzi helps maintain the facilities of Ascend Learning and its network schools to ensure that they are not only highly functional but deeply inspiring environments. With more than a decade of experience in various aspects of the construction trade–including the renovation of five houses–Lanzi currently manages two multi-family properties and he previously served as assistant property manager of a 20-unit building. Earlier, he was a millwork specialist at Home Depot on Staten Island; a shop manager at ACS Metal in Elizabethtown, New Jersey; and owner and manager of Moe’s Tavern in Staten Island. A graduate of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, Lanzi studied architecture at New York Technical College in the borough.
Charlise Manuel
Managing Director of Finance
Before joining Ascend’s finance team, Charlise Manuel was a junior consultant, finance and human resources, at Charter School Business Management, Inc. (CSBM) in New York City. CSBM works to provide charter schools with the knowledge and services they need to develop and maintain a strong foundation of finance, operations and human resources. In addition to performing daily bookkeeping functions for CSBM clients, Manuel ensured accurate financial records; managed payrolls; helped prepare financial statements for annual independent audits; and monitored clients’ financial and operational activities to ensure adherence to state and federal law, generally accepted accounting principles, and sound financial policies and procedures. Manuel previously worked as an administrative assistant at Olin Library in Ithaca, New York. She has been an active volunteer for many organizations, including Do Anything Nice, Inc., a nonprofit designed to promote the value of kindness through student action, which she has served as a national officer. Manuel is a graduate of Cornell University.
Jenny Markus
Director of Student Recruitment and Enrollment
Director of Student Recruitment and Enrollment Jenny Markus manages student recruitment and enrollment across Ascend’s 12 schools by managing information systems and databases, training staff, and conducting large-scale marketing campaigns for both existing and newly opening schools. Markus began her career at Ascend in 2015 as operations manager. Previously, she served in a variety of managerial roles, including senior business information analyst at HealthPlus Amerigroup, consulting analyst at the online technology and educational platforms Grovo Learning and Books That Grow, and senior project manager at the technology startup Booker Software. Markus holds a bachelor’s of business administration from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business.
Aaron Obrochta
Director of Talent Operations and Data
Director of Talent Operations and Data, Aaron Obrochta, oversees operations of the Talent team's annual recruitment campaign and talent recruitment events, and provides data analysis that informs Ascend's talent recruitment and outreach strategies. Obrochta is a recent graduate of New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, where he received an MBA with specializations in business analytics, marketing, and digital marketing. He received his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy with merit. Prior to joining Ascend, Obrochta was a field admissions manager for the United States Naval Academy’s strategic outreach department. Earlier in his Navy career, he was a helicopter pilot and aircraft commander, aircraft maintenance manager, and the director of quality assurance for a Navy helicopter squadron.
Kendall Paine
Director of Lower School Mathematics
As the director of lower school mathematics, Kendall Paine oversees the design and implementation of the math curriculum at Ascend’s six lower schools and facilitates professional development for network teachers and leaders. Paine joined Ascend after working as a teacher for six years in underserved urban communities. She began her teaching career in Chicago’s south end, where she taught third grade. Most recently, Paine was an elementary school teacher in Seattle, Washington public schools, where her school was recognized by the Department of Education as a school of distinction for sustained achievement and progress towards closing the achievement gap. During her time in Seattle, Paine was one of 30 Seattle Public Schools teachers selected for the Seattle Teacher Residency, through which she oversaw the training of teachers in the district. Paine holds a bachelor’s degree in leadership studies from University of Richmond and an M.Ed. in instructional leadership from the University of Washington.
Amy Singh
Director of High School Data and Analytics
In Amy Singh’s capacity as the director of high school data and analytics, she plays a key role in data analysis, collection, and reporting to identify trends and guide instruction at Ascend’s high school, and oversees all data usage and training for high school staff. Prior to joining Ascend, Singh worked as a schools manager for Renaissance School Services, a leading service provider in school turnaround, charter school operations, and research, where she built and tracked academic and operational data models and managed implementation plans for school clients while conducting education research provided ongoing support and training to school, . She has also served as a project manager fellow for the One World Youth Project in Boston, MA and worked on the operations and finance teams of The Equity Project Charter School in New York City. Singh holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from Boston University.
Dan Sonrouillé
Director of High School STEM
Director of High School STEM Dan Sonrouillé brings more than a decade of experience in teaching, coaching, and curriculum development to his role. Sonrouillé joined Ascend as a member of Brooklyn Ascend High School’s founding team, teaching numerous science courses while also serving as science department chair and instructional coach. Additionally, Sonrouillé designed science courses and wrote curriculum aligned to Next Generation Science Standards, supported the integration of technology and engineering practices into the classroom, and, most recently, served as an Ascend Teaching Fellowship mentor teacher. Prior to joining Brooklyn Ascend High, Sonrouillé was grade level chair, teacher, and new teacher coach at Achievement First Brooklyn High School, where his students achieved some of the strongest academic results in the Achievement First network. He began his career as a New York City Teaching Fellow at The High School for Arts, Imagination, and Inquiry. Sonrouillé holds a bachelor’s of science in biology from Central Connecticut State University and a master’s of science in secondary education from City College, New York; he currently serves as an adjunct professor of science content at the Relay Graduate School of Education.
Anjya Thomas
Managing Director of Mathematics and Science, K-8
Anjya Thomas serves as managing director of mathematics and science for grades K-8. During her time at Ascend, Thomas has led a redesign of Ascend’s middle school math program and overseen impressive gains in math proficiency over two years. Prior to joining Ascend, she served as principal of Brownsville Collegiate Charter School. There she developed a strong math program as the dean of curriculum and instruction, as a math teacher, and as a math department coordinator. Thomas received a Bachelor of Arts in history with a concentration in the Latina diaspora from Williams College and a Master of Education from Teacher U at City University of New York, Hunter College.
Jennifer Thomas
Director of Student Services
As director of student services, Jennifer Thomas works with the leadership teams and faculties at Ascend schools to provide the structure and support services needed to help every student succeed. Thomas oversees Ascend’s Response to Intervention Program (RTI), English as a second language (ESL), special education and the provision of services required by students with special needs and limited English proficiency. She formerly served as director of special education at Brooklyn Ascend Charter School. Thomas was director of curriculum and instruction and special education coordinator at another charter school in Brooklyn before joining Ascend, and previously she taught students with special needs in Public School 5 in the borough. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree from Baruch College and a master’s degree in elementary/special education from Long Island University. She earned an administrative license in school building leadership and school district leadership through the Center for Integrated Teacher Education at the College of Saint Rose.
Louis Trani
Controller
Louis Trani is controller at Ascend, working with the finance team to ensure the organization has accurate and timely financial information. Trani oversees the accounting operations of the schools and Ascend Learning, including accounts receivable, grants accounting and compliance, audit, and financial reporting. Trani brings more than 20 years of accounting experience to Ascend, including 15 years with PVH Corp., which is the parent company for clothing brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. Most recently, as PVH’s financial audit director, he was responsible for designing and directing audit plans, establishing systems for fraud prevention and detection, generating policy around mergers and acquisitions, and more. Trani is a certified public accountant, with a bachelor’s degree in public accounting and an MBA in finance from Pace University.
Lindsey Voorhees
Director of Lower School Literacy
Director of Lower School Literacy Lindsey Voorhees leads Ascend’s lower school literacy program by developing curricula and assessments, designing and delivering professional development, using academic data to inform adjustments, and serving as in-house K-2 expert to support Ascend’s vision and philosophy for literacy. She joins Ascend with over 10 years of teaching and school leadership experience. Most recently Voorhees was dean of students at Southern Heights Elementary School in Seattle, Washington, and earlier held positions as an early learning specialist and kindergarten teacher with Highline Public Schools. Voorhees holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in teaching and learning from the University of Oregon, as well as a certificate from the University of Washington’s P-3 Executive Leadership Institute.
Michelle White
Managing Director of Schools
As managing director of high schools, Michelle White manages the implementation of Ascend’s high school program at its flagship, Brooklyn Ascend High School. She brings to her role a wealth of experience in teaching, school leadership, and the management of principals. White began her career as a middle school teacher in Brooklyn before becoming a founding team member at a high school in Detroit, MI, where she taught for four years before becoming the school’s principal. Since then, White has assumed numerous school leadership and school management roles, including principal of two additional Detroit high schools; academic director for a charter school network operated by The Bardwell Group; and most recently, director of school leadership for CS Partners, where she oversaw the operations and performance of several charter academies. White holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in natural sciences from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a K–12 administrator certificate from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.
Our core values
Integrity
We believe and teach that moral character and honesty matter.
Curiosity
We approach our work and world with wonder and excitement and a constant quest to improve.
Community
We are bound by a commitment to our students, and approach one another with empathy, generosity of spirit, and laughter.
Empowerment
We instill in one another the skills and confidence to live lives of power, purpose, and meaning.
Growth
We welcome feedback, hunger for new ideas, and seek to expand our capacities.
Daring
We have the courage and optimism to act boldly.
Excellence
We aim to do everything with distinction, always.
Marty Linksy
Chair
Marty Linsky is co-founder and principal of Cambridge Leadership Associates (CLA), a global leadership development firm. He has had extensive experience as a consultant, facilitator, teacher, and trainer in leadership with a wide range of public- and private-sector clients in the U.S. and abroad. His most recent book is The Practice of Adaptive Leadership (Harvard Business Press 2009), co-authored with Ronald Heifetz, with whom he co-founded CLA, and Alexander Grashow, CLA’s managing director. He is also the co-author, with Heifetz, of the best-selling Leadership on the Line.
Linsky is a faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he has been since 1979, except for three years in the early 1990s when he served as chief secretary and counsel to then-Massachusetts Governor William Weld. He joined Harvard’s faculty after careers in politics and journalism, having served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, an assistant Massachusetts attorney general, a reporter and editorial writer at The Boston Globe, and the editor of the alternative weekly, The Real Paper.
Linsky is a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School.
Margaret Anadu
Director
Margaret Anadu is a managing director in the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs, where she makes game-changing investments in underserved communities throughout the metropolitan area. Anadu has sparked the creation and preservation of thousands of units of affordable housing, and has brought schools, health care facilities, food markets, and other vital community resources to those who need them most. Anadu was instrumental in structuring the financing that allowed for the enormously successful redevelopment of the Loew’s Pitkin Theater in Brownsville – now proudly serving as the home of Brownsville Ascend Lower and Middle Schools, and Brooklyn Ascend High School.
Anadu is a graduate of Harvard College, and resides in Brooklyn.
Rick Arroyo
Director
Rick Arroyo served as chief financial officer of Citibank, N.A., prior to his retirement in 2016. Throughout his 38-year tenure with Citigroup, Arroyo served in a variety of strategic management leadership and support roles across a number of Citigroup’s businesses. Prior to joining Citigroup, Arroyo worked as an auditor with Coopers & Lybrand and with Sun Chemical’s European Audit Group. He has also held an instructional position at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Graduate School of Business Administration. Arroyo holds a wealth of board and committee experience; he currently serves as an independent director of Morgan Stanley Bank in the Audit and Risk Committees, and was previously on the board of Department Stores National Bank. Arroyo is a graduate of Manhattan College, New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Julia Bator
Director
Julia Bator is the former executive director of the Robertson Foundation. She was previously the chief executive officer of The Fund for Public Schools, the nonprofit arm of the New York City Department of Education, which connects private sector resources to the nation’s largest public school system. Before her appointment to The Fund in 2011, Bator worked at Highbridge Capital Management, where she served as chief of staff, managing external affairs for the chief executive officer. Her experience also includes working for the Heckscher Foundation for Children and a number of public-private partnerships such as the Fund for Public Advocacy, City Parks Foundation, and the Chancellor’s Literacy Campaign under NYC Schools Chancellor Rudolph Crew. Bator has also been a public school teacher and served on the executive staff of The White House from 1994 to 1996. She is a graduate of Yale University and holds a master’s degree in education.
Matthew Clark
Director
Matthew Clark is marketing director for the global strategy practice of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a member of the practice’s leadership team. Prior to joining BCG, Clark was an independent marketing, research and development, and editorial advisor to several consulting firms working in the areas of strategy, innovation, corporate social responsibility, and nonprofit management. Previously, he was vice president of global relationship marketing at Mercer Management Consulting. In addition, he played a central role in idea development and served as chairman of the editorial board of the Mercer Management Journal.
Clark is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School.
Jonathan Rosenberg
Director
Jon Rosenberg is the president and chief executive officer of the Hebrew Charter School Center, a network of dual-language charter schools that teach modern Hebrew, emphasize service-learning and global citizenship, and recruit and enroll racially and socioeconomically diverse groups of students. Previously Rosenberg was executive director of Reinventing Options for Adolescents Deserving Success (ROADS) Charter High Schools in New York City, a charter organization that serves a unique population: over-age, under-credited students at risk of not finishing high school. Before leading this new charter network, he was CEO of Repair the World, whose mission is to make service a defining part of American Jewish life.
Formerly, Rosenberg served as executive director of Roads to Success, a career, college, and life skills readiness program for students in grades 7-12. His previous work experience includes serving as associate general counsel and then deputy general counsel at Edison Schools, as a senior attorney with the U. S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, as a project director and assistant camp director at The Children’s Aid Society, as an adjunct faculty member of Teachers College and Columbia Law School, and as the former chair of the Education Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
Rosenberg is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Law School.
Steven F. Wilson
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive Officer and Founder Steven F. Wilson has been a driving force in the education reform sector since its inception. Wilson is the former CEO of Advantage Schools, an urban school management company that enrolled nearly 10,000 students, was an executive vice president of Edison Schools, and is a past board president of Building Excellent Schools, a national training program for aspiring charter school founders. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. As special assistant for strategic planning for Massachusetts Governor William Weld, he helped shape the state’s landmark 1993 Education Reform Act that made Massachusetts schools the highest performing in the country. Prior to joining the administration, he was co-executive director of the Pioneer Institute, where he drove the development and passage of the Massachusetts charter school law. He is the author of two books: "Learning on the Job: When Business Takes on Public Schools" and "Reinventing the Schools: A Radical Plan for Boston." He is a Pahara-Aspen fellow and a graduate of Harvard University.
Kwaku Andoh
Trustee
Kwaku Andoh is a partner at Cohen & Gresser LLP. His practice focuses on domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, joint ventures, and other corporate transactions, as well as general corporate counseling. Prior to joing Cohen & Gresser, Andoh was managing director and associate general counsel at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he advised on over $10 billion in mergers and acquisitions transactions, investments in FinTech startups, and venture capitla transactions for all JPMorgan Chase lines of business worldwide.
Andoh began his career with the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York, where he practiced for seven years, focusing primarily on international financings, private placements and mergers and acquisitions for a diverse group of clients. Andoh received a bachelor of arts degree in economics, cum laude, from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1986 and a master of arts degree in economics from Boston University in 1989. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1992, where he served on the Stanford Law Review as a notes editor. He is the author of a note entitled Countervailing Duties in a Not Quite Perfect World: An Economic Analysis, Note, 44 Stanford Law Review 1515 (1992), for which he received the Irving H. Hellman, Jr. Award for the outstanding student note published by the Stanford Law Review in 1992.
Shelly Cleary
Treasurer
Board Treasurer Shelly Cleary is a senior vice president at Community Development Trust (CDT), a community development real estate investment trust. At CDT, Cleary developed, secured funding for, and leads their Charter School Lending Program, where she is responsible for the marketing and structuring of all charter school project transactions. Prior to this role, Cleary served as senior vice president for underwriting at CDT, where, during her fiften-year tenure, she originated over $200 million of affordable multifamily housing debt through her various roles within CDT's Debt Group.
Prior to joinign CDT, Cleary held positions in housing finance at the National Equity Fund, a syndicator of federal low income housing tax credits, and at the Community Preservation Corporation, a regional construction lender that specializees in affordable housing. She began her career in the education department at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Cleary holds a bachelor's degree in art history from the University of Virginia and a master's of public administration from the Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Amanda Craft
Secretary
Board Secretary Amanda Craft is senior director of recruitment at Uncommon Schools. Prior to joining Uncommon, Craft was a recruiting research analyst at Bridgewater Associates, an investment company that oversees $120 billion in international investments for diverse clients, including foreign governments, university endowments, and charitable foundations.
After graduating from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Russian language and literature, Craft served as a regional recruitment fellow for Teach For America (TFA) in New York City. Later, she served as the managing director of strategy in TFA’s human assets department. At the TFA Summer Institute, Craft worked as director of data management, devising systems for improving corps member training. Craft has also taught business English in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the New York community, Craft has worked as a youth group coordinator of the Village Church. She lives in Brooklyn.
Stephanie Mauterstock
Chair
Board chair Stephanie Mauterstock is the vice president of Tugboat Education, where she provides consulting services related to school founding and start-up; strategy and business plan development; finance and funding; human resources and talent development; grants; and accountability for charter schools, authorizers, school districts, and education non-profits. Mauterstock was previously chief operating officer for Students for Education Reform, an organization developing college students into grassroots organizers who fight for educational justice in their communities.
Earlier, Mauterstock was chief operating officer at Manhattan Charter School. Having inherited a failing school, she managed its turnaround and growth; wrote the school’s renewal application; and secured full, five-year charter renewal for the school. She previously worked for Edison Schools, where she served as a grants compliance manager and later as a strategy and market research analyst. Mauterstock began her career as a program officer at the Institute of International Education. A graduate of Tufts University, she has also studied in Paris and the Yunnan Province of China.
Kathleen Quirk
Vice Chair
Board vice chair Kathleen Quirk is chief of staff at The Partnership for Inner-City Education (Partnership Schools), a network of six urban Catholic elementary schools in Harlem and the south Bronx. She was formerly chief operating officer of Cambridge Leadership Associates (CLA), where she focused on management operations and refining CLA’s business development strategies to meet clients’ needs.
Prior to joining CLA, Quirk worked for the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) as special assistant to chancellor Joel Klein and later as associate director of knowledge management. In these roles, she managed the 2006-2007 district-wide winning application for the Broad Prize in Urban Education and also worked closely with NYCDOE’s governing body, the Panel for Education Policy. She previously held positions at the University of California Berkeley in student affairs and served as a Jesuit/AmeriCorps volunteer in an elementary school in West Oakland, California. Quirk holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor's in English from the College of the Holy Cross. Quirk was a New York City Coro Fellow in Public Affairs and has been an active member of the New York City Coro Leadership Center, and an onsite support staff member for a volunteer community in Bedford Stuyvesant.
Christine Schlendorf
Trustee
Architect Christine Schlendorf is a principal at Perkins Eastman with more than 20 years of experience in creating beautiful and innovative educational spaces. She has been responsible for numerous public and private school projects in the United States and overseas, including Mott Haven Campus in the Bronx, a 2,200-student campus containing two high schools, one intermediate school, one charter school, and a performing arts center. Prior to joining Perkins Eastman, Schlendorf was an architect with the firm Louise A. Agnes AIA of Northport, New York. She earned a Bachelor of Architecture at Syracuse University.
Nadine Sylvester
Trustee
Nadine Sylvester joined Ascend's board of trustees in July 2018. Sylvester is the director of internship services and employment placement at Year Up, a nonprofit that helps disadvantaged young adults attain higher education and succeed in their professional lives. In her role, Sylvester oversees internship and employment placements and leads Year Up’s alumni engagement strategy; for this work, she has been named an American Express Emerging Leader in 2016. Previously, Sylvester worked as a program coordinator for Cypress Hills Local Development Corp, through which she provided counseling and crisis management services to at-risk youth seeking to complete high school or GED programs. A native of Central Brooklyn, Sylvester is an active leader in her community, serving as a team leader for New York City’s largest volunteering network, New York Cares, and as a member of Brooklyn’s Community Board 17. Sylvester holds a bachelor’s degree in history and social work from New York University and a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University. She is the proud parent of an Ascend student.
Oral Walcott
Trustee
Rev. Oral Walcott is a a community leader and insurance specialist currently serving as a licensed agent at New York Life Insurance Company. Prior to joining New York Life, Rev. Walcott served for 12 years at the Beulah Church of the Nazarene as Sunday school teacher, youth pastor, pastor of discipleship and special events, and executive pastor. He has 13 years’ experience as a claims professional at a leading insurance company in Barbados. In 2010, Rev. Walcott was ordained as an elder in the Church of the Nazarene and serves as secretary of the board of ministries of the New York district.
Rev. Walcott serves on the board of directors of Healing for the Soul Ministries, and as secretary and director of Project CHANGE, a rehabilitative program designed for inmates of Her Majesty’s Prison in Barbados. He was one of the chief architects of the program and co-authored Project CHANGE’s handbooks and curriculum.
Rev. Walcott received a Diploma in Management Studies, in human resources management from Nazarene Bible College and Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity. He has a bachelor's of science degree in business, management, and economics from SUNY Empire State College; a master of science in organizational leadership from Quinnipiac University; and a professional insurance designation CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter). Rev. Walcott and his wife Nicole are the proud parents of two Brownsville Ascend students.
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