Staff

Erica Coca began her career working closely with a number of nonprofit organizations to uplift and support underserved communities in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York. For the past decade, Erica has worked in education, specifically in charter schools, both in student and family-facing roles and more recently as director of recruitment at Explore Schools, a K-8 charter management organization in Brooklyn. As UnboundEd's director of talent operations, her focus is on talent systems and practices, HR support, and DEI work. Erica obtained her BA in Media Studies and MS in Business Management & Leadership from CUNY Hunter and SPS respectively.

Lakisha Covert has worked 20+ years as an educator. As the deputy chief, program implementation & delivery, she leads the strategic planning and execution of various UnboundEd programs and services. Lakisha taught grades K–5 for 11 years before becoming an academic dean and principal in DC, Maryland, and Virginia for 6 years. Specializing in school leadership and professional development, Lakisha’s certification in mentoring and coaching leaders contributed to her work with educational leaders across the country. Previously, Lakisha worked at New Leaders as regional leadership facilitator where she facilitated leadership sessions for three different leadership programs with a focus on leadership team development, school culture, equity, and instructional observation and supervision. She also coached first-year principals in Baltimore, MD. Throughout her career she has received recognition as teacher of the year in two different districts; the visionary educator award from Center City PCS in Washington, DC; and the effective educator award from Prince George’s County Public Schools. Her passion for equitable education stems from her background in urban education both personally and professionally. She is also a doctoral candidate, published author, and certified life coach.

Brian works relentlessly to ensure each student learns mathematics at a high level. As the director of mathematics leadership at UnboundEd, Brian co-leads the development and management of the MILA (Math Identity Leadership Accelerator) grant, along with supporting coaches during the virtual summits. Prior to UnboundEd, Brian supported equitable access to great math instruction in many school systems across the country as an associate director of instructional support and prior to that as a math lead for Instruction Partners. He also served as the senior instructional specialist for Pasco County Schools where he led the teaching and learning of mathematics for over 30 schools, as an instructional coach where he helped facilitate the turnaround of a school from an “F” to an “A” rating, and has taught at the middle and high school level. Brian currently resides in Tampa, FL with his wife and is a proud daddy of two.

Patti is a theater and education professional with 15 years of combined experience on stage and in classrooms. She has worked with many theatres as both a performer and educator, including Florida Studio Theatre’s Write a Play program, George Street Playhouse’s Educational Tour, the ShowPlace Ice Cream Parlor at Surflight Theatre, and was a company member at Vital Theatre Company. At Vital, Patti performed in multiple shows, held teaching residencies in NYC public schools, and helped with the day to day administrative work of running a non profit theatre in NYC. She is able to apply those administrative skills at UnboundEd, where she works closely with Onika King to manage scheduling, travel, expenses, and often assists with office technology. Patti graduated from DeSales University, where she studied theatre and secondary education.

Kristen Ehlman has worked for more than 30 years as an educator, with expertise in school leadership, organizational development and adult learning. As chief program officer, Kristen works alongside UnboundEd's leadership team to ensure coherence of all UnboundEd's programs and services in alignment with our vision. Before coming to UnboundEd, Kristen served as the national director of principal support at New Leaders, a nonprofit which trains aspiring school leaders. Kristen began her career as an elementary and middle school teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she also spent more than a decade as a staff and organizational development specialist.

A career educator, Andrea Hancock has served in several capacities within the district where she was educated during her formative years: Baltimore City Public Schools. Andrea worked as an elementary school teacher, instructional coach, principal, network lead, and instructional leadership executive director charged with supervising principals across a network of PreK-8 schools. Andrea transitioned from the district to lead the Baltimore division of the Emerging Leaders Program at New Leaders and served as an advisor for the Transforming Teams program. Currently, Andrea is the deputy chief, program design & development at UnboundEd, overseeing the staff who design and develop the cohort, math, ELA, leadership, and teacher prep programs. Andrea also supports organizational strategy, cross-functional workstreams, and external partnerships. Andrea holds a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and was a member of the Baltimore New Leaders Principal Program, Cohort 6.

Jenna Johnson started her career as a classroom math teacher, with experience teaching both abroad and in the United States, before transitioning into instructional design. Leveraging her experience in corporate training and degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Jenna's work focuses on applying learning design principles to the development of training materials. She is passionate about equitable math education across gender and race so all students can be successful “math people”.

Taknauth Khilawan has worked in finance for the past ten years. As senior director, finance and operations, Taknauth manages the financial operations including financial analysis, financial policies and procedures, accounts payable and receivable, contract management, and HR system operations. Previously he was the director of budget and analytics for the Core Instruction and Professional Learning division at the NYC Department of Education. Prior to that, he worked at Amplify Education as a senior accountant, finance manager at Associates for Bilingual Child Development and an accounting analyst at Collective Media.

Onika King began her career as an executive assistant in commercial real estate. She brings over thirteen years of experience managing executives in the Commercial Real Estate and Consulting firm industry. As administrative manager, she manages scheduling, travel, expenses, executive assistant coordination, and coordinates large team projects. Previously, she worked as an Executive Assistant at Boston Consulting Group, where she managed the operations and logistics of her managers, teams and company.

Connie Landinez has over 15 years of experience in relationship management, as well as in project/program planning and execution. Connie is a results-driven individual who specializes in conceptualizing and executing programs from start to finish, managing complex milestones while adapting to changes and shifting priorities. In her role as director, program implementation & delivery, Connie works closely with cross-functional teams in developing and delivering comprehensive project plans including timelines and team protocols, systems’ structures and criteria for fulfilling bottom-line results. Previously, Connie worked at Amplify as a senior account manager where she successfully managed a diverse portfolio of accounts totaling over 3M annually in revenue. These complex, district-level implementations of educational software included some of the largest school districts in the nation such as Miami Dade, New York City DOE, Boston Public Schools, as well as Statewide strategic partnerships.

Na Auni began her career at Bay Area Community Resources, another educational non-profit, as an administrative assistant. Since then, she has graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Economics and Social Science. After obtaining her degree, she continued her administrative career in the legal field before joining UnboundEd.

As a mathematics specialist at UnboundEd, Deborah Peart works with a team to develop and implement professional development programs for K-12 mathematics. Prior to joining UnboundEd, Deborah was the lead writer for second grade for the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Math Curriculum project. Now based in FL, Deborah taught for over 25 years in NY, CT, and GA in the public and private sectors. Deborah is the founder of My Mathematical Mind and speaks on a variety of topics related to math identity and literacy connections to mathematics. Blending her training in yoga and mindfulness with mathematics instruction, Deborah advocates for a mindful approach to teaching mathematics in order to address math anxiety, build confidence, and support the development of positive math identities. She has dedicated her career to helping other educators approach teaching in innovative ways that allow students to see themselves as valued mathematical thinkers and lifelong learners.

Laura’s more than two decades of teaching and leadership experience is centered around the belief that all young people deserve to be successful in their education and that a high-quality education is key to a just and equitable society. As vice president, client engagements, Laura works with partner district leadership to cohesively improve learning conditions for staff and students across UnboundEd's programs and services. Most recently, she was the chief schools officer for Envision Schools, a charter management network in the Bay Area, where she oversaw the schools, leaders, and instructional program for the Envision network. Before that, Laura was the principal at Envision Academy high school, the managing director of programs for New Leaders in the Bay Area, and a founding leader of Elmhurst Community Prep, a middle school in the Oakland Unified School District. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a Master's in Education from Stanford.

Shakiela Richardson has over 15 years of experience in education. She has served in several capacities such as a high school English teacher and instructional coach for Newark Public Schools and teachers assistant for students with special needs at A. Harry Moore, a laboratory school at New Jersey City University. She has also facilitated curriculum training and professional development learning opportunities for English teachers for organizations such as NCTE and Student Achievement Partners. Shakiela transitioned from the district and joined UnboundEd in 2015. From that time she has held various roles such as ELA specialist, ELA director, and co-leader of the internal diversity, equity, and inclusion work. In her current role as a senior director, Shakiea supervises the operations and content development of the Virtual Summit leadership pathways. She also creates professional development content in partnership with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.

Amy Rudat has worked in the education field for 20 years as a teacher, literacy coach, and coordinator for school and district support. As senior director, Amy ensures the coherence of ELA across organization-wide programs including the Standards Institute, Virtual Summits, and the Chief Academic Officer's Academy. Previously, Amy worked for New York State’s Education Department, where she led, advised, and engaged in the design, development, and revision of EngageNY’s curriculum, and contributed to state-wide assessment development. and supported school improvement initiatives including advocacy for students with disabilities, English learners, and anti-racist.

Laura Smith has developed and implemented strategic initiatives for educational organizations for nearly 20 years. As chief operating officer, Laura leads day-to-day operations, finance and strategic planning and also oversees digital product development. Previously, she was vice president of professional services for an ed-tech nonprofit, and was an assistant commissioner at the New York State Education Department. She also served as an executive director for the New York City Department of Education and as deputy director of High School Renewal for the San Diego Unified School District. Laura was in the inaugural cohort of the Broad Foundation’s Residency in Urban Education. She started her career teaching environmental education for nonprofit organizations in the Florida Keys and San Juan Islands. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and is currently a member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Diane Takata Powell is an educational professional and servant leader. She began her career developing marketing campaigns and communication strategies for financial services and internet start-up companies before transitioning into education. Diane has served as a paraprofessional, teacher, coach, facilitator, dean of instruction, and, most recently, the director of literacy for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, where she was able to focus her passion and drive for equitable educational opportunities for all children. Diane also worked as a director of professional services at Amplify designing and leading district, state, and national-level professional learning engagements. In her role at UnboundEd, Diane develops and implements the strategic alignment of client and partner engagement, marketing, communications, and support.

Mónica has worked in education for over 25 years. As chief talent & organizational development officer, Mónica leads the design and implementation of our talent systems, practices, policies, and cultural norms needed to enact our core values with diversity, equity and inclusion at the center, as well as internal communications that foster transparency, and helps to ensure that UnboundEd structurally evolves in alignment with our vision and values. Prior to UnboundEd, Mónica served as chief talent officer at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools and chief human resources officer for the San Francisco Unified School District, as well as advised school districts and state departments of education across the country on talent practices and policies. She began her career as a bilingual Spanish teacher in Los Angeles, CA, and taught at the upper elementary and middle school levels. She holds degrees in sociology and anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has completed Harvard’s Public Education Leadership Program, as well as the Equity Lab’s inaugural national Nexus Fellowship on race, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Brandon White is a former middle school ELA teacher and Restorative Practices educator for the Rochester City School District. As a student, Brandon found that he could connect with the instruction through the language and culture of hip-hop; as an educator, he would provide cultural relevance and responsiveness through pedagogy and content. As an ELA specialist, Brandon selects, adapts, and sequences open educational resources, as well as supports the creation of professional development materials and resources. In addition to providing these elements via traditional school settings, he has worked for seven years as a servant leader intern and site coordinator for Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Summer Literacy Programs located in Rochester. He has also advocated for these practices through his participation in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Teacher Advisory Council and through providing professional development at BMGF-sponsored Elevate and Celebrate Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2) Conferences.

Alice Wiggins has close to 30 years of experience applying instructional design principles and adult learning theory to the development of training and development materials across various domains. As vice president, instructional design & products, Alice focuses on ensuring cohesive instructional design across all of our products and offerings--including alignment to our organizational vision and approach. In previous roles, Alice was responsible for ELA partner engagement work, curriculum development, and supporting professional development programs for the Standards Institute. Alice is a passionate educator with a keen interest in equitable instruction that bridges the research to practice gap. Her research and writing includes the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and Teacher Handbook; Scaffolding With Storybooks: A Guide for Enhancing Young Children's Language; An investigation of four hypotheses concerning the order by which 4-year-old children learn the alphabet letters; and Literacy Achievement and Assessment in Emergent Literacy. Alice's interests and expertise in education are enhanced by her 15 years as a consultant and project manager in the private sector.

Lauren Wolford has more than seven years of combined experience working in client relationship management and support.  Lauren is a customer advocate at heart and works diligently to build positive relationships. Previously, Lauren worked as a federal loan officer, supporting students in their financial aid process. She has also worked as an event planner, where she designed, organized, and executed virtual and live events for groups of 10-1,200.