Leadership
Our Board of Directors is composed of leaders in business, education, and government who each bring a keen interest in helping students in Virginia. We are diverse in our own backgrounds and experiences, but we come together to address the needs of students in high-needs schools and to improve and diversify the teacher pipeline from Virginia's universities to Virginia's K-12 classrooms.
Senator Mark Warner serves as senior U.S. Senator from Virginia. Since being elected to the Senate in 2008, Senator Warner has worked toward ensuring Virginians have access to quality education, focusing on ensuring appropriate federal education funding and bridging the “homework gap.” Senator Warner has recently led Senate efforts to ensure children can meaningfully participate in their education, despite challenges associated with the pandemic.
Sen Mark Warner
Honorary Chairman
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Principal of two middle and two high schools in Fairfax County Public Schools, including TJHSST, Elizabeth was Governor McAuliffe’s nominee to the VA Board of Ed. She has been on the Board of Visitors of JMU and the Education Commission of the States. A WETA Trustee, Elizabeth is Board Chair for the Urban Schools Human Capital Academies and on the VA Board of Communities in Schools.
Elizabeth Lodal
Director Emerita
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Margi is immediate past executive director of the statewide Commission for the Arts and a former member of the VA House of Delegates representing the 34th district. Vanderhye has served as an appointee of two U.S. presidents and five VA governors in various positions with national commemorative works, Chesapeake Bay regulation, transportation and land use planning, and state homeland security. Margi currently also serves on the board of the Virginia Healthcare Foundation.
Margi Vanderhye
Co-director & Board Member
Kris has more than three decades of leadership in K-12 education at the local, state, and national levels. She served as the President and CEO of the National Association of State Boards of Education while also a member and chair of the Fairfax County Public Schools board. Kris represented the 44th District in the Virginia General Assembly from 1999 to 2009. Kris is currently a writer and consultant.
Kristen Amundson
Co-director & Board Member
Cathy’s career has been in English classrooms across the US at college-prep academic high schools. At each school, however, she also worked with the population that needed to develop reading and writing skills to move on to college successfully, often as first generation students. She served as English Department Chair at both TJHSST and McLean HS, and is currently a private writing tutor.
Cathy Colglazier
Co-founder & Board Member
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Presently in her second term on the VA Community College System Board, Eleanor has served as the VCCS Board Chair and Audit Committee Chair. Appointed by two governors, she is a past member and president of the VA State Board of Education. A career teacher, counselor and Student Services Director, she has been active in organizations that lobby to remediate the impacts on underserved populations.
Eleanor Saslaw
Co-founder & Board Member
Currently an Associate Prof of Ed Leadership and Director of Teacher Preparation in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, Roberto has had a long career in education. He previously served over 30 years as a K-12 public school educator, working as a teacher of World Languages and English as a Second Language, assistant principal, and principal in Fairfax County Public Schools.
Dr. Roberto A. Pamas
Ex Officio,
George Mason Univeristy
Tracy Baynard moved to NoVA in 1986 to work in public policy. She started her career at The Greater Washington Board of Trade and joined McGuireWoods Consulting in 1998. She represents companies and non-profits in transportation/infrastructure, education, and economic development before Virginia public officials. Tracy credits her teachers and her mother for launching her love of reading and belief that education is everyone’s birthright.
Tracy Baynard
Board Member
Frank Nutter
Frank Nutter is the immediate past President of the Reinsurance Association of America. He serves on the Board of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of research grants to find a cure for childhood cancer. He has a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and a BA in economics from the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Nutter was a U.S. Navy officer and Vietnam veteran.
Board Chair
Kimberly Hooper-Twumasi
Kimberly is a champion of racial equity, combining her background in education analytics and policy work with her love of youth mentorship and advocacy. Kimberly is the Senior Director of Data and Learning at the Flamboyan Foundation, in Washington DC, where she leads family engagement programmatic research, data analytics, and listening initiatives.
Board Member
Mike Crichton
Mike Crichton is a Certified Public Accountant in Virginia and Partner at Burdette Smith & Bish LLC in Fairfax. Mike’s focus and expertise is in tax planning, preparation and compliance for individuals, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. Originally from Olney, MD, Mike has been a VA resident since 2009 after earning a B.S. in Accounting from Virginia Tech.
Board Member & Treasurer
Dr. Gregory Hutchings, Jr.
Dr. Gregory Hutchings, Jr. has over twenty years of combined educational experience as a college admissions counselor, teacher, school principal, central office administrator, superintendent, and college professor. He specializes in antiracism in education, educational leadership, strategic planning, strategic thinking, professional learning, school board and superintendent relations, and executive coaching.
Board Member
Haywood "Woody" Torrence, Jr.
Haywood Torrence, Jr., a retired Fairfax County Public Schools social studies teacher, holds degrees from Harvard (A.B., cum laude), Yale (J.D.) and Stanford (M.B.A.). He practiced law at multiple law firms and the Department of Energy, along with sixteen years as a government relations executive with Bell Atlantic. With a strong interest in service, he has tutored students and incarcerated adults.
Board Member
Tannia Talento
Tannia Talento most recently served as the Northern Virginia Regional Director for U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner. She is a former Chair of the School Board for Arlington Public Schools and served as a member from 2017-2020. She is a Latina community leader, activist, and a co-founder of ASHPA, the Arlington Schools Hispanic Parents Association. She formerly worked in corporate law for 15 years as a legal secretary and assistant.
Board Member
Karen Corbett Sanders
Karen is an accomplished leader with experience in both public service and the private sector. She served in leadership roles on the Fairfax County School Board and was Vice President of International and Regulatory Affairs at Verizon, where she oversaw international and regulatory affairs. Karen currently serves on the Deans Advisory Counsel for Boston University School of Education.
Board Member
Jasmin Chavez Cruz
Jasmin Chavez is a strategic community engagement and coalition-building leader with more than a decade of experience bridging government, policy, and diverse communities to advance meaningful change. She has served at the White House and the U.S. Department of Education as a Presidential Appointee, led statewide advocacy as the Virginia State Director for LULAC, and strengthened national technology policy efforts during her time at Dewey Square Group. She began her career at AARP, where she supported outreach to Latino seniors and deepened her commitment to community-centered work. Most recently, she served as the Director of Latino and Business Outreach for the Spanberger for Governor campaign, where she built the campaign’s most influential coalitions, mobilizing leaders, volunteers, and communities across the Commonwealth. A proud Salvadoreña, Virginian, and lifelong advocate for equity, Jasmin is passionate about creating partnerships that uplift underrepresented communities and expand pathways to leadership for the next generation.
Board Member
Eric Schmidt
Eric L. Schmidt is the Co-Founder and CEO of Glue Up, an all-in-one community CRM platform. Since co-founding the company and building it from the ground up, Eric has expanded its footprint to 10 countries with clients in over 60 markets across the US, Asia, and Africa. A three-time Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Tech100 executive honoree, he is a recognized authority on digital transformation and business scaling in emerging markets. Eric has helped launch several children’s coding and robotics centers in Northern Virginia.
Board Member
Meredith Fortner, NBCT
Meredith is a National Board Certified Teacher who holds a BA and MA in Education and a certification in English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has been a teacher, an instructional coach, a professional learning facilitator, and an education advocate for over twenty years. As Executive Director of EduTutorVA, Meredith is committed to nurturing the teacher pipeline with diverse and passionate future educators and tutors who support Virginia's students with quality high-impact tutoring.
Executive Director