He has co-authored manuscripts aimed at identifying strengths and weaknesses of recruitment, selection, induction and professional development practices within an educational setting. Al began his career in education as a middle school mathematics teacher in Orlando, Florida. He has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofits, charter school authorizers, school districts and state agencies. Al has a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Science in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College.

Susan moved into the central office of Montgomery County Public Schools heading up their Global Access Technology division as their Chief Information Officer.   Susan expanded her leadership capacity by joining the Office of School Performance in Montgomery County, as a community superintendent overseeing the academic growth of 30 schools.  Susan was instrumental in collaboratively with the unions and other leaders in designing and implementing the three Professional Growth Systems (PGS) for each employee group in the Montgomery County Public Schools. Susan then became the Associate Superintendent for Human Resources, where she led all human resource processes for over 22,000 employees.  She also led the Office of Shared Accountability for the Montgomery County Public Schools for one year.  Susan has been a superintendent of schools in Norwalk, CT.  As Superintendent, she provided visionary leadership to the 11,000 students and 1,500 employees of the Norwalk Public Schools (NPS).   Susan has consulted with several school districts in the areas of instructional leadership, principal development and central office reorganization as well as human resources. Susan holds an undergraduate degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Kent State University, a Master’s Degree in Language Development from the University of Connecticut and a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Maryland.

Before joining USCHA, Michael led the core program at New Leaders, Inc. as Chief Academic Officer. At the time, New Leaders was the largest urban principal preparation program in the nation training 120 leaders in 12 cities. While serving as the Executive Director of New Leaders’ California program, Michael’s team supported 36 urban principals, 13 of whom saw double-digit annual gains in their student achievement results.

With USHCA since 2011, Michael has supported districts with projects to improve their recruiting and selection practices (LAUSD, Seminole County, Tulsa); redesign principal-supervision (Palm Beach, Aurora); build leadership pathways and development programs (Seattle, Palm Beach); design and implement HR information systems (LAUSD, Tulsa); and design district-level performance management systems (Palm Beach). He also serves as State Technical Assistance Manager in Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Utah and coaches in the Emerging Human Capital Leaders Program.

Away from USHCA, Michael’s recent projects include developing central office leadership pathways for high-performing principals, designing coaching frameworks for several principal-training programs and supporting charter management organizations improve the execution of their strategic plans and annual goals.

Michael’s specialties include designing frameworks and tools; assessing leaders; supporting principals as HC managers; creating structures for social learning; and coaching senior teams and leaders. He holds degrees from The Boston Conservatory and University of Southern Maine, an organizational development certification from the Gestalt International Study Center and certification from Harvard’s Program on Negotiation.

Prior to joining USHCA, Katherine worked at the New York City Department of Education in a variety of human capital roles. Most recently, she was a Senior Director in the Office of School Leader Effectiveness, responsible for the rollout of the Department’s principal performance review pilot in 30 schools. Before joining the NYC Department of Education, Katherine worked at the World Bank in Washington, DC, where she researched education systems and supported the Bank’s education program in Mongolia.

Katherine began her career as an elementary school teacher in the Bay Area. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two children. Katherine has a Masters in International Affairs from the University of California, San Diego and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

The process of meeting teams “where they are” and developing a strategic plan to advance toward their goals is at the core of the support Jody provides. Retention practices anchored on a meaningful value proposition and a supportive growth-oriented culture are central to approaches at the district and state levels. Jody welcomes opportunities to facilitate team planning to develop structures that will improve human capital outcomes and advance efficiency and effectiveness goals. With her USHCA colleagues, using data to identify opportunities to improve equitable access to effective teachers and teaching by differentiating approaches to improve the ability of high-need schools to attract talent is a core area of support.

Jody consults in the areas of human capital management, strategic leadership, and labor relations within the education and non-profit sector. She has led labor relations leadership seminars at the university level and taught human capital leadership courses for emerging non-profit leaders. Jody holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.