Meet the Team

Cyndia Acker-Ramirez brings nearly two decades of mathematics education experience. She is passionate about fostering mathematical competence and collective teacher efficacy, coaching teams, launching innovative learning initiatives, and sharing insights through presentations and thought leadership. As executive director of Instruction Partners’ Middle School Math Initiative, she leads a professional learning pilot initiative focused on transforming middle school math instruction through research-driven strategies and educator empowerment. Acker-Ramirez oversees program development, strategic partnerships, and data-driven implementation to ensure measurable student and teacher impact.

Malika Anderson previously served as superintendent of the Tennessee Achievement School District (ASD)—a legislatively created division of the Tennessee Department of Education with dual reporting to the governor and the commissioner of education. In this role, she held accountable and supported the success of 33 community-based schools formerly identified as performing in the state’s bottom 5% academically. Prior to joining the ASD, Anderson led school turnaround and principal leadership development for DC Public Schools and helped organizations improve their management and operational systems with A.T. Kearney Management Consulting, WrightWay Consulting, and Deloitte Consulting. She is an alumna of the Broad Academy for school system leaders and earned bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College and a master’s degree in business administration from UCLA. Anderson serves as board chair for the Kelly Miller Smith Foundation, which provides education, resources, and a supportive community for youth and adult social justice advocates in Nashville, TN, Atlanta, GA, and Washington, DC. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two sons. Anderson leads the work of designing, piloting, supporting, and improving Instruction Partners’ services.

Nathifa Carmichael has over 25 years of experience dedicated to cultivating environments where educators can thrive and, in turn, drive transformative student outcomes. She began her career as a high school English teacher and has since held diverse leadership roles focused on creating opportunities for educators at every stage of their career to grow their leadership potential and impact. Carmichael has designed district-based teacher certification programs and developed policies with emphasis on building robust educator pipelines. Most recently, as director of educator support and development at the Georgia Department of Education, she spearheaded statewide practices to address teacher burnout, designed innovative teacher and leader evaluation models to elevate the profession, and launched a variety of statewide Grow-Your-Own educator initiatives. Carmichael is a Broad alumna, holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in teaching from Emory University, and earned a master’s degree in public education management from Yale University. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her family. Carmichael is responsible for aligning the people strategy with Instruction Partners’ mission and values, ensuring that all human capital practices foster a welcoming, innovative, and high-performing work environment.

Ben Fenton began his career in education as the co-founder of New Leaders, a nonprofit that trains school leaders for high-poverty schools. He managed all operations, local program implementation, and district partnerships as New Leaders grew from a startup to a $20 million organization. He later led the organization’s research and consulting teams, serving as the lead author of Breakthrough Principals (Jossey Bass, 2016), and advising states and districts on principal quality policies. More recently, Fenton served as a senior advisor to Turnaround for Children, as a founding board member for TeachPlus, and as a board member for Instruction Partners, seeing first-hand the dedication to educator partnership and instructional improvement that inspired him to join the organization as the chief of partnerships. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife and son and is always looking for great concerts in the area. Fenton oversees Instruction Partners’ partnership teams, managing all program delivery with school system partners to improve instructional quality and student outcomes.

Before co-founding Instruction Partners, Emily Freitag was the assistant commissioner of curriculum and instruction for the Tennessee Department of Education. In this role, she oversaw K–12 core academics including standards, assessment design, instructional materials, and educator training and support. She led a collaborative effort to train more than 65,000 teachers and leaders during this time in a peer-led, content-based approach, and Tennessee saw increases in student achievement on both NAEP and state tests. For five years before coming to Tennessee, Freitag managed Teach For America’s DC and Connecticut regions. She fell in love with education teaching 7th-grade math in a rural community in Louisiana.

Kelsey Hendricks’s belief that high-quality, standards-aligned instruction is an essential component of impactful instructional experiences for all students began during her time as a middle school mathematics teacher in Nashville, TN. At Instruction Partners, Kelsey manages the engagement team, which works to grow Instruction Partners’ footprint in key regions. She also oversees the work of the custom consulting team, which designs and delivers bespoke services for unique and early stage organizational learning projects. Kelsey joined the team in 2018 as a Math Content Lead, built internal coaching structures as a Senior Content Lead, and led the formation of the custom consulting team, and led Emerging Services for the organization before transitioning to her current role. Prior to joining Instruction Partners, she led design and delivery of school leader supports in Shelby County Schools and spent time on staff at Teach for America. Kelsey began her career in education as a middle school math teacher. 

Annie O’Donnell began her career as a 2nd-grade teacher in Baltimore, Maryland, where she learned about the power of effective, responsive literacy education for children. She transitioned to Teach For America’s national design team, where she led efforts to remake new teacher training and support and staff development to be content specific and practice based. After almost a dozen years, O’Donnell launched her own consulting practice. Recent clients focused on improving reading outcomes for all students, including the National Student Support Accelerator, Reading Reimagined, and NC Education Corps. She recently moved to Sarasota, Florida with her husband and two girls, and they enjoy getting to know their new city. O’Donnell oversees Instruction Partners’ Elementary Reading Initiative, a project which aims to generate dramatic improvement in student reading results, with no gaps for students of color, students experiencing poverty, and multilingual learners.  

Eugene Pinkard began his education career as a teacher—first in rural South Africa, then in Washington, DC. During his time at DC Public Schools, he also served as a principal, principal supervisor, and cabinet member. Most recently, Pinkard has spent five years as director of K–12 leadership at the Aspen Institute Education & Society Program, leading a team that supports education leaders across the nation and develops resources and guidance for the sector.  Pinkard manages the internal work of the organization, ensuring partnerships with schools, school systems, and states are strong; research and development goals are met; and staff are supported and empowered.   

Alison Procopio brings over a decade of experience working at the College Board, where she led policy design, advocacy strategies, and the measurement of K–12 policy implementation. Her work focused on guiding state and district leadership in the development of strategic, collaborative, and data-driven planning solutions and partnerships, all aimed at expanding access to college and career opportunities for all students. She began her career as a 5th-grade teacher in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, the same district where she was a student. This experience provided her with a foundational understanding of the educational landscape. She holds a bachelor’s degree in inclusive elementary education from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in education policy from George Washington University. Outside of her professional life, Procopio can often be found on the sideline of soccer fields or in the audience at musicals cheering on her three daughters. Procopio leads the design and delivery of services targeted for state leaders, focused on the conditions for instructional leadership and building the capacity of state/regional coaches.

Jessica Roberts started her finance career in oil and gas and quickly realized corporate finance was not her thing. She pivoted to help establish a community nonprofit, FamilyPoint Resources in Houston, TX while also becoming a certified teacher. Roberts taught 7th- and 8th-grade math for five years until she received her MBA and decided to seek opportunities that combined her passion for both education and finance. Roberts has worked in finance leadership roles for the University of Houston Alumni Association, YES Prep Public Schools, and as the founding executive director of the Luminary Learning Network, the first Innovation Zone within Denver Public Schools. Roberts also serves as the board chair of Lyra Colorado and Compass Academy, a single site charter school in Denver, CO. When she is not working, you can find her exploring the Rocky Mountains with her husband and kids. Roberts is responsible for Instruction Partners’ operations with a particular focus on revenue generation. As chief of finance and operations, Roberts manages the marketing, communications, development, finance, business systems, engagement, and people and culture teams.

A Louisiana native, Dr. Jabari Sims began his career as a Teach For America corps member in Houston, Texas, before moving to New York City, where he held multiple leadership roles in education and served as the founding principal of a Brooklyn elementary school. Sims later became the founding dean of Relay Graduate School of Education in Dallas-Fort Worth, where he led the expansion of high-quality teacher preparation programs across the Metroplex. With a deep commitment to developing educators and transforming learning experiences, he has spent his career driving impact in schools and communities. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Dillard University, a master’s degree in educational administration from National Louis University, and a doctorate in educational leadership and learning in organizations from Vanderbilt University.  Sims is responsible for all aspects of impact in Instruction Partners’ work with district partners across the country, including improving student outcome results.

Justin Testerman is an education professional with over 25 years of experience creating high-quality education opportunities for at-risk youth. Most recently he helped co-found Project Renaissance, a nonprofit focused on doubling the number of Nashville children in high-quality schools where he supported the creation and launch of Nashville Teacher Residency. Testerman also served as the COO of the Tennessee Charter School Center where he led school incubation efforts, resulting in the development of 16 high-performing charter schools in Nashville and Memphis. He began his career as a middle school teacher in Newark, New Jersey through Teach For America. He earned a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota as well as a bachelor’s degree in history from Miami University.  Testerman oversees Instruction Partners’ work with autonomous partners across the country, including working to improve student outcomes.

Dr. Yashama Thompson is a teacher educator committed to ensuring that all children experience humanizing instructional practices that honor their unique genius, perspectives, and experiences. Born and raised in Burgaw, North Carolina, she was shaped by the belief that “it takes a village,” a mantra that continues to guide her work and research. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a master’s degree in school building leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a doctorate in learning and organizational change from Baylor University, where her research focused on educator beliefs, attitudes, and practices in supporting young U.S. Ebonics speakers in K–2 literacy classrooms. Above all, Thompson is committed to infusing joy into change, fostering collective action, and centering the practices that make instructional transformation both lasting and liberatory. Thompson currently serves as the executive director of partnership design and support at Instruction Partners. In this role, she leads a team of designers, who, in turn, lead professional learning and provide coaching for Instruction Partners’ partnership team.  

Jen Hykes Willson began her career as a middle school social studies teacher in rural North Carolina, and she has spent most of her time since then focused on creating conditions that allow educators to use every resource at their disposal to support student learning. Over the course of 13 years at Teach For America, she developed systems for staff hiring and training, residential operations, and risk management for preservice teacher training. She has had the opportunity to work with charter schools, nonprofits, and faith communities to develop strong human resources systems, build healthy board dynamics, and craft clear onboarding processes for new staff. Willson is a founding board member for the Woodland Hills Performing Arts Guild, which provides resources to students and teachers to keep the arts alive in public schools. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and mass communication from Towson University and master's degree  in public policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Dr. Blomstedt (Matt) joined Foresight Law + Policy after serving for nine distinguished years as Nebraska’s Commissioner of Education. His career includes working closely with rural and urban school districts, intermediate educational service agencies, professional associations, business leaders, and other education stakeholders. While serving as chief executive of the state education agency, his nationally recognized work drew peer recognition and awards and three invitations from Congress to testify about the state’s education system and leadership. He also served as a board member and board chair of the Council of Chief State School Officers. Blomstedt has been a thought leader for over two decades in Nebraska and national education policy circles—including contributing his insights about K–12 and postsecondary education finance, assessment and accountability systems, connectivity and digital learning, professional development, and learning recovery.

Candice Bocala is a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). Her research focuses on the connections between educator learning and organizational conditions that support collaborative work. As a member of the Data Wise Project at HGSE, she co-chairs multiple Data Wise Institutes and is currently the director of Data Wise Research. In this role, she studies how schools and districts use data for continuous improvement and integrates that knowledge into the design of practitioner-friendly tools and resources. She is the former faculty director of the Reimagining Integration: Diverse and Equitable Schools (RIDES) Project at HGSE. Bocala began her career as an elementary school teacher in Washington, D.C. She was also a senior research associate at WestEd, where she served as a researcher and technical assistance provider for federally-funded national centers such as the Regional Educational Laboratory, Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI). Bocala received her Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she holds an M.A.T. in elementary education from American University, an M.A. in policy analysis and evaluation from Stanford University, and a B.A. in government from Cornell University.

Rick Cruz is a seasoned general manager and entrepreneurial leader with more than 20 years’ experience at high-growth for-profit and nonprofit enterprises in the education and advisory services sectors. As Arabella Advisors’ president, Rick led the executive team and guided strategy and client development with the goal of growing the organization’s reach and social impact. Rick previously held the role of ‎executive director of strategic partnerships at The College Board. Prior to that, he served as a vice president at America’s Promise Alliance, a leader in education and youth practice at the consulting firm FSG, CEO of DC Prep Public Charter Schools, chief field officer of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, vice president at Teach For America, and manager at CEB. Rick also serves on the board of directors of the DC Public Charter School Board and is a Pahara-Aspen Education fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Rick earned a B.A. in philosophy from Yale University and resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Leslie, and two children, Luca and Belén.

Prior to founding the Center, El-Mekki served as a nationally recognized principal and U.S. Department of Education Principal Ambassador Fellow. His school, Mastery Charter Shoemaker, was recognized by President Obama and Oprah Winfrey, and was awarded the prestigious EPIC award for three consecutive years as being among the top three schools in the country for accelerating students’ achievement levels. The Shoemaker campus was also recognized as one of the top ten middle school and top ten high schools in the state of Pennsylvania for accelerating the achievement levels of African-American students. In 2014, El-Mekki founded The Fellowship – Black Male Educators for Social Justice, an organization dedicated to recruiting, retaining, and developing Black male teachers. El-Mekki blogs on Phillys7thWard, is a member of the 8 Black Hands podcast and serves on several boards and committees focused on educational and racial justice.

Before co-founding Instruction Partners, Emily Freitag was the assistant commissioner of curriculum and instruction for the Tennessee Department of Education. In this role, she oversaw K–12 core academics including standards, assessment design, instructional materials, and educator training and support. She led a collaborative effort to train more than 65,000 teachers and leaders during this time in a peer-led, content-based approach, and Tennessee saw increases in student achievement on both NAEP and state tests. For five years before coming to Tennessee, Freitag managed Teach For America’s DC and Connecticut regions. She fell in love with education teaching 7th-grade math in a rural community in Louisiana.

Nancy Hanks, a Harvard graduate from the west side of Chicago, has transformed underperforming schools through her leadership as a teacher, principal, and systems leader. As a principal in Chicago, she improved literacy and math outcomes by adding 90 minutes to the school day. Her role as chief of schools for elementary in Madison led to significant gains in literacy and math across multiple schools. Now, as a partner at The Management Center, she supports leaders in education and nonprofits to address race and equity issues in their organizations. Nancy is dedicated to proving that all students and adults can achieve high levels of success through hard work and resilience.

After 13 years in leadership roles at Student Achievement Partners, Sandra Lightman now serves as an educational consultant. Drawing upon her extensive background in mathematics and literacy policy, Sandra collaborates with school districts, states, and other education-related partners, focusing on strategic leadership as it intersects with academic content. Sandra previously worked at the New Jersey Department of Education. There, she held positions as the director of academic standards and as the director of math and science education. In these roles, Sandra was directly involved in shaping state standards and assessments in addition to professional learning policy and district implementation strategies. Before her state-level work, she held various district-level positions, including school superintendent, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, principal, subject area supervisor, and high school science teacher. Sandra earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rutgers University and master’s and doctoral degrees in educational leadership from Rowan University.

Saamra Mekuria-Grillo is the CEO and co-founder of Formation Ventures, a nonprofit that is dedicated to dramatically increasing the number and success of Black Gen Z entrepreneurs, through educational and new venture support programs. From 2011–2019, she served as Vice President of Strategy and Operations and Chief Operating Officer of the Pahara Institute, an education leadership development organization. Prior to Pahara, Saamra held roles at Bain & Company and at Google, where she helped to launch Google’s Hyderabad office. Saamra currently serves on the board of Compass Rose Public Schools and has previously served on the boards of the Mission Preparatory School and the East Bay Innovation Academy. She holds an MBA with a certificate in Public Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. She is also a proud graduate of the Boston Latin School, the first public school in the United States. Saamra lives in San Antonio, TX with her husband, Brandon, and their two sons.

Karen Nussle is a veteran communications strategist with experience in the private, public, political, and non-profit sectors. Her work has included running high-profile national advocacy and marketing campaigns, forming and advising CEOs and national boards, and founding her own successful marketing firm. Her skills include executive leadership, business strategy and development, strategic communications, marketing, public relations, corporate communications, government relations, advocacy, and compliance. Karen started Ripple Communications in 2005 to serve clients with her own particular blend of integrity and insight, in service to helping senior executives succeed. She currently advises the Aspen Institute’s Education and Society Program on a variety of education policy topics. Karen also served as President of Conservative Leaders for Education (CL4E), a startup non-profit that she conceived and founded with former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, that networked and supported state-based education policy leaders. Prior to CL4E, Karen led the Collaborative for Student Success, a communications advocacy effort to promote and defend high academic standards and associated high-quality state tests. Karen received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications from the University of Maryland. She currently resides outside of Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Jim.

Kira serves as the CEO of Teach Plus as well as an elected member on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Kira was a 2000 corps member in Baton Rouge, where she taught fourth grade at Eden Park Elementary. She went on to serve as school director for Teach For America summer institute and, as vice president of new site development, led the organization’s efforts to expand to three new regions. Kira is also a moderator for the Pahara fellowship, a 2010 fellow of the Aspen-New Schools cohort, and a member of the Aspen Global Network. In 2015 Kira was named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University, an M.Ed. in school leadership from Harvard University.

Dr. Tanji Reed Marshall, CEO of Liaison Educational Partners (LEP), brings more than two decades of expertise in educational equity. She collaborates with states, districts, and schools to enhance educational leadership, teacher development, and curriculum equity. A nationally recognized consultant, Dr. Reed Marshall’s work spans the US and abroad, focusing on systemic equity, instructional practice, and student outcomes. Most recently, Dr. Marshall served as the director of P12 practice at The Education Trust where she led their work on assignment analysis work, performing educational equity audits and designing a way to analyze curriculum to ensure representationally balanced depictions of people, cultures, and topics. Dr. Reed Marshall earned her doctorate at Virginia Tech, her master’s in English education at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston College.

Nick Rodriguez is the CEO at Delivery Associates, an organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and accountability of government worldwide. In this role, he partners with governments, nonprofits, and philanthropies to deliver better results through better implementation across sectors, including education, workforce, economic mobility, climate, and health. Prior to his work at Delivery Associates, Nick was a co-founder and K–12 director at the Education Delivery Institute (EDI), a nonprofit that focused on helping education leaders to improve the implementation of their reforms. Before that, he was an engagement manager with McKinsey & Company’s education practice. Nick is a member of the DC Public Charter School Board and the author of two books on implementation in government: Deliverology 101 and Deliverology in Practice. Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University, a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics, and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from Oxford University, where he was a British Marshall Scholar.

Mary K. Wells is a co-founder and managing partner at Bellwether. As a first-generation college graduate, Mary is passionate about the power of public education. Mary splits her time between leading the day-to-day operations of Bellwether and working with organizations to provide strategic advising support. Prior to launching Bellwether, Mary led STEM and new school investments for the Texas High School Project (now Educate Texas), where she was a founding team member overseeing STEM education and new school models. Prior to this, Mary spent eight years at Bain & Company as an analyst, consultant, and manager, where she advised Fortune 500 companies on growth strategy, new business development, and post-merger integration issues. Mary holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Anne Wicks is the Don Evans Family Managing Director, Opportunity and Democracy at the Bush Institute. In this role, she develops and oversees the policy, research, and engagement work of the Bush Institute’s Opportunity and Democracy team, which focuses on strengthening our democracy, pathways to opportunity, immigration, economic growth, and education. Before joining the Bush Institute, Wicks served as an Associate Dean at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education. Her portfolio included external relations, growth and strategy, and a variety of special projects including the launch of Ednovate Charter Schools. Over her career, she held leadership roles at Teach for America, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, and Stanford University. Wicks holds a B.A. in American Studies and a M.A. in Education from Stanford University (during which she taught 8th-grade social studies), as well as a M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. A former captain of Stanford’s women’s volleyball team, she was part of three national championship teams, two as a player and one as an assistant coach. She currently serves as a board member for Instruction Partners, United to Learn, and the Commit Partnership. She is a Pahara Fellow and a Manhattan Institute American Conservatism and Governing Fellow. She is the parent of a public school student.