CAMBRIDGE STRATEGIC SERVICES - Key Persons
David Baldner has been involved in public education since 1982. Beginning in the classroom, David served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and as a director of elementary schools in Galena Park ISD located in the Houston area. He then served at a regional level both in the Houston and Lubbock regional centers in the area of leadership and overseeing many programmatic areas in curriculum, instruction, and administration.
David's work with Cambridge began in 2001 as the regional center desired to develop a strategic plan. He became an internal coordinator for the center, and was part of the team that developed and implemented two strategic planning cycles. David has worked with other centers or districts who desired more meaningful strategic plans and strategic plan processes, and his work in the area of quality management and process management have given him a unique perspective state- and nationwide with other education systems.
Job Titles:
- Executive Coach for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents
Dr. E. Wayne Harris is an experienced educator with forty-four years of successful tenure as a public school teacher, school based administrator, school superintendent and visiting professor at the college and university level. For the past twenty years, Dr. Harris has been actively involved in projects throughout North America that include keynote presentations, workshops, executive coaching with school superintendents, strategic planning, technical and administrative support to school districts, superintendent searches and service on various Boards.
In 2005, Dr. Harris designed and implemented the School Leaders Institute (SLI) which includes the Recently Appointed Administrators Program and the Aspiring Superintendents Seminar. The School Leaders Institute's focus is leadership development, training, and capacity building. A total of two hundred forty-six school leaders have participated in the school leaders Institute over the past seven years.
Dr. Harris is an Executive Coach for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS), and is an Associate with Cambridge Strategic Services.
Dr. Harris served as a trainer/facilitator for the American Cancer Society and was involved in a five year National Urban Institute for Coordinating School Health Programs. Representatives from six of the largest urban school systems in the United States participated in this five year training.
Dr. Harris retired as Superintendent of the Roanoke City Schools, Virginia in 2004. Prior to Roanoke, he worked in the Fairfax County School System in Fairfax, Virginia for 25 years.
Dr. Harris is a graduate of the Harvard University, Graduate School of Education's Urban Superintendents Program (USP) and was the first graduate of the program to be appointed superintendent. He received his Doctor of Education degree from Harvard in 1995.
Gail Elizabeth Pope earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Radford University and Master's and Doctorate degrees from Texas A&M University. She has taught in elementary, middle, and high school in Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas, as well as at Old Dominion University where she taught a graduate class in strategic planning. She began her career in education administration in Spring Branch ISD in Houston, Texas where she served as high school assistant principal and middle school principal. She continued in administration in Virginia Beach City Schools before becoming a director of the Governor's Best Practice Center with the Virginia Department of Education. Pope then served as the Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Manassas Park City Schools. She then served for six years as superintendent of Manassas City Schools.
Her professional growth activities have been focused on work with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development [ASCD] where she completed a four year term on the Board of Directors. While serving on the board, she visited schools in England, South Africa, China, and India. She is a past president of Virginia ASCD and was honored as Virginia Curriculum Leader of the Year in 2006. Pope was on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and served on the DaVinci project which authored a strategic plan for Virginia superintendents. Pope was named Region IV Superintendent of the Year for 2011.
Upon retirement, she and her husband returned to Texas and live in The Woodlands. She now serves as the Regional Field Consultant for AdvanED for the greater Houston and Galveston area.
Kevin Castner is the Executive Director and an educational planning strategist with Cambridge Strategic Services. Kevin offers expertise in strategic planning and educational programming to accomplish the strategic intent of each school system's mission and vision.
In related efforts, Kevin worked closely with the Texas Association of School Administrators as part of the Visioning Institute, a mission driven forum for 35 of Texas' leading superintendents to develop a common vision and plan of action for the future of Texas Public Schools. In 2010, he served as a Race to the Top Peer Review Panelist for the U.S. Department of Education. During the process he reviewed 8 states including several finalists. In addition to serving as an adjunct instructor for the University of Virginia, Kevin has worked with several superintendents as part of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents' Executive Coaching Service and served several times as a superintendent search consultant for BWP and Associates.
Kevin's 40 plus years in public education includes 11 years as superintendent in Albemarle County, Virginia and 8 years as associate/deputy superintendent in Frederick County, Maryland. While in Albemarle County, Kevin led the development of a framework for quality learning that was based on Understanding by Design, the work of McTighe and Wiggens, and promoted lifelong learning skills. During Kevin's 25 years in Maryland, he initiated the Maryland Assessment Consortium which involved all Maryland counties, and resulted in performance assessment test banks that supported the Maryland School Performance curriculum frameworks.
Kevin's experience in working at all levels of public school systems provides him with a deep understanding of the vertical and horizontal challenges and opportunities PK - 16 learning communities face today. He has a passion to help those communities face their challenges and realize their vision, mission and goals.
Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University, a Master's degree from the University of Maryland, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership for George Washington University.
Job Titles:
- Associate Superintendent for Curriculum
Lois Berlin has been an educator for 36 years in the United States and the United Kingdom. She taught middle school aged students for five years outside of Aberdeen, Scotland in the Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools for children with special needs.
On her return to the United States in 1980, Lois became a teacher in the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS). Her nine years in the classroom in Alexandria included teaching special education preschool and primary age students. In 1989, Lois became the assistant principal at Cora Kelly Magnet School, a large magnet school with a science, math and technology focus. Her role included staff development, curriculum development, management and program development. In 1992 Lois became an elementary school principal at Jefferson-Houston Elementary School and assumed the principalship of George Mason Elementary School in 1996.
In 2002, Lois was appointed Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for ACPS and in 2004 she was appointed Superintendent of the Falls Church City Public Schools in Falls Church, Virginia.
Lois received her bachelor's degree in sociology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, her master's degree in early childhood/special education from George Washington University and her doctorate in educational leadership from Virginia Tech.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Director of the Ameritech Center for Business Solutions
As a Cambridge Strategic Services Associate, Rebecca has 20 years of experience consulting with over 200 organizations, including education, nonprofits, municipalities, and healthcare. Rebecca was formerly a Senior Systems Consultant, Collaborative Services, Electronic Data Systems, where she created one of the nation's first electronic planning collaboration centers at the GM Tech Center. Today she is recognized as a pioneer in the use of technology tools and planning methodologies that dramatically increase collaboration and expedite planning work.
Rebecca has served as Director of the Ameritech Center for Business Solutions at Walsh College and President of Gordon Advisor's Transitions Consulting Group, Troy, Michigan. Her work has resulted in national recognition by the National Association of Counties for the design, consulting and facilitation of a Detroit area client's large scale strategic planning and implementation project.
Rebecca attended Michigan State University and is a graduate of Wayne State University, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is a graduate of the Planned Change Internship Program under the guidance of Dr. Sylvia and Dr. Larry Lippett, University of Michigan. In addition to her extensive strategic planning background, she is credentialed by the International Coach Federation as a professional corporate and executive coach and a certified behavioral analyst in a number of behavioral assessment tools. To date she has coached over 180 mid-level management and senior level clinical and administrative executives. She is certified by the Physician Coaching Institute as a Certified Physician Development Coach and has developed several physician leadership institutes for health care systems. Rebecca has written and published many articles on leadership and behavior and is a popular presenter.
Rebecca is a past Board member of the Small Business Association of Michigan and current member of the Board of Directors, Small Business Resource Center; Board of Directors, Professional Coaches Association of Michigan and an active member of the national organization of Phi Beta Kappa and Inforum. She is a patron member of Circle of Friends, Care House of Oakland County.