CEF - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Officers Team
• President

Job Titles:

• Member of the Officers Team
• Treasurer / National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs

Job Titles:

• Treasurer / National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs

Job Titles:

• Associate
• Associate for Committee for Education Funding

Jamie Panarites joined ACG Advocacy in December 2023 as a Research Associate. Ms. Panarites also serves as an Associate for Committee for Education Funding (CEF), the oldest and largest coalition of education associations in existence. Ms. Panarites's professional background spans the private, non-profit, and government sectors. Prior to joining ACG Advocacy, Ms. Panarites worked as a Senior Research Analyst at Spencer Stuart, one of the world's leading global executive search and leadership consulting firms. As a Senior Research Analyst, she compiled qualitative and quantitative market data to find and develop qualified candidates for executive roles in healthcare fields. Prior to her experience at Spencer Stuart, she interned at Montgomery County Government's County Council, Fair Fight Action, and the ACLU of Georgia. Ms. Panarites graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a minor in Spanish, and a master's degree in Public Administration (MPA).

Job Titles:

• Member of the Officers Team

Job Titles:

• Executive Director

Sarah Abernathy joined ACG Advocacy in 2016 and serves primarily as Executive Director of CEF. She has close to 30 years of experience working on education and budget issues in both Congress and in the Administration, including at the Department of Education, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Department of Health and Human Services. For the previous 18 years Ms. Abernathy worked on the Democratic staff of the House Budget Committee, most recently serving as Senior Policy Coordinator focusing on budget issues relating to education, social services, and job training as well as environmental issues. She helped lead and manage the staff to develop goals and policy, including budget legislation. As the education staffer, she was responsible for collaborating with a range of stakeholders including the Administration, the advocacy community, the Congressional Budget Office, and Members to Congress to create and analyze budget options and craft strategies for their successful adoption. She developed special expertise in student financial aid policy, appropriations analysis, and budget process. Before her stint with the Budget Committee she spent 6 years as a legislative assistant for two Democratic House members. From 1994-1998 Ms. Abernathy worked at the U.S. Department of Education in the Planning and Evaluation Service where she focused on rehabilitation services and adult and vocational education issues. She also wrote a report on improving low-performing schools and staffed the Under Secretary's waiver request board. During that time, she was detailed to the Office of Management and Budget's education branch where she supervised policy and budgets for special education and vocational rehabilitation. She was also detailed to the Health and Human Services' regional office in San Francisco where she worked on child care and Head Start programs. Ms. Abernathy graduated from Williams College and also earned a Master's in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

Job Titles:

• Senior Advisor

Sheryl V. Cohen joined the ACG Advocacy in 2008. She is a veteran Senate staffer with nearly two decades of management, strategic planning, political, communications and fundraising experience. She has an extensive and diverse universe of contacts with members of the Senate and House and their staffs, as well as throughout the field of politics and campaigns. Ms. Cohen served as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Christopher J. Dodd from 1999 to 2008, with the exception of the time she spent from January 2007-January 2008 managing his presidential campaign effort. During her tenure as Chief of Staff, her responsibilities included the Senator's Chairmanship of the Committee on Banking with its broad jurisdiction over financial institutions, as well as his involvement in education, health, and other important issues before the Senate. She managed a staff of seventy-five and was responsible for the development and strategic execution of all policy, communications, and office management. She oversaw a budget of nearly six million dollars, all hiring and staff management, and the integration of competing Washington, Connecticut, and political responsibilities. As Campaign Manager of the Dodd for President Campaign, she recruited a staff of over one hundred and thirty, built strategic ground operations in multiple states, created and managed departments in research, communications, policy, technology, political, field, fundraising and administration. The campaign raised nearly sixteen million dollars from a diverse national network ranging from leadership in the fields of business, finance and technology to extensive grassroots on-line support. From 1995 - 1999 Ms. Cohen served as Senator Dodd's Political Director during his tenure as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1995-1996) and as the Finance Director for his 1998 six million dollar reelection campaign. Ms. Cohen also served as the Finance Director for Senator Joe Lieberman's successful 1994 Senate campaign and prior to that was his liaison on women's and children's issues and grassroots organizing in the state of Connecticut. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and attended the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service.

Job Titles:

• National Education Association

Job Titles:

• Member of the Officers Team
• Vice President