CAREERTECH.ORG - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Career Readiness and Workforce Partnerships
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Membership and Policy Associate
Amy directly supports Advance CTE's state policy strategy and data initiatives as well as the Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE - Sponsored by ECMC Foundation. She also contributes to Advance CTE's member engagement and outreach activities.
As membership and policy associate, Amy directly supports Advance CTE's state policy strategy and data initiative as well as the Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship Program. She also contributes to Advance CTE's member engagement and outreach activities. Before joining the team at Advance CTE, Amy was working at Education Northwest as an Associate for Project Management and Applied Research. Amy earned her undergraduate degree in General Social Studies with an emphasis in political science from the University of Oregon. After spending several years in the classroom at KIPP Texas-Austin, she moved to Nashville to complete her Masters in Public Policy at Vanderbilt's Peabody College. Amy has lived in cities across the country, but calls the West Coast home and recently moved back to Oregon in 2021.
Job Titles:
- State CTE Deputy Superintendent / Georgia Department of Education
Job Titles:
- State Director, Career and Technical Education
Job Titles:
- Oklahoma / Board Representative ( Region E )
- State Director, Career and Technical Education
Job Titles:
- Brett Robinson State Career and Technical Education ( CTE ) Director Mississippi Department of Education
Job Titles:
- State Director, Career and Technical Education
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Data & Research
- Digital Media Associate
As Associate Director for Data & Research, Dan leads Advance CTE's Data & Research team and is responsible for Advance CTE's data quality and initiatives to promote data-driven decision-making among state CTE leaders and within the organization.
Dan's commitment to education in pursuit of equity and equity in pursuit of social justice was the reason he started his career as a middle school STEM teacher. Most recently, he served as the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission's Statewide Director of Career Pathways where he collaborated with stakeholders to promote the equity impacts of investments in career pathways. In 2022, based in part on a first-of-its-kind data system he helped build, the Oregon Legislature passed and Governor Brown signed Future Ready Oregon into law. The law invested $200M in education and training, including $17M for career pathways in Oregon, a nearly tenfold increase.
As Accountability and Data Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education, Dan authored numerous research briefs and provided invited testimony before the Oregon House and Senate on the equity impact of investments in career and technical education. Based in part on his findings and testimony, in 2019 the Oregon legislature passed the Oregon School Success Act, which invested an additional $300M in interventions including secondary CTE.
Commitment to education equity and social justice informs Dan's private life as well. As Co-Chair of Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition, he was honored to be the first signatory to the state's LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan which was signed into law in July of 2021. As Co-Chair of the PTO's Family Engagement Committee, Dan was honored to contribute to Seaton Elementary School receiving the Human Rights Campaign's Welcoming School Seal of Excellence in 2023.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, State Policy
- Director, State Policy Implementation
Dan supports Advance CTE's state policy initiatives and implementation strategy, with specific attention to the New Skills ready network, the National Career Clusters Framework and the development of various reports and resources.
As Associate Director of State Policy for Advance CTE, Dan works on a number of different projects related to state policy, including supporting project teams for the New Skills ready network, providing state technical assistance, and developing publications and resources for Advance CTE members. He also helps manage grants to support environmental literacy in Career Technical Education (CTE) and to modernize the National Career Clusters Framework®. Previously, Dan supported the Lumina Foundation-sponsored Area Technical Centers research project (areatechnicalcenters.org), and led the annual Year in Review and the tracking of state legislation affecting CTE.
Before joining Advance CTE, Dan worked most recently doing career and workforce development advising for undergraduate students. Dan is an avid player of board games and loves going to concerts and supporting his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Dan originally hails from eastern Pennsylvania. After gaining undergraduate degrees in Middle Grades Education and Communication Studies from West Chester University of Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia, he moved to rural Ohio to facilitate federal grants and run academic enrichment programs for a local school district. Moving back to the East Coast in 2017, Dan received his Masters in Education Policy Studies from the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
Job Titles:
- Chief, Bureau Career and Technical Education
- Section Chief for Career and Technical
Dennis Harden currently serves as the Section Chief for Career and Technical Education (CTE) and State CTE Director in the Bureau of Community Colleges and Postsecondary Readiness at the Iowa Department of Education. He has held this position since January 2020. Dennis leads a team of CTE professionals who are dedicated to ensuring that all students in Iowa have access to high-quality career and technical education.
Dennis came to Iowa from Missouri where he worked at the Missouri Department of Education for over 32 years. His last 20 years in Missouri were spent as the Coordinator of Career Education. As Coordinator, he was responsible for a staff of 35 that oversaw all CTE program service areas as well as equity initiatives and school counseling.
Dennis's educational background includes a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Missouri. He also holds a master's, Education Specialist, and Doctor of Education degrees in Career and Technical Education all from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Associate Member Representative
A native and life-long Oregonian, Donna has been involved in state-level higher education policy since 2006. Most recently, serving as Oregon's Adult Basic Skills Director and the Director of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development within the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. In her role at the state, she as the privilege of leading a team that works every day to create accessible pathways to success for all Oregon students. She is a passionate and fearless champion for adult learners and was recognized in 2018 as Oregon's Outstanding Community College Advocate by her peers and the Oregon Community College Association.
Donna holds a bachelor's degree in Management Administration and a master's degree in Leadership and Management. When she is not advocating for adult learner pathways, she can be found spending time with her husband Todd, at least one of their nine grandchildren, and catering to the demands of their three pets, Furby, Trixie, and Señor Bishop.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Louisiana / past President
- State Director for CTE
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dr. Brittney Baptiste Williams is committed to strengthening the educational opportunities of students in both vision and scope. She earned her undergra duate degree from Louisiana State University and her graduate degrees from Southeastern Louisiana University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Dr. Williams worked extensively with the Perkins Grant at Baton Rouge Community College for 10 years before joining the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS). As the State Director for Career and Technical Education (CTE), her focus areas include compliance, equity, CTE program alignment, training and partnerships. Dr. Williams has been an active supporter of multiple initiatives to champion career and technical education including most recently Associate of Career and Technical Education (ACTE)'s Postsecondary Leadership Program (2020- fellow), Advance CTE Board of Directors (2022-Region B board member), SkillsUSA Louisiana-Postsecondary (2022- council member), Advance CTE's Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship (2022-coach) and Advance CTE's Leaders of Color Affinity Group (2022-co-lead).
Brittney Williams
State Director for CTE
Louisiana Community & Technical College System
265 South Foster Drive
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Job Titles:
- Board Representative ( Region C )
- Provost and Vice President / Wisconsin Technical College System
- Vice President for the Wisconsin Technical College System
Dr. Colleen McCabe serves as the Provost and Vice President for the Wisconsin Technical College System. In this role, she provides leadership and administrative oversight for the development and delivery of technical college educational programs, student services and assessment, economic development and adult and ELL education.
Prior to this position, she served for 14 years as a K-12 educator, and most recently served as a professor and the department chair of Health and Human Performance, and Assistant Director of Teacher Education at UW-Platteville. At UW-Platteville, her duties for the past 17 years included teaching, directing the development, implementation, and assessment of three programs, and the professional development and evaluation of department faculty
and staff. In all, Colleen has over 37 years of experience in education including 18 years in leadership within higher education.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- President
- State CTE Director
- State Director for Career & Technical Education
Dr. Katie Graham has served as the State Director for Career & Technical Education (CTE) at the Nebraska Department of Education since 2018. In this role, she administers the Carl D. Perkins Act (as amended by Strengthening Career & Technical Education for the 21st Century Act/Perkins V) by providing state-level leadership in career and technical education, school improvement, instruction and data utilization for Nebraska's schools and community colleges. Katie is adamant that every student has an equitable opportunity to participate and thrive in Nebraska's CTE programs and that these programs afford students the academic and technical skills needed for their career pathway of choice.
Katie is extensively involved in the coordination of activities between education, workforce, and economic development initiatives in the state and nationally. Along with serving on the Advance CTE Board of Directors, she also serves as a Trustee for the MBA Research and Curriculum Center and is past Chair of the Nebraska Partner Council - a collaboration between representatives of federal programs from the Departments of Education, Labor, Economic Development, and Health and Human Service. This Council works to create cross-sector partnerships and streamline efforts between programs to provide the most effective and efficient services to Nebraskans.
Prior to this role, Dr. Graham served as the Deputy State Director and the Data, Research, and Evaluation Specialist for Nebraska Career Education. Prior to joining the Nebraska Department of Education, she oversaw the development and administration of credit, non-credit, and continuing education programs for campus-based and online degree and certificate programs at Florida State University's Center for Professional Development.
Katie Graham
State CTE Director
Nebraska Department of Education
PO Box 94987
Lincoln, NE 68509
Dr. Johnson oversees and manages major organization-wide, highly visible initiatives that support, promote and increase equitable access to and success in high-quality CTE, including overseeing Advance CTE's external equity strategy; the Postsecondary State Career Technical Education Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE - Sponsored by ECMC Foundation; and the Opportunity Gap Analysis Technical Assistance work within states.
Dr. Kevin Johnson, Sr. is a native of Monroe, Louisiana, and an Iraqi War Veteran who served 10-years in the US Army as a Respiratory Therapist. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Thomas Edison State University, a Master of Education in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Doctor of Education P-12 Concentration from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. Dr. Johnson has served as an Assistant Principal at Lyndon Baines Johnson Early College High School (Austin, Texas) providing administrative support to the CTE, English and Science Departments; a CTE/Academy Specialist at Stony Point High (Round Rock, Texas) for two-years; and as a Health Science Technology teacher for four-years.
His professional interests are CTE data policies, school law, school finance and P-12 educational leadership. He is a current member of the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) and an ACTE Inclusion Access Equity and Diversity Advisory (IAED) Group member and mentor. Dr. Johnson most recently served as a Statewide CTE Coordinator at the Texas Education Agency in the College Career and Military Preparation division responsible for supporting the Health Science and Transportation, Distribution, & Logistics Career Clusters while providing CTE program assistance to Regions IV (Houston, TX), V (Beaumont, TX), and VI (Huntsville, TX).
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
- Senior Research Associate With Advance CTE
Dr. Maldonado directly supports Advance CTE's policy research and technical assistance initiatives, data quality initiatives and internal data strategy.
Back to All Staff
Dr. Laura Maldonado
Senior Research Associate
Dr. Laura Maldonado is a Senior Research Associate with Advance CTE. In this role, Laura directly supports Advance CTE's policy research and technical assistance initiatives, data quality initiatives and internal data strategy.
Prior to joining Advance CTE, Laura worked as a senior research associate at a community college leadership and research center and spent more than a decade as a career services practitioner. In 2019-2020, she also participated in the Postsecondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) Research Fellows Program at North Carolina State University - Sponsored by ECMC Foundation.
Laura earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development from North Carolina State University, a Master of Education in Counselor Education from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Muhlenberg College. She is a nationally certified counselor committed to advocating for the career trajectories of all learners. A native of Pennsylvania, Laura now resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, a secondary CTE digital media teacher and son.
Job Titles:
- Director, Member Engagement & Professional Learning
- Membership and Operations Associate
Dr. Perkins oversees and manages the organization's internal and external membership engagement and professional learning strategy.
Back to All Staff
Dr. Stephanie Perkins
Director, Member Engagement & Professional Learning
Dr. Perkins oversees and manages the organization's internal and external membership engagement and professional learning strategy. She leads professional learning events and provides technical assistance for Advance CTE members to advance the organization's strategic priorities and mission and build, strengthen and diversify in-state capacity for CTE leadership.
Prior to joining Advance CTE, Dr. Perkins worked at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in the Workforce Education division. She specifically was the fiscal and operational lead for the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V) grant distributed to the 54 community, state and technical colleges across Texas. Previous to this work, she was employed for community colleges in Texas for 15 years with roles in student enrollment services including directing an Adult Education and Literacy program.
Stephanie's hometown is Odessa, Texas but she now calls Austin, Texas home. She received her Doctor of Education from Abilene Christian University in Organizational Leadership- Higher Education. Her dissertation was a narrative study that highlighted the academic pathways and success of first-generation college students. Stephanie received her Master of Education from Angelo State University in Student Development and Leadership- Higher Education and has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University-Central Texas.
Job Titles:
- Director of State Policy Implementation
Dr. Hobson supports the New Skills ready network, an initiative under the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Global Career Readiness investment. Dr. Hobson also manages and supports the state policy team to provide technical assistance to states, track state policy and elevate best practices for high-quality, equitable career pathways under Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education.
As Director of State Policy Implementation, Dr. Tunisha Hobson will support the New Skills ready network, an initiative under the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Global Career Readiness investment, while working to provide equitable opportunities for each learner. Dr. Hobson will manage and support the state policy team at Advance CTE; she will lead state policy strategy, overseeing efforts to provide technical assistance to states, track state policy and elevate best practices for high-quality, equitable career pathways under Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits).
Dr. Hobson is a native of Memphis, Tennessee and earned a Bachelor in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management and Marketing, Master in Education Curriculum and Instruction, Education Specialist in Administration and Supervision, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Tennessee State University. She has almost two decades of experience working with students and educators in all levels of education within areas ranging from literacy improvement initiatives to CTE.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor for Advance CTE
- Senior Director, Policy
Eliza leads the strategy, design and delivery of technical assistance to support states, serves as a coach for state teams and oversees communities of practice.
Eliza Fabillar is Senior Advisor for Advance CTE, where she leads the strategy, design and delivery of technical assistance to support states, serves as a coach for state teams and oversees communities of practice.
Eliza served as senior project director at Education Development Center (EDC) for 15 years, leading education initiatives across the nation, and collaborating with local and state education leaders to support strategic planning, design thinking, continuous improvement, systems change and professional learning networks. She also secured funding from philanthropic foundations and government agencies for programs focused on advancing personalized learning and preparing all students for success in school, college, careers and life. Eliza led teams in designing and piloting professional development for the integration of academics, deeper learning skills and career technical education, school-college-industry partnerships and curriculum development. In doing so, she contributed to the research base around high-quality, equitable college and career pathways.
Prior to working at EDC, Eliza served as Co-Director, Education, at the Center for Media and Learning of the City University of New York for 10 years. In this role, she directed initiatives on school-college-community partnerships, early college high school models, whole school turn- around efforts and curricular and instructional reform on interdisciplinary, blended education.
Eliza was born in the Philippines and grew up in New York City. She holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Education from Columbia University, and received her bachelor's degree from the City University of New York.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Commissioner
- Board Representative ( Region a )
Job Titles:
- Deputy Executive Director
- Deputy Executive Director of Advance CTE
- Director, Member Engagement & Professional Learning
Emily Passias serves as the Deputy Executive Director of Advance CTE and has built her career around helping states and communities better connect education to the world of work through the development and implementation of high-quality career pathways.
Prior to joining Advance CTE, Emily served as the Vice President for Policy at the Linked Learning Alliance, where she led efforts to design, advocate for, and implement state policies that connect college and career. Prior to joining the Alliance, Emily served as the Director of Career Readiness at Education Strategy Group, where she led the firm's credentials of value initiatives, worked with large and diverse school districts across the country to build and implement high quality career pathways, and designed tools and strategies to ensure that equity is centered in in career and postsecondary readiness work.
Prior to joining ESG, Emily served as the Director of Career-Technical Education at the Ohio Department of Education. In that role, Emily's work focused on designing policies that catalyze career pathway expansion, quality and industry alignment for all learners. Emily also led the Department's development of Ohio's career-focused pathways to high school graduation, as well as the Department's industry-recognized credential initiatives. During her tenure at the Ohio Department of Education, Emily also served as the Assistant Director in the Office of Accountability at the Ohio Department of Education, where she led the development and implementation of the nation's first A-F school report card focused on Career Technical Education.
In addition to her education policy experience, Emily taught in the sociology department at The Ohio State University for many years, where her research and teaching focused on race, gender, and socioeconomic inequality. Emily brings this experience to her work, always pushing to ensure that education policies are developed and implemented with equity as the guiding principle. Emily earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in Sociology at The Ohio State University, and completed the Strategic Data Project Fellowship through the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University.
Haley directly supports Advance CTE's state policy initiatives, implementation strategies and member engagement activities. Haley's projects include specific attention to equity and high-quality career pathways.
As Senior Policy Associate, Haley directly supports Advance CTE's state policy initiatives, implementation strategies, and member engagement activities with specific attention to equity and high-quality career pathways.
Haley is a native of Tampa, Florida. She holds a Master of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. Prior to joining Advance CTE, Haley worked at a nonprofit organization in Indianapolis serving as the Director of Research and Policy focusing on advancing equitable education initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Finance
- Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
Job Titles:
- Wyoming / Board Representative ( Region E )
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, State Policy
Job Titles:
- Deputy Executive Director
Job Titles:
- Associate Director, Communications