FAST - Key Persons
Al Stanley - FAST Board Finance Committee -is currently Chief Technology Officer for JPMorgan Chase, Correspondent Lending Division. He has over 20 years of global experience serving in a variety of Business Operations, Information Technology, and Information Security positions including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technical Executive, and Chief Information Officer for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies.
Al has served on boards of several business and technology associations and non-profit organizations, including Innosale Consulting, Holistic Information Security Practitioner Institute, the Society for Information Management, NPower CIO Council, The International Center, American Pianist Association, and Opera Carolina. He holds a degree in Management Information Systems from California State University, Sacramento.
Al lives in Alpharetta with his wife and their daughter who attends FAST.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Principal, Elementary School
Anesha James has been an educator for 10 years. The 2023-24 school year is her first year at FAST as the Assistant Principal for elementary school. Ms. James' education career began after attending Georgia State University for both undergrad and graduate years. She has a Master's degree in Elementary Education along with a mathematics endorsement. Learning and teaching is her passion and she strive to be a lifelong learner. When not educating, she loves to travel, watch football, create art, write poetry and spend time with friends and family
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Director of Laboratory Development
Dr. MacNair serves as Director of Laboratory Development in the Woodruff School and manages Junior and Senior level laboratories in Mechanical Engineering. He develops innovative laboratory experiences based on lessons learned from the maker movement and real-world industrial challenges and is building an "ecosystem" of academic laboratory equipment and curriculum resources which allows universities to collaborate on the development and execution of effective undergraduate laboratory experiences.
Dr. MacNair joined the Woodruff School in 2015 after working for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, and as an Educational Consultant for Enable Training and Consulting and National Instruments before that. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2008 and his Ph.D. in Robotics in 2013, both from Georgia Tech.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Principal, Middle School
Demetria Walker comes to us from Louisiana having recently moved to Georgia with her husband. She has worked in education for more than 25 years as a teacher, Academic Dean, Assistant Principal, and Principal. She began as the Executive Functioning Coach at FAST in 2022 and is excited to be the Assistant Principal.
Dr. Goss grew up in Lewiston NY, a town on the Niagara River outside of Buffalo, New York. She attended college in Buffalo and earned her Bachelor's in Art Education from Buffalo State College in 2003. She went on to earn her master's in Education from The State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005 and her Doctorate in Curriculum Instruction and the Science of Learning from The State University of New York at Buffalo in 2018. She served as a tenured art teacher at Springville Griffith Schools in Springville, New York, and then left to pursue her doctorate degree full time. She also served as a graduate assistant for a nationally-funded science grant that helped bring new technologies to science teachers in underperforming city schools in Buffalo. She is passionate about art integration and her dissertation "Black Market Teaching: The Fusing of Art Integration and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in an Urban ELA classroom. She is currently working at Georgia State as a supervisor of student teachers guiding them through the EdTPA process. Jenevieve and her family recently moved to Georgia when her husband was offered a professorship at Kennesaw State. Jenevieve is an avid cook as well as a ceramic artist and a painter and is currently working on two book proposals one for the academic world and a children's book.
Jonathan Moore is a native of Atlanta, GA and a product of the Fulton County public school system. Jonathan is a self-proclaimed lifelong learner and lover of education. He has over eight years of experience as a certified educator, five years of experience directing programs for youth and young adults, and over ten years of coaching experience. He is a proud father and has two beautiful daughters ages 11, and 5.
Jonathan loves to sing and write music, and stay active by playing sports, hiking, and exploring nature. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in both education, and theology, and is currently working towards a Doctorate of Ministry in Justice Studies.
Joseph Akpan - is a Finance professional at IBM, where he currently works within Business Development and is responsible for leading M&A Pricing/Integration for Software products and services. Previous experiences at IBM include leading World Wide Software Pricing for Financial Markets, Customer engagements, and Watson. Before joining IBM, Joseph was a Web Developer within the Educational Technology Group at Liberty Science Center (LSC), an interactive science museum and learning center in Jersey City; where, he led efforts in building the center's platform for delivering web-based programs to support science exhibits and educational outreach programs for K-12. Prior to LSC, Joseph was a chemist at International Specialty Products (Ashland Chemicals), where he did research and development on skin and hair care products. Joseph holds a BSc in Applied Chemistry from NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Alpharetta with his wife and three children.
Karen Doty- Member Academic Committee- currently serves as a consultant with Learning Sciences International where she primarily works with leadership and teaching professionals aimed at school improvement. Prior to consulting, she served over 30 years in public schools and higher education as a teacher/instructor, school leader, and administrator primarily in south Georgia. She was a teacher in a laboratory school, for Georgia Southern University, for 10 years and conducted research collaboratively with professors as well. As an administrator, she served at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She has collaboratively written and was awarded four competitive grants aimed at professional development and literacy and math growth during her tenure as principal.
Ms. Mary Miller is originally from Maryland and has twenty years of classroom, coaching, and mentoring experience as well as certification in Educational Leadership, Early Childhood, and Elementary Education. She received her Masters of Education from the University of Maryland, and four additional post-graduate certificates from other universities around the country in Educational Leadership, Literacy, Data-driven Decision Making and Technology, and Social and Emotional Leadership, as well as a Talented and Gifted Certification.
During her career in education she has had the opportunity to live and work in Egypt, Latvia, and Colombia, as well as the United States. During these experiences Ms. Miller worked in a variety of different instructional frameworks and methodologies including Project Based Learning, STEAM, IB Primary Years Program, Inquiry, and Personalized learning.
She is dedicated to creating and maintaining a culturally proficient school community through professional development, discussion, and relationships. She is looking forward to working with all of the stakeholders of FAST to create a school culture where the uniqueness of each family is honored and celebrated.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Business Leader
Paras Shah - FAST Board Member -Paras Shah is an experienced business leader with over 15 years of marketing & sales experience across a wide range of consumer-facing industries. He is currently the Director of Digital Marketing for Georgia Pacific's Consumer Brands business. Paras began his career at Procter & Gamble, where he worked in marketing for various well-known household brands in the Beauty Care & Home Care business units across North America & globally. He has also held positions in brand management, eCommerce & digital marketing at Yum! Brands, Benchmark Brands, and INVISTA. Paras holds a BBA in Management Information Systems and Business Honors as well as an MBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Alpharetta, GA, with his wife and two kids, who attend FAST.
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Chief Business Officer
Ron Rhodes is an experienced accountant with over 25 years of experience outside of education and 8 years of experience in the Atlanta area charter school system. A native of South Carolina, Ron is a graduate of South Carolina State University. Ron has been with FAST since we opened our doors to students in 2016.
Ron is an avid sports fan and loves all sports. In his free time, Ron loves to play tennis, travel in groups, and is a member of his church's men's choir, Brotherhood of Praise. Ron is married with two children and lives in Marietta.
Steve Jones - FAST Board Secretary - is an experienced business leader. He is currently the CEO and President of SJJ Advisory Services which provides Strategic and Operational expertise to Private Equity Firms as well as portfolio company leadership teams across industries in North America and Europe. Prior to this role, Steve was the CEO of Brill which is a leader in the manufacturing of Icings and Bakery products with over $650MM in revenues and over 3,000 employees across the United States. Steve spent a dozen years with The Coca- Cola Company and also held positions with General Electric and Lockheed Martin where he worked as an Engineer in the Aerospace Industry. Steve also worked for Bain & Company. Steve has degrees in Electrical Engineering and History from Duke University, a Masters in Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in Milton, GA with his wife and six children - four of whom have graduated from local public schools, and two who are currently attending public schools. One of his children is an elementary school teacher at a local public school.
Tara Colon - FAST Board Member - With over 17 years in the telecom business, Tara has hands-on experience in national marketing/promotions, product strategy and portfolio management. Currently, she serves as the Assistant Vice President overseeing all mobile products for AT&T and Cricket and is accountable for all device manufacturers' relationships. Prior to her current role, Tara led the product launch execution and marketing strategy for video, broadband, and wireless, as well as support for National Retailers and Care. Tara oversaw promotions, AT&T's messaging strategy, and field marketing efforts.
A native of Kentucky, Tara is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and received her MBA from Lindenwood University. She currently resides in Alpharetta, Georgia, with her husband Alex, and their two sons with attend FAST.