THIRDWAY SOLUTIONS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Manager
- Independent Consultant
Alex (he/him) is an independent consultant bringing a decade of experience in education, advocacy, and team and project leadership to the ThirdWay Solutions team. Alex began his career teaching K-12 vocal music. Interested in supporting leaders, he transitioned from the classroom and became an organizer at Educators for Excellence Minnesota, where he served in several capacities, including as Deputy Director. During his time at E4E, Alex worked arm-in-arm with equity-minded educators, helping to advance student-centered policy solutions to discipline disparities, teacher diversity, teacher preparation, equitable school funding, and more. Alex was an inaugural fellow of the New Leaders Council-Twin Cities and is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory.
Allison has two decades of experience in classrooms and leadership roles in New York, Oakland and San Diego. She was a senior leader at High Tech High and the Founding Executive Director of KIPP San Diego. Currently, Allison leads DEEP San Diego, a literacy initiative that is influencing the way San Diego Unified School District approaches instruction and community empowerment, and she chairs the Board at the Tariq Khamisa Foundation: supporting the sustainability of the restorative practice and peacebuilding work that organization does in middle schools.
April Dinwoodie is a nationally recognized thought leader on adoption and foster care. From creating a mentoring program for youth in foster care to becoming the CEO of the Donaldson Adoption Institute (DAI), April is fiercely dedicated to creating connections and insisting on a more transparent conversation about healthy identity development, as well as recognizing the power of integrating systems that support children and families. During her tenure at DAI, April launched Let's Adopt Reform, an initiative to spark a national conversation about adoption and foster care; and she led Adoptment, a specialized mentoring program that has created lifelong bonds with adopted adults and young people in foster care. April is also an accomplished corporate marketing and branding professional who engages audiences and connects with consumers, and has worked with a number of high-profile companies, including Nine West, Kenneth Cole, J.C. Penney and JetBlue.
Job Titles:
- Expert
- Leadership Manager and Coach
Billy is an expert educator and change agent in schools. He brings 30 years' experience to the ThirdWay team, providing executive coaching to principals and their leadership teams in Memphis, Los Angeles, and districts throughout Louisiana. He was the founding executive director at both Teach For America in Atlanta and New Leaders for New Schools in Memphis. For more than a decade, he held leadership positions in D.C. Public Schools, including principal of the Charles Hart Middle School, director of school leadership on the Chancellor's Transition Team, and deputy chief of innovation. Billy combines his strengths as an effective listener and talent developer with deep commitments to racial equity and to developing the skill and will of adults working with children.
Cami is a six-time chief executive with 30 years of experience leading government, non profit, and for profit start-ups and turnarounds. She is the founder and CEO of ThirdWay Solutions, an organization that helps teams achieve ambitious goals through executive coaching, vision and strategy development, values-based culture building, and implementation support. Cami served as a superintendent of schools for nearly a decade, first in New York City and then in Newark, NJ, where she received national attention for improving student outcomes by leading innovation and creating community-based momentum in contentious political landscapes. Cami was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people, and she received the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Excellence and the Points of Light Award. She has also received a lifetime achievement award from the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change for her work in racial justice.
Cici began her journey in education as a corp member of Teach for America in Dallas, where she experienced how educational inequities were exacerbated by the pandemic. She then worked at an education-based nonprofit, teaching and creating reproductive health education curricula specifically focused on youth with lived experiences in the foster care system and LGBTQIA youth. Her fellowship at the Texas Education Agency allowed her to analyze and research education policy. Cici has a B.A. in Political Science from The University of Tennessee. She also has a Master's in Education with focus on Urban Education from Southern Methodist University.
Jared Donahue Robinson works at the intersection of corporate culture, employee engagement, presentational mastery, teambuilding & JEDI (Justice, Equity Diversity, and Inclusion). Jared brings insight into organizational and interpersonal dynamics, coaching adults to work across differences - of opinions, race, class and other identities - and helping them to embrace change. He leverages his extensive background in executive training, experiential learning, and professional development to guide clients to co-create innovative teams, be better presenters, and more confident in their ability to adapt their message to any audience. He is a Second City Conservatory trained improv instructor-turned-social entrepreneur, facilitator, speaker, and consultant. Jared engages a holistic approach where clients feel empowered to catalyze scalable solutions for their teams and culture.
Kavita Singh Gilchrist is a connector and an organizer with 18 years of experience leading teams, designing programs, delivering technology access and training initiatives, and facilitating diversity and inclusion efforts. She served as program director at New Visions for Public Schools in New York City, the Marcus Foster Institute in Oakland and at the NYC Department of Education, and was executive director of both the Community Technology Centers' Network in D.C. and Computers for Youth in New York. Kavita has a B.S. from Drexel University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an active volunteer and works to build more inclusive communities through diverse books.
Job Titles:
- Project and Training Manager
Michelle McHugh is an experienced educator, school turnaround coach, and project manager. She started her career as a teacher working primarily with students in underserved communities, sparking a passion to work towards equitable educational experiences for all students. She's also served as an elementary school administrator focused on designing and implementing schoolwide systems and structures to support effective teaching in every classroom. Currently, Michelle partners alongside leaders in the education space across the country developing and executing solutions that solve complex problems facing schools, districts, and communities.
Ruben served as the Executive Director of Community Affairs and Engagement at Newark Public Schools, and he launched the district's first Family Support Center. His strong belief in stakeholder engagement and partnership development enabled his collaboration with elected officials and philanthropic partners. Prior to his work in Newark, Ruben served as a director for several nonprofits, serving as a site-based coordinator for organizations connecting families to schools. During the small-schools movement in New York City, Ruben supported 10 design teams from concept to launch. Ruben continues to add value to conversations while bridging the gap between families and the organizations that impact them.