FRIENDSHIP SCHOOLS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Catherine Somefun joined Friendship Public Charter School in 1999, serving in multiple positions providing support and leadership in finance. Ms. Somefun has extensive experience in public charter school finance and operations at both the charter management organization and school site levels. As one of the founding business managers for Edison's Washington, D.C. charter schools, she established finance and operating procedures for the first Friendship campuses. In recognition of her outstanding work with Edison, in 2001, the Board of Friendship asked her to become the organization's first CFO. In this role, she helped guide Friendship's first tax-exempt bond offering - the largest charter school bond issue in the U.S. at the time - and create a fully functioning finance department. In 2011, Ms. Somefun was promoted to the position of Comptroller and in 2014 assumed the duties of the CFO to oversee performance improvement. Ms. Somefun received her B.A. degree from the University of Missouri and her M.B.A. from Howard University. She lives in Maryland with her husband and four children.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Treasurer of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Trustees
- Founder
- Executive Director of the Friendship House
- Vice President of the National Urban League
Donald L. Hense, longtime executive director of the Friendship House social service agency, is a founder of Friendship Public Charter School. Donald serves as chairman of the Center for Youth and Family Investment, which provides extended learning programs to more than 2,000 children daily. He also co-founded the Bridges to Friendship Initiative, which spurred the Navy Yard revitalization and was recognized by Vice President Al Gore as a model community initiative.
Donald has served as vice president of the National Urban League, director of development of the Children's Defense Fund, and director of governmental relations at Howard University, Boston University and Dartmouth College. He is a board member of the Center for Education Reform and the D.C. Arts and Humanities Collaborative and is treasurer of the D.C. Association of Charter Schools. In 2011, Donald was inducted into the National Charter Schools Hall of Fame.
Donald received his B.A. from Morehouse College and attended graduate school at Stanford University. He was a Rockefeller intern in economics at Cornell University, a Merrill scholar at the University of Ghana, a Ford Foundation fellow at Stanford University and a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Agent
- Deputy Chief Academic Officer
- Dunnock / Deputy Chief Academic Officer
Dr. Mary Torian-Dunnock is a change agent for helping educators improve instructional quality and raise achievement standards. As a teacher early on, Mary developed practices modeled by other educators and school leaders.
She has led several schools to National Blue Ribbon recognition, including Friendship Woodridge International, whose accomplishments earned a visit from President George W. Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. Mary also served as senior vice president of educational services at Edison Learning in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Mary improved performance and culture as principal of several Pennsylvania schools, and she received statewide recognition in Maryland as an outstanding principal and principals coach. Committed to reversing negative trajectories, as a senior vice president of Edison Learning, Mary led efforts averting "state takeover" status for schools across three states.
Mary currently develops Friendship's principals and academy directors, coaching empowerment strategies for meeting school performance goals. She also played a major role in Friendship's expansion campuses in science, engineering and technology. She has served on the D.C. Public Charter School Board.
Mary earned a Bachelor of Arts at Morgan State University and a Master of Science at Coppin State University. She further studied at Cheney University and received her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Mary is a dedicated wife and mother who enjoys opening her home to family and friends.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer
- Chief People Officer for Friendship Public Charter School
Dylan Gruver serves as the chief people officer for Friendship Public Charter School. He has a passion and laser focus for attracting, hiring, developing, and retaining an exceptional and diverse team of professionals. Prior to returning to Friendship, he led the Talent Team at KIPP SoCal Public Schools in Los Angeles as the network grew to 20 schools throughout southern California. Dylan began working with Friendship in 2012, where he served as director of Human Resources and then deputy chief of Talent. He began his career in educational equity and civil rights as a middle school math and science teacher in New York City with Teach For America. A graduate of the University of Washington, Dylan received his Masters of Education at Lehman College in the Bronx, and holds a Masters Certificate in Human Resources Management from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Parent Representative
Job Titles:
- Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees
James F. Waller joined Friendship Public Charter School in 2008. As chief of schools, James leads the school operation functions, including student information, health services, food services, community and corporate engagement, and facilities and building operations. He previously served as deputy chief academic officer for Friendship, overseeing school budgets, special education and student support services.
James has worked for more than 20 years in various leadership roles supporting child and youth development initiatives. Prior to joining Friendship, he served as national executive director for EVERYBODY WINS! USA, a youth mentoring and literacy program. There he provided program oversight and fund development for a network of 15 national affiliates.
James also served as senior vice president for MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. In this role he advocated for youth development policy and funding to support youth mentoring at the national and state level. In addition, he served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. James has served as a mentor for more than 10 years and is the founding president of 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, D.C. He holds a Bachelor of Science in education from the University of Virginia.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Parent Representative
Job Titles:
- Chief External Affairs Officer
- Chief of External Affairs
John Glover serves as the Chief External Affairs Officer at Friendship Public Charter School where he leads Marketing and Communication, Development, Government Relations, and Family and Community Engagement.
Before joining Friendship, John was the Founder and CEO of Alpha Public Schools in East San José, California. Founded in 2010 by a group of East San José parents who recruited John to their community, Alpha's network of four high-performing charter schools prepare traditionally underserved (or at-risk) students to be the community's next leaders within the diverse and complex Silicon Valley landscape. Alpha's schools have been recognized as Top Schools for Low-Income Latinx & Black Students in the Bay Area by Innovate Public Schools, and have received the California Distinguished Schools Award, awarded for demonstrating significant gains in narrowing the achievement gap.
An experienced teacher and administrator, John worked as a financial advisor before entering the field of urban public education. He rose quickly from effective teacher to leader and administrator, including School Principal, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director at a network of high-performing charter schools in Oakland, California.
John earned his bachelor's degree in English and theology from Boston College and holds an executive certificate in non-profit management from Stanford University. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two daughters.
Ken Cherry joins Friendship Public Charter School as chief of staff with 27 years of experience working with students at all learning levels in rural, suburban and urban environments.
During his 17 years in leadership roles, Ken served as an assistant principal, principal and central office executive director in the Baltimore City Public Schools; assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia; and superintendent of the Dover Area School District. He also served as vice president of educational services for EdisonLearning in Philadelphia.
In his 10 years in the classroom, he has been a fifth-grade teacher, a middle school ELA/social studies teacher and a high school alternative education teacher. Ken holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from Slippery Rock University and a Master of Science in administration and supervision of schools from Johns Hopkins. He received his Superintendent's Letter of Eligibility from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Friendship 's Chief Operating Officer
Patricia A. Brantley is an education reformer, charter school advocate and supporter of the right of all children to receive a high-quality education. Two decades ago, she served with the founding planners of Friendship Public Charter School to create better opportunities for D.C.'s children.
In 2003, Patricia became Friendship's chief operating officer. In that role, she engineered the acquisition and development of six public charter school campuses in Washington, D.C., four partner schools in Baltimore, Md., and a new charter school in Baton Rouge, La.
Patricia oversees all operations at Friendship, has secured more $95 million in public and private funding, effected cohesion among the 12 campuses, and established the Friendship Teaching Institute as a model of professional development. She spearheaded the takeover of Washington's first multicampus charter management group, ensuring that hundreds of children could remain in their school of choice.
Previously, Patricia served in corporate and nonprofit positions including founder of the Partnership for Academic Achievement; chief development officer and adviser at the National Council of Negro Women; executive director of the Dance Institute of Washington; and national marketing manager for the Black Family Reunion Celebration. She is a board member of the D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools and a graduate of Princeton University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- Chief Performance Officer
Zac Morford has spent the past 20 years assisting local governments and school districts from Serbia to Washington, D.C., in using data to improve the outcomes of citizens and students.
Since 2007, Zac has helped D.C. teachers, school administrators and school-district executives monitor and improve the performance of their teams. This work has resulted in more effective interventions and supports for students, more targeted teacher retention strategies and more influential investments in educational programs.
In his current role, Zac is responsible for the the assessment of students and the analysis and reporting of student performance data. Prior to joining Friendship, Zac spent four years working as the SchoolStat director for D.C. Public Schools. He tailored this local government practice to the education sector by creating performance dashboards for central office departments and by facilitating weekly performance meetings between department chiefs and the DCPS chancellor.
Zac is an avid runner who loves to travel and play games with his wife and two daughters.