Lorraine Madala, Chair

Lorraine Madala is a Senior Manager of Talent and Culture at Capital One, where she supports initiatives targeted at enhancing equitable HR practices. Previously, she was Senior Director for Talent Development and Inclusion at Leadership for Educational Equity, where she led staff learning and development, as well as Chief of Staff for the Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Lockheed Martin where she coordinated diversity outreach, investigations, equal opportunity programs, diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

Lorraine has over fifteen years of experience in nonprofit, government and commercial sectors in the US and abroad.  She began her career building partnerships for youth social entrepreneurship at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in the U.S. and in Latin America. After several years of consulting on human capital challenges at Deloitte and Cisco Systems, she joined Prince George’s County Public Schools as Project Manager, Human Capital Management and Broad Resident. In this role, she led process improvements and managed a multi-year Wallace Foundation grant to select, develop and evaluate a principal pipeline. Lorraine has a Senior Professional of Human Resources Certification, an MBA from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a BA in International Relations and Child Development from Tufts University.

Katie Wendel, Secretary, Parent Board Member

A parent of three children at Lee Montessori’s Brookland campus, Katie Wendel is an attorney at Thompson Coburn LLP, handling a wide variety of regulatory and transactional work for the nonprofit and for-profit higher education sector, including online education programs, and has extensive knowledge of the laws and policies affecting colleges and universities. Katie regularly communicates with the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of clients to assist with Title IV issues and maintaining institutional eligibility with the Department. Katie also helps schools sustain successful student exchange visitor programs. In addition to her comprehensive regulatory work, Katie represents higher education institutions and investors in the postsecondary sector with various transactional matters. She works with state, federal, and accrediting agencies on behalf of colleges and universities and helps her clients maintain compliance with complex agency rules and standards.

Jessica Milton, Vice-Chair

Dr. Milton is a career educator, who entered the profession as a classroom teacher and grew into leadership roles in education research and teacher education. Now, as a Senior Human Resources Business Partner at National Education Association (NEA), she provides strategic direction related to talent acquisition, management, and optimization to drive organizational effectiveness and leverages data for continuous improvement. She partners with executives and managers to identify and implement business strategies and solutions to manage organizational change and transitions.

Kimani Little, Treasurer, Parent Board Member

Kimani S. Little is the Government Relations Officer for the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. He brings to this role nearly two decades of public service, and experience in the intersection of housing and banking. He previously worked for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and the White House. 

Kimani also serves on the Board of Governors for the National Housing Conference, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring safe, decent and affordable housing for all in America. He is a graduate of Tulane University Law School and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Prior to law school, Kimani worked both domestically and internationally as a civilian analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense. He and his wife live on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with their daughter and beagle, a hunting dog that won’t hunt.

Ashley Southerland

The parent of two children at Lee Montessori’s East End campus, Ashley Southerland is Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer at Homeward Health, a technology-enabled

healthcare provider delivering services to Medicare patients in rural America. She provides legal, strategic, regulatory, and policy advice on a range of digital health issues, including emerging technologies in healthcare (AI, 3D printing, and blockchain), enterprise regulatory compliance, and equity-in-tech matters. Ashley is deeply passionate about “using her powers for good” to create a more just and equitable society, from embedding “equity by design” into healthcare technology products to centering equity in schools, workplaces, and social structures.

Immediately prior to her time at Homeward, Ashley was the Senior Assistant General Counsel for Digital Technology and Innovation at the American Medical Association (AMA). Prior to joining the AMA, Ashley was an attorney at Crowell & Moring LLP, and clerked at both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She received her J.D. from Cornell Law School, and her A.B. (with distinction) from Duke University. Ashley lives in Washington, D.C. (Ward 8) with her husband and two sons.

Selma Woldemichael

Selma Woldemichael is a seasoned educator and visionary leader with a keen sense of strategy and innovation. With over two decades of experience, her career has encompassed various levels of teaching, development, and organizational leadership.

Her earliest years as an educator allowed her to serve a diverse demographic of students; 2-5-year-olds, upper elementary students with special needs, and high school students on individualized paths. In addition, she served as an Academic Specialist in Washington, D.C. and later as an Instructional Coach/Literacy Consultant at the K-5 level to instructional leaders, teachers, and volunteers.

At Lexia Learning, she has spent the last 7 years supporting PK-12 teachers, instructional leaders, schools, and districts as a Professional Learning Facilitator and Senior Customer Success Manager implementing literacy programs and tools. Her goal is to empower educators to see a greater impact on student learning outcomes through comprehensive data analysis and focused instruction. 

Akela Dogbe

Akela Dogbe is an urban school administrator and education consultant with over eighteen years of experience spanning transformational school leadership, effective classroom instruction, and curriculum development. Akela is a wife and proud Montessori parent. She spent her early years as an educator at Near North Montessori in Chicago, IL; where she served as a learning specialist and fell in love with the AMI model. Consequently, Akela has supported Montessori programming as a school leader for over ten years. As an administrator, Akela implements Multi-Tiered Systems of Support to accelerate learning growth. Her team’s mixed model of small group instruction, high impact tutoring, and digital learning is highly effective in elementary urban school environments. As a curriculum developer, Akela designs comprehensive culturally responsive courses for public, parochial, and private schools. Additionally, her extensive knowledge of effective instructional models is a proven asset to community organizations and publishing houses.

She received her B.A. in English from Spelman College; her MA in Education Policy from Loyola University Chicago, and her Master’s in Executive Leadership from Georgetown University.

Emily Silberstein

Emily Silberstein is the Vice President of Strategy and Impact at Edmentum, where she leads execution of the organization’s strategic plan, drives the social impact agenda, and manages critical initiatives across cross-functional teams. Previously, she served as the CEO of Chavez Schools in Washington, DC and as a Vice President at Teach Plus. Emily also spent nearly eight years at TNTP, where she led the development of innovative teacher career pathways, compensation systems, and teacher certification programs. 

Earlier in her career, Emily managed an online learning community and state coalition network for the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF). She began her career at the Center for Inspired Teaching and has 20 years of experience in nonprofit and private sector environments focused on K-12 education. Emily is a skilled problem-solver, proven talent leader, and trained executive and leadership coach. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the College of Wooster.

Simon Rodberg, Interim Executive Director, Ex-Officio

Simon has been an educator in D.C. for over eighteen years, including as founding principal of D.C. International Public Charter School. Most recently, he taught education leadership at American University, coached school leaders around the city (including Justin Lessek at Sojourner Truth Montessori), and published a book on school leadership.

Jennifer Penrose

The parent of a child at Lee Montessori’s Brookland campus, Jennifer Penrose leads the data science program at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the US clearinghouse for missing child cases and the global clearinghouse for online reports of child exploitation. Jennifer's career focuses on the application of data to help guide strategy and inform business decisions in the child protection and child welfare field, with a particular focus on North America, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, she served as a parent representative to the Montgomery County, MD Commission on Child Care, advising the County Executive and County Council.

Kyle Wilson

Kyle Wilson is a project manager with the Project and Development Services group at JLL, a global real estate services company. He manages the full life cycle of commercial real estate projects to ensure their success. Previously, he built affordable housing in Baltimore as a superintendent for the Commercial Group. Kyle has 10 years of experience in various aspects of the real estate business, and has managed the development of commercial spaces for clients in the education, affordable housing, retail, and office sectors across the U.S. and in Canada. Kyle received his bachelor's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and is currently a candidate for a Master’s in Real Estate at Georgetown University. Kyle is originally from Atlanta (College Park) and lives in Shaw.

Seema Tejura

Seema Tejura has over 18 years of experience in the education space, having served as a reading specialist, literacy coach, district reading director, and chief academic officer in various urban school districts. Throughout her career, she has championed the implementation of evidence-based literacy practices across grade levels. She founded The Literacy Architects, LLC in 2018 to bring this knowledge to teachers, tutors, and leaders across the country. Under her leadership, The Literacy Architects has partnered with school districts, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to train educators in the science of teaching reading. 

Seema holds Masters Degrees in the Reading Specialist and Education Leadership fields and is also a certified reading specialist, Wilson® Dyslexia Practitioner, and Certified Academic Language Practitioner (CALP).