Jessica Milton, Secretary

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, Vice Chair

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, Chair

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 is the Chief of Staff at Climate Central, a nonprofit organization dedicated to communicating climate change science, effects, and solutions to the public and decision-makers. She is a nonprofit leader and strategist with deep experience helping organizations build sustainable solutions and effectively scale for the future. With experience as a leader and a consultant, in both the public and private sectors, Emily has created strong relationships that cross sectors and perspectives.

Prior to Climate Central, Emily’s work focused on K-12 public education. She served as the Vice President of Strategy and Impact at an education technology company, where she led the execution of the strategic plan, drove the social impact agenda, and managed critical initiatives across cross-functional teams. Emily also served as the CEO of Chavez Schools in Washington, DC and as a Vice President at Teach Plus. She also spent nearly eight years as at TNTP, where she led the development of innovative teacher compensation systems and career pathways, along with teacher certification programs. Emily began her career at the Center for Inspired Teaching. 

Emily holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the College of Wooster. She has lived in the Washington, DC metro area for over twenty years.

Simon Rodberg, 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).