Aida Ali Akreyi is a research and data strategy expert with over a decade of experience in federal data collection, institutional research, and education policy. Most recently, she served as Statistician and IPEDS Operations Lead at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, where she directed national postsecondary data collection, compliance, and reporting initiatives, ensuring data integrity, accessibility, and usability. Aida brings deep expertise in leading large-scale research projects, developing performance metrics, and translating complex data into actionable insights for policymakers, institutional leaders, and the public. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy from the University of California, Riverside, and is passionate about using data to inform systems change and expand opportunity.

Aubrey Brooke has over 20 years of experience designing and developing responsive web applications as a Senior UI/UX Product Designer, specializing in user-centered solutions that resonate with target audiences. Expertise includes leveraging data, user research, and empathy to craft intuitive, engaging, and accessible digital experiences. Proficient in visual design, research, development, and interactivity, with strong leadership skills in guiding teams to successful project outcomes.

Experienced mathematical statistician with a wide range of research and analytic skills. In-depth experience with all aspects of survey research, including conceptual development, survey design management, and quantitative data analysis using appropriate statistical methodology. Specific expertise in data confidentiality and statistical disclosure limitation procedures. Effective written and oral communication skills.

I’m an Education Researcher fueled by a passion for improving the lives of young children and their families through thoughtful, data-driven change. I believe that when research is done well—and shared wisely—it can elevate entire systems of early childhood education and care. My work centers on uncovering what works, for whom, and why, using rigorous program evaluation and applied research to guide practice and policy.

Across federal, state, and local departments of education, foundations, and nonprofit organizations, I’ve collaborated with diverse teams to design evaluations, develop assessments, and build evidence that informs strategy. Whether managing a national study, advising on state policy, or crafting insights for practitioners, I strive to make complex information useful and actionable for those shaping the field.

My approach blends strategic thinking with creativity, problem-solving, and a deep commitment to equity. I led project and staff management for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), ensuring high-quality results and timely deliverables. I’ve provided technical assistance to Chicago Public Schools, supported content alignment for Oklahoma’s Early Learning Inventory, and helped refine training and assessment protocols across multiple states. My work with the Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa enhanced data quality through improved protocols.

Globally, I’ve represented U.S. perspectives in shaping the International Early Learning Study (IELS), overseeing a national pilot and facilitating key conversations with NAEYC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Throughout, I’ve remained focused on making data meaningful—refining instruments, translating findings for broad audiences, and building bridges between research and practice.

At the heart of my work is a belief: that data, when centered on real people and real needs, can be a powerful tool for advancing opportunity and equity. I’m here to help organizations take the next best step for the children and families they serve.

Experienced in team leadership, project management, oral and written presentation, recruitment and outreach, Elise brings passion and focus to her projects.

Most recently, at NCES, Elise managed six simultaneous large, nationally representative longitudinal studies of high schoolers into adulthood, resulting in the release of over 10 national-level datasets of survey and administrative data with supporting documentation and supplementary tables. Every product release was on-budget and on-schedule, meeting Congressional mandates for NCES data release and NCES Standards for high data quality.

Dr. Clark has 15 years of experience designing and managing research projects in the federal government, academia, and the non-profit sector. She excels at manipulating and analyzing large, complex data sets, as well as translating complicated findings for non-technical audiences. Most recently, she served as a statistician for the Crime and Safety Surveys Program at the National Center for Education Statistics.

With over 15 years of experience supporting U.S. Department of Education initiatives, Ms. Collins brings expertise in project management, process development, data collection, and reporting. She has led and collaborated on efforts to evaluate and enhance multiple federal data collection systems and processes, helping agencies modernize how they gather and use information while providing targeted technical assistance to support adoption and effective use. She excels at synthesizing data and extracting key insights to create reports, training materials, and web content that are clear, concise, and tailored to her audience. Drawing on her background in social work, Ms. Collins approaches leadership and collaboration with empathy, structure, and an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality results.

With over 16 years of experience as a leader within the U.S. Department of Education, public service is the foundation of my career. I excel in building programs, fostering collaboration, and making data accessible to drive decisions–including qualitative data. I thrive on creating lasting connections (within and beyond the education sector) among stakeholders with differing perspectives and experiences. During my tenure at the Department, my work included:

1) U.S. Department of Education-wide Lead for implementing Office of Management & Budget’s revised race/ethnicity standards across the Department and the entire U.S. education system; 2) Project Director for the National Indian Education Study, the largest nationally representative data collection of American Indian and Alaska Native students in the country; 3) Task Leader for all National Assessment of Educational Progress Survey Questions; and 4) U.S. Delegate (elected 2025 chair) to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s “NESLI Network” – the collection and reporting of system-level descriptive information on educational structures, policies and practices related to education systems.

Kristi is a sociologist with expertise in research design, data analysis, and stakeholder communications. At NCES, she led the Digest of Education Statistics, which is a core statistical reference that covers education topics from early childhood to K-12, post-secondary, and adult outcomes, all across several equity dimensions. Her prior experience includes working with state and local education organizations, including the city of Newark, NJ, and Saint Louis Public Schools, on community-driven research projects. Kristi has more than 10 years of experience with quantitative data analysis and writing for technical and non-technical audiences.

Kathleen Flanagan has led numerous evaluation and large-scale assessment projects. Innovative course modules that show educators how to take charge of classroom and school outcomes are available at chartingyourowncourse.com.

From early on, I have been a visual learner and expressed myself with art using many mediums. I was trained to teach art, photography, and art therapy and have done so in classrooms K-12 and college. I was the Print Media and Communications Coordinator of Lesley University, Cambridge, Ma. But the instant gratification of digital photography lead to learning video, editing, graphics and pushing the right buttons in the control room of a TV studio as a director. I was the Education Channel Coordinator of NewTV in Newton, Ma for many years. I have worked for many Cable Access stations and was the Executive Director of NCTV in Norfolk, Ma. I have always loved to write poetry and short scripts which rounds out my creative communication projects. I am thrilled to assist a research team that cares about education and its critical ramifications.

Senior project leader with over 20 years of experience managing federal statistics projects and tasks in both federal and contract settings. Subject matter expertise in high school transcript study analysis and knowledge of various education and health datasets. Expertise in program coordination, statistical analysis, technical writing and editing, and dissemination planning. Experience working in state and local education organizations on K-12 education accountability and performance measures.

Most recently at NCES, Linda served as project leader responsible for leading the U.S. data collection of 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) as well as the 2019 and 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) High School Transcript Studies (HSTS). She presented key findings from the ICILS 2023 U.S. Highlights Report to staff from the Secretary of Education, White House, and Congressional offices and the 2019 NAEP HSTS Results at several National Assessment Governing Board meetings. In addition, she oversaw the development of various presentations, briefing books and press releases, and led in preparing for the NCES Commissioner’s media briefing, resulting in useful and policy-relevant national media coverage. She managed the restart of the NAEP HSTS and established policies and procedures for a new middle school transcript data collection. Early in her career, she conducted statistical analysis using SAS, SUDAAN, and Wesvar for a variety of private organizations looking at national health metrics and developed database applications for collecting data.

Linda also has considerable federal acquisition and contract experience working with program leaders and contract officers to manage the First International Consolidated National Contract for three international studies, and Education Statistics Service Institute Network (ESSIN) and Procurement of Research Evaluation and Statistics (PRESTO) task orders. She led in developing solicitations for and rewarding several of these task orders, reviewed contract proposals, monitored contract performance and budgets, and prepared contract modifications.

Bridge builder, coordinating multiple partner teams on driving scalable, evidence-based solutions. Manage complex projects, supervising teams and aligning protocols with regulatory and compliance standards. Translate data into actionable insights, and foster collaboration across mission-driven organizations and clients. Adaptable, detail-oriented, and proactive, with strong track record in relationship-building, seeking feedback, and analytical thinking. Passionate about data quality, staff development, creating innovative tools, delivering measurable outcomes, strengthening programs and informing policy.

Sociologist and social science researcher with extensive experience in quantitative methods, research design, data collection, and reporting. Véronique led the congressionally mandated Condition of Education Report at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for 5 years. In addition to expertise in an expansive catalog of NCES and other federal data, this work also required management of a team of contractor employees (from BAs to PhDs), and communication of findings to nontechnical audiences, including briefings to Congress and White House staff. Prior to joining NCES, Véronique worked on projects that involved original data collection using tools like web-scraping (in Python) and survey administration (in Qualtrics).

Lisa Kessler is an experienced Education Research Analyst with a strong track record in school recruitment for large-scale national studies. She excels at building relationships with states, districts and schools, navigating complex approval processes, and meeting ambitious participation goals. With a Master of Education and a data-driven mindset, she translates recruitment outcomes into actionable insights to inform project strategies. Lisa is passionate about using research to elevate student outcomes and ensure diverse voices are represented in education studies.

Using strategic planning and data-driven decision-making to stimulate organizational dynamics and influence scales of effectiveness, Jerry Malitz helps clients successfully launch, analyze, and redesign programs and processes to support data and research priorities. By helping align requirements with client and user needs, by conducting targeted reviews, by developing effective processes, and through targeted training, technical assistance and data coaching, Malitz provides innovative, effective, and timely data and research solutions to clients, their staff, and customers.

At the U.S. Department of Education, Jerry Malitz served in a senior leadership role as the first Chief Information Technology Officer at the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). In this role he conceptualized, designed, and implemented information technologies across the Institute. Prior to that he served as the Chief Technology Officer and Webmaster at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), where he was the creative director in spearheading improvements in serving the needs of customers, management, and staff through the NCES website. Before taking those positions at IES and NCES, Malitz was responsible for the initial development of the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP), the Course Classification System, the Student and the Staff Data Handbooks for Elementary, Secondary, and Early Childhood Education. He led the Migrant Student Record Exchange Task Force, and he was the U.S. Department of Education’s project director for the SPEEDE/ExPRESS project as well as managing several surveys including NPSAS, IPEDS, and VEDS.

Mr. Malitz has produced several books, videos, and training sessions on data use and on the use of technology in education, and he has designed numerous applications for the dissemination and collection of information through the web.

Mr. Malitz continues to work with federal agencies, associations, State Education Departments, and postsecondary institutions, designing research approaches, putting the proper data tools at the disposal of education practitioners, and providing instruction on how to best use them to inform decision-making.

Experienced in project coordination, stakeholder collaboration, data reporting, technical writing and editing, and strategic planning. Lydia has over 10 years of experience leading large-scale international assessments and both qualitative and quantitative education research projects, managing interactive data tools, and translating complex findings into clear, actionable insights.

Most recently at NCES, Lydia served as the U.S. Study Director and National Research Coordinator for the 2019 and 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In December 2024, Lydia presented key findings from the TIMSS 2023 U.S. Highlights Report to the Secretary of Education, White House staff and Congressional offices. In addition, she prepared presentations and press releases and led preparation for the NCES Commissioner’s media briefing, resulting in accurate and impactful national media coverage.

Michael McGarrah is a social science researcher and policy strategist with 15 years of experience leading research and consulting projects across government, academia, think tanks, advocacy organizations, and nonprofit research institutes. His work focuses on translating rigorous, policy-relevant research into actionable insights that improve systems, advance opportunity, and support healthy human development.

Michael combines deep methodological expertise with an unusually broad cross-sector perspective. He has led large national surveys at the U.S. Department of Education, conducted program evaluations for U.S. and international school systems and NGOs, advised philanthropic foundations, consulting firms, and advocacy coalitions, taught graduate-level social science courses at Harvard, and instructed bilingual middle and high school students across multiple subjects in Spain as a Fulbright Scholar. This diverse experience enables him to understand the priorities and language of stakeholders at every level—from federal agencies and state/local policymakers to program managers, educators, and community members—and to communicate research findings in a way that informs action and drives impact across education, public health, criminal justice, and workforce development initiatives.

As the Study Director for the Crime and Safety Surveys Program, as well as a statistician and Contracting Officer’s Representative at the National Center for Education Statistics, Michael oversaw a $30 million federal research portfolio of complex sample surveys and managed a team of 25+ researchers and policy analysts. He led partnerships with the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Justice, managed large-scale data collection efforts on school crime, bullying, student safety, and substance use, and piloted methodological innovations including web-scraping and AI-based surveillance of emergency school closures and school shootings. He is also a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, where he studies early risk factors for youth substance abuse and delinquency.

Michael’s technical toolkit spans experimental and quasi-experimental design, causal inference, mixed-methods program evaluation, and psychometrics. He has extensive experience using Stata, R, Mplus, NVivo, and Tableau, and has led or advised evaluations of educational interventions, youth mental health programs, social-emotional learning, and career pathway initiatives in both U.S. and global contexts. He specializes in designing and implementing studies that balance scientific rigor with practical constraints—producing findings that are not just valid, but usable.

His content expertise spans the full arc of human development—from infancy and early childhood through adolescence and adulthood—with particular depth in the areas of social-emotional learning and “soft” or “non-cognitive” skill development, youth substance abuse prevention, school safety and juvenile justice, career pathways, and higher education administration and policy. He holds a PhD in Human Development from Harvard, where his dissertation focused on identifying profiles of developmental risk for youth substance abuse to inform early intervention. He also earned a Credential of Business Readiness from Harvard Business School and a teaching certificate from the Harvard Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.

Whether designing large-scale evaluations, advising on survey methods, or helping organizations clarify and communicate their impact, Michael brings a systems-focused, human-centered approach to his work. He thrives in projects that demand both technical precision and thoughtful translation—connecting data to real-world decision-making to help programs and policies better serve the people they’re meant to support.

Experienced in research design, project management, and evaluating school-based interventions in K-12 settings.

Michelle has worked as an evaluator for multiple classroom intervention programs using qualitative and quantitative methods. Most recently, Michelle served as the Survey Director for the National Household Education surveys program at NCES which collected information on parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling and use of child care.

Since 2015, David Richards worked as a study director at the National Center for Education Statistics, in the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences, with responsibility for large, nationally-representative postsecondary sample survey studies.

Shannon Russell is a versatile education researcher, specializing in motivation and cognitive development in children and adolescents. With demonstrated success in client and project management, and expertise in survey methodology, cognitive assessments, and data analysis, she promotes processes and decision-making that lead to high-quality data. As a team leader she fosters professionalism, collaboration, and high-quality work within a positive, supportive environment.

For over 10 years, Dr. Russell provided expert technical support for multiple National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) longitudinal studies including the HS&B:22, HSLS:09, ECLS-K:2024, and MGLS:2017.

Senior education data systems and data standards leader with 14+ years of experience directing cross-functional teams and multi-agency initiatives at federal and state levels. Expert in all phases of longitudinal data system development including data governance framework creation, stakeholder engagement strategy, data quality management, practical data use implementation, and sustainability planning. Strong track record of successfully leading collaborative efforts across government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations to build systems that support evidence-based decision making. Skilled at developing comprehensive technical assistance programs that transform technical data requirements into practical, sustainable solutions to improve outcomes across education, workforce, and social service sectors.

Alisha Small is a Researcher who served as the study director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Statistics at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In this role, Alisha promoted greater access to datasets from the NCES studies, focusing on producing CTE statistics of course-taking and offerings for U.S. learners in secondary, postsecondary, and adult education to increase U.S. employability in high-demand occupations. As the CTE study director, Alisha also served as a co-sponsor of the National Training Education and Workforce Survey Pilot: 2022 with the National Science Foundation, which focuses on the skilled technical workforce with STEM-related certifications, vocational certificates, and licenses obtained at the sub-baccalaureate level offered by community colleges and vocational schools. Her work focused on increasing equitable access to secondary and postsecondary programs, leading to both high-quality jobs and additional high-quality postsecondary educational opportunities.

Alisha is also the former McNair Center scholar for economic growth at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, where she served as the principal researcher of the community-engaged research: “Impact of Urban Revitalization on Small Business Study”. She served over 15 years as an Economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, measuring U.S. job credentialing requirements and employment cost trends and performing data collection and analysis for the National Compensation Survey and the Occupational Requirements Survey. Alisha has interfaced with hundreds of employers across the United States. She has hands-on experience in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) coding, National American Industry Codes (NAICS), U.S. occupational outlook, and corresponding occupational earnings.

As a former Education Statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics and her work as an Economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, she holds subject matter expertise in postsecondary credential analysis across states and knowledge of various education and economic datasets.

Erin Tanenbaum, MA is a seasoned research and analytics leader with over 20 years of experience driving evidence-based insights. Her work spans early childhood to postsecondary education. Leading the School Pulse Panel at the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, Erin accelerated data delivery by 50% and built streamlined systems to improve longitudinal comparability—helping policymakers act on timely, high-quality K–12 data.

Erin has deep experience evaluating over 350 awardees and uncovering critical insights, such as wage disparities in the early care and education workforce. Erin’s ability to translate complex data into actionable insights help influence decisions at the White House, Congress, and state education agencies. She’s known for integrating policy context into data products, with a focus on visualizations and elevating data storytelling.

Erin combines advanced expertise in statistics, machine learning, and survey methodology with a pragmatic, equity-focused lens. Whether leading teams, modernizing workflows, or mentoring the next generation of data professionals, she consistently brings clarity to complexity and impact to education systems and beyond.

Ms. Yanosky is an experienced research professional with a diverse educational background, including degrees in Sociology, Nursing, and Business. Skilled in educational and social research, survey methodology, data analysis, and technical writing. Expertise in using statistical software. Strong project management capabilities with experience supporting government agencies, universities, and non-profits.