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.

Experienced in federal data reporting, data analysis and visualization, research design, and cross-agency collaboration to improve education data systems.

Most recently, at NCES, Chen-Su served as the Survey Director for the Common Core of Data (CCD) Nonfiscal, leading efforts to collect, validate, and release national K–12 education data. She played a key role in modernizing EDFacts data quality checks and supported interagency coordination to improve reporting efficiency. Her work integrates strong technical skills in SAS, SPSS, Excel, and Tableau with a deep commitment to making complex education data accessible and actionable for policymakers, researchers, and the public.

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.

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.

Dr. Grim is an education statistics and psychometrics expert with extensive experience in test development, survey methodology, and quantitative analysis. Her strategic insights and advanced statistical modeling using SPSS, R, and specialized psychometric software result in valid and reliable instruments for scales that yield precise, data-driven decisions. She specializes in enhancing data collection processes and improving survey design while maintaining a commitment to excellence and innovation in educational research.

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).