Meet the Team

Venitia Richardson is the Director of the Effective Educator Development (EED) program office for the United States Department of Education. Prior to her time with the Department, she dedicated twenty years of her career in service to the children and families of Hartford, Connecticut, with great passion, commitment, and pride in several roles with the Hartford Public schools: special education teacher, behavioral specialist, district inclusion facilitator, assistant director in the Office for Student Support Services, middle school assistant principal, and founding principal of Opportunity High School, a high school designed as part of the district’s reform process. Venitia began on her path of youth service working for the YMCA of Greater Delaware (Dover, DE) and Greater Hartford (East Hartford, CT).

Orman Feres is the Group Leader for the Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive Program and leads the Teach to Lead and School Ambassador Fellowship programs. He joined the United States Department of Education in 2016 to support efforts and initiatives aimed at increasing students’ access to effective educators.

Mia Howerton is Group Leader with the United States Department of Education. She offers 20 years of discretionary grant experience, having managed grants in the Offices of Postsecondary Education, Innovation and Improvement, and Elementary and Secondary Education. Prior to joining the Department, she was a middle and high school social studies teacher for eight years in Richmond Public Schools. The choice to trade in her chalkboard for a “Request for Proposals/Notice Inviting Applications” came with the desire to serve students on a broader scale.

Cynthia Hunter is the TSL Program Team Lead and the Senior Program Advisor for the School Ambassador Fellowship Program at the United States Department of Education. She offers over 15 years of educational experience in a variety of roles from teacher leader, student advocate, and education consultant.

Joshua Batchelor, Ed.D., joins the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education's EED Division as an Education Program Specialist. His primary assigned role is to provide guidance and support over the School Ambassador Fellowship Program. He also supports other discretionary grant and program opportunites within the EED office.

Donna Defino is an Education Program Specialist with the Effective Educator Development Division. She is a Program Officer for the American History grant programs, and she also works on the teams for the Teach to Lead and School Ambassador Fellowship programs.

Louis D. Edwards, Ph.D., is a TQP Program Officer and Management Analyst with the United States Department of Education. Prior to coming to the Department, Louis served in many capacities with several public-school districts in the eastern United States. These positions included director, coordinator, assistant principal, and business and mathematics teacher.

Bryan D. Hale, Ph.D., is a TSL Program Officer and a School Ambassador Fellowship Program Lead with the United States Department of Education. A highly decorated veteran educator, he has spent over two decades of his career serving high-need, marginalized students in K-12 urban, suburban, and rural environments. His core belief that all children – regardless of their zip code, socio-economic status, ethnicity, or culture – are entitled to a first-class education has been the driving force behind work that he has done transforming schools and communities across the country.

Melissa Harper-Butler is a SEED Program Officer with the United States Department of Education. She came to the Department in June 2022 with over nine years of experience in education. Prior to her transition to the Department, Melissa worked at the District of Columbia's state education agency, Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).

Michelle Kennedy, Ph.D., is a Program Officer in the Office of Effective Educator Development. Michelle has over 15 years in K-20 education, including over 10 years teaching middle and high school English. She has worked as a grant evaluator and program data analyst to provide support for grantees and delivered detailed data reporting to state and local entities regarding program efficacy.

Nikki Palmore is a TSL Program Officer with the United States Department of Education. She has over 20 years of experience in education, serving at the state and local levels. Nikki has experience working with federal programs through her previous work at the Georgia Department of Education and a metro-area school district.

Mone't Peterson-Cox joins the Office of Supporting Effective Educator Development Division as an Education Program Specialist. Prior to this role, she served as a Program Staff Assistant with OPE, International and Foreign Language Education, Advanced Training Research Division. Mone't has a wealth of experience with over 20 years of government service and 10 years of grants management.

Terrell Sample is a SEED Program Officer with the United States Department of Education. As an advocate of well-being, she seeks to promote a holistic approach to well-being, resilience, and equity in education. She is a multifaceted professional who has served in various capacities within the private sector, non-profit, state, and local governments with a proven record of performance and progressive experience from conception to completion coupled with strong and effective leadership for more than 20 years.

Patricia A. Searles is a TSL Program Officer and an Education Program Specialist with the United States Department of Education. She has spent most of her career working for the Federal Government, including the past fifteen years with the U.S. Department of Education.

Diana Schneider is a TQP Program Officer with the United States Department of Education.

Lynette Cameron is Convening Coordinator of the EED TA Center. Lynette has 20 years of experience managing education projects and brings a strengths-based approach to providing TA to grantees.

Emily Fishkin is an EED TA provider at the EED TA Center. Emily brings varied experience including photo and video production, content writing and publication, and data storytelling and collaborative platform usage. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed working and volunteering with middle and high school students on test preparation, college applications, and subject-specific tutoring. 

Carla Howe, Ph.D., has over 20 years of K-12 experience ranging from school choice research assistant, to classroom teacher, to district and regional teacher consultant, to leading information and reporting initiatives at the State Education Agency. Currently, Carla supports the design, development, and implementation of technical assistance efforts across additional contracts and projects at AEM. She has nearly 15 years of experience in K-12 education at both the state and local levels, including time as a seventh-grade social studies teacher.

Jason LaTurner, Ph.D. has 20 years of experience providing technical assistance, evaluation, and research support to states and districts. His primary areas of expertise are in supporting educators and leaders focused on preparation and retention. Additionally, he provides technical assistance and training to clients on how to build logic models, use state longitudinal data systems, develop efficient data collection tools, analyze data, and present results.

Antoinette Magee is an EED TA Expert and Collaboration Lead at the EED TA Center. Antoinette brings over 15 years of college access and educational equity experience in the K12, higher education and nonprofit level. She has worked throughout the state of California for most of this time and brings a deep commitment to ensure all students, especially students furthest from opportunity, have access to quality education ultimately leading to successful college and/or career pathways.

Lauren K. B. Matlach is an EED TA Expert at the EED TA Center. For the past decade, Lauren’s work has focused on educator talent management policies and initiatives.

Chris L. Nicastro, Ph.D. is a subject matter expert for AEM and a facilitator for the EED TA Center. She brings decades of experience as a teacher, administrator, superintendent and chief state school officer. She has worked on several DOE programs including the Teacher-Leader Study, Co-Lead of the Central Regional Advisory Committee for the Comprehensive Center, and Co-Lead of the Region 5 Comprehensive Center serving Virginia.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Ratliff is an EED TA Expert at the EED TA Center. Betsy brings over 20 years of experience in the PK-12 education as a classroom teacher, gifted intervention specialist, and gifted coordinator.

Monica Young, Ph.D., is the Director of the EED TA Center. At AEM Corporation, Monica provides technical assistance for states and districts as they plan and implement strategies to ensure that all students have equitable access to excellent educators. She designs and collaborates on providing technical assistance focused on collection and use of performance data, data management, and sustainability. Additionally, she provides research and evaluation support as a member of the State Support Team of the U.S. Department of Education’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant Program.