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

Patricia Ann 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. 

Some of Patricia’s professional affiliations include the American School Counseling Association, American Counseling Association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Currently, Patricia volunteers as a mentor for the Everybody Wins Reading Program at Amidon Elementary School. She is a native Washingtonian and attended DC public schools as a student. 

Patricia holds a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia State University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Akron, and a Master of School Counseling from George Washington University. Between 2019-2020, she participated and graduated from the Pathways to Leadership Program for developing leaders. 

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. 

Prior to joining the Department, she was the Project Director and agency liaison for three federally funded mental health and SEL initiatives for the Maryland State Department of Education and co-leader for the creation and implementation of trauma-informed guidelines entitled "A Trauma Informed Approach for Maryland Schools.". As a leader she "aspires to inspire" by cultivating, stimulating, motivating, and educating the staff, students, families, partnerships, and communities she serves. 

Terrell holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Wilmington University, a Master of Science in Public Administration, and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Wilmington University. 

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. Title VI programs offer domestic grants to institutions of higher education to develop and maintain capacity and performance in area/international studies and world languages. Mone't has a wealth of experience with over 20 years of government service and 10 years of grants management. 

Outside of work, Mone't enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and experiencing new cultures. 

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. She also has expertise in supporting schools and districts with implementing technology initiatives and training educators at all levels in using technology to enhance teaching and learning. 

Nikki holds a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and a Master of Education in Elementary Education from Howard University. Additionally, she holds graduate-level certifications in School Library Media from the University of West Georgia and School Leadership from Georgia State University. 

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. She is committed to ensuring grantee success by providing them the tools and support they need to execute their programs and improve student outcomes by creating well-rounded, innovative, and passionate educators. 

Currently, Michelle lives in Texas and has a menagerie of animals including two cats, a dog, and a horse. 

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton, a Master of Arts in Education from Claremont Graduate University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin. 

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). 

At OSSE, Melissa served as a Change In Placement Coordinator and Program Analyst, as a member of the Division of Systems and Supports, K-12, addressing the educational needs of the District students with disabilities, providing training and technical assistance and managing grant activities for the DC Community Schools Incentive Initiative Grant, Truancy Prevention and Literacy Pilot Program and Title I, Part D. 

Melissa also has over 22 years of experience at the DC Child and Family Services Agency and Catholic Charities, managing the day-to-day program operations and providing various support services to children and families involved in the child welfare system. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys baking and watching Hallmark channel movies. 

Melissa has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from The Catholic University of America of Washington, DC. 

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. 

As a researcher and wellness advocate, Bryan focuses on whole child initiatives that promote holistic wellness in education, the lack of which have detrimental effects on a child’s ability to learn. He has facilitated dynamic professional learning nationally on a variety of topics, including school and community partnerships; systemic transformational leadership; creating trauma-informed schools; and his true passion, social-emotional learning and holistic wellness in education. 

Bryan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics Education from Kentucky State University, a Master of Education in Education Administration from Cleveland State University, and Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from Chicago State University. 

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. 

Donna offers 14 years of experience in public education, having served in various roles in both public and public charter school systems in Washington, DC. She began her career in education as a Teach for America 2009 corps member, teaching special education in the District of Columbia Public Schools. She then joined KIPP DC, first as a Director of Student Support and then as a vice-principal. After KPP, she took on an LEA-level role as Director of Student Support for Merician Public Charter School. She joined the United States Department of Education in May of 2022. 

Donna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. She also holds several advanced degrees, including a Master of Education in Special Education from George Mason University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Georgetown University. 

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. 

With thirty years of military service, Louis is a highly decorated retired Army Colonel and Airborne Paratrooper with 26 years of leadership experience and 10 years as a Commanding Officer in the US Army Theater Signal Command as an Antiterrorism Officer; US Army Cyber Command as the Chief of Operations and Organizational Development; and US Army Africa Command as the Director of Joint Forces Operations. Louis held the highest top-secret security clearance offered. Louis played college football and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. 

Louis completed the Command and Brigadier General Staff College. He holds a dual Doctor of Philosophy in Administration and Management from Walden and Indiana Universities, a Master of Science in Education, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Alabama A&M University. Louis has also completed studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, the Leadership Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business Executive Education Program.