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Board of Directors
Elizabeth Rohatyn, Chairman
Vivien Duffy, Vice Chairman
Richard I. Beattie
Janet Dewart Bell
Helen Birenbaum
Dr. Edward A. Friedman
Patricia Glazer
Bonnie Kaiser, Ph.D.
Bryan R. Lawrence
Meredith Stebbins
Olga Votis
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Management Team
Lynette Guastaferro, Executive Director
Jane Condliffe, Deputy Director
John Clemente, Director of Educational Services
Naomi Cooperman, Director of Curriculum
Kim Frumin, Internal Professional Development and Residency Program Director
Kenya Lucas-Matos, Development Officer
Evan O'Donnell, Director of Technology
Carl Potts, Creative Director
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| Bios: |
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Lynette Guastaferro, Executive Director
Ms. Guastaferro leads Teaching Matters with her unique blend of business management consulting, technology innovation, and teaching experience. As a former senior consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Policy Research and Analysis group, she advised government and educational agencies on how to improve performance through innovative technology and effective management. Her work on education reform led her to inner-city Baltimore, where she taught elementary school and created a technology-based learning support lab for literacy and mathematics. She joined Teaching Matters in 1997 as Director of Planning and created and launched @School Anytime, the organization’s award-winning on-line training program. Ms. Guastaferro was also a lead consultant on the early design and development of SchoolNet, one of the first systems for collecting and analyzing student data. Ms. Guastaferro received an M.B.A. from Columbia University and B.A. from Williams College.
email Lynette at lguastaferro@teachingmatters.org
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Jane Condliffe, Deputy Director
One of the authors of the New York City Board of Education’s Technology Plan and founder of the Citizens Coalition for Technology in Schools, Ms. Condliffe has more than 33 years of experience working with non-profits, government, and in education. A founding staff member of Teaching Matters, she develops programs such as Constitution Today that bring the democratic process to life for students while training their teachers in the use of technology in the classroom. She was one of the managers of New York City’s 1996 Technology Summit that brought together more than 200 educators, business executives, and government leaders to develop a technology plan for the NYC school system. She now advises school districts on how to utilize their technology resources to advance student achievement. A life-long resident of New York, Ms. Condliffe holds a B.A. from New York University.
email Jane at jcondliffe@teachingmatters.org
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John Clemente, Director of Educational Services
Mr. Clemente leads our team of 35 educational consultants with high expectations to achieve the goals of over 200 education clients. He oversees the implementation of Teaching Matters professional development services and programs. He has been with Teaching Matters since 2004, and has been a key member of the development team for the Voices and Choices and Writing Matters series. He graduated from New York University with a degree in anthropology. He subsequently joined the AmeriCorps VISTA Program in Paterson, New Jersey. He was an inaugural member of the New York City Teaching Fellows, teaching middle school in the south Bronx for four years. He received his Masters in Education from Lehman College and a Masters in Media Studies from New School University.
email John at jclemente@teachingmatters.org
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Naomi Cooperman, Ed.D. Director of Curriculum and Instruction
For more than 13 years, Dr. Cooperman was an Instructional Design Specialist at the Center for Management and Organization Research at Baruch College, CUNY. She has developed and taught courses on the instructional implications of technology in the classroom at Bank Street College and Fairleigh Dickinson. She received her doctorate from the Department of Communications, Computing, and Technology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, where she conducted research on teachers’ beliefs concerning technology in the classroom and their introduction to the Internet. Since the founding of Teaching Matters in 1994, Dr. Cooperman has helped to raise more than $5 million in private funding for public schools. She earned an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin and a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts.
email Naomi at ncooperman@teachingmatters.org
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Kim Frumin, Internal Professional Development and Residency Program Director
Ms. Frumin brings more than ten years experience working in education.
Prior to joining Teaching Matters, Ms. Frumin coordinated and facilitated educational outreach programs throughout New York City public schools for Learning Through Art/The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's Children's Program; served as a freelance researcher for Sesame Workshop; and developed online curriculum for Pace University. Ms. Frumin earned an Ed.M., focused on art and technology in education, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in anthropology and art history.
email Kim at kfrumin@teachingmatters.org
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Kenya Lucas-Matos, Development Officer
Ms. Lucas-Matos has more than 12 years of experience in research, program planning and development and has worked in the academic, nonprofit, and private sectors. Most recently, she oversaw the competitive grants program for Edison Schools, Inc. – the nation’s largest private manager of public schools – across twenty states for approximately 150 school partners. At Teaching Matters, Ms. Lucas-Matos is responsible for all aspects of fundraising and development. She earned an M.A. from Brown University and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
email Kenya at klucas@teachingmatters.org
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Evan O'Donnell, Director of Technology
Mr. O'Donnell brings more than ten years experience as a web developer, systems administrator and database developer to Teaching Matters. Evan joined Teaching Matters in 2001 to help design and implement the award winning programs Teaching with the 'Net and The Connected Principal, two of the organization's Distance Learning courses for Teachers and Principals. Evan is currently responsible for maintaining and developing Teaching Matters' hardware, information systems, websites and distance learning programs. Mr. O'Donnell received his BA from Binghamton University.
email Evan at eodonnell@teachingmatters.org
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Carl Potts, Creative Director
As Teaching Matters' Creative Director, Mr. Potts is responsible for the design of the user’s experience for the organization's new technology-based core content programs. Previously, he served as Executive Editor of Marvel Entertainment’s Marvel Comics and Epic Comics imprints. During his thirteen years with Marvel, Potts’ projects included several educational series aimed at the middle school market. Potts also wrote the curriculum for Marvel's highly-successful artist training program. That success led him to give a series of lectures on the principles of sequential visual storytelling at Parson’s School of Design, School of Visual Arts and LucasArts/ILM. Potts’ involvement in interactive media began more than twenty years ago when he worked on an early home computer game for the Jim Henson Company. His interactive experience includes creative-directing at a massively multiplayer online game development company and serving as Sr. Creative Director at AGENCY.COM where he led teams developing websites for Colgate Palmolive, Sirius Satellite Radio, Omnicom and other major corporations
email Carl at cpotts@teachingmatters.org
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Libby Baker, Educational Consultant
Ms. Baker has worked in the field of educational technology for almost fifteen years. She has extensive experience producing web content and educational multimedia for a variety of audiences and industries. Ms. Baker also taught elementary school in East New York for two years. Since joining Teaching Matters, she has focused on the New York City Balanced Literacy initiative and has helped to develop content for the Office of Instructional Technology. Ms. Baker received a B.A. from Boston University, an M.A. in developmental psychology from Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and her M.Ed. from Brooklyn College.
email Libby at lbaker@teachingmatters.org
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Laurie Baum, Educational Consultant
Ms. Baum brings more than 17 years in the field of education to her work as a Curriculum Writer for Teaching Matters. Most recently, she was a learning specialist in two NYC independent schools where she encouraged students to use technology as a tool to facilitate their writing. Her classroom experience has included seven years teaching a self-contained 5th grade class at the Fieldston Lower School in the Bronx. Prior to working as a teacher, Ms. Baum ran the Columbia University Liberty Partnership Program, a drop-out prevention program that provided enrichment and work experience for 250 adolescents in Washington Heights. She has also worked at several NYC museums, running education programs for students of all ages. Ms. Baum attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut where she received a B.A. in Psychology. In addition, she completed an M.S. in Teacher Education from Bank Street College of Education and participated in both the Reading and Writing Workshop Programs at Teachers College.
email Laurie at lbaum@teachingmatters.org
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Felice Belle, Educational Consultant
For over five years Ms. Belle has worked in New York City public schools, teaching creative writing workshops in under-served communities. Most recently she served as Director of Youth Speaks New York, where she created standards-based spoken word curricula and coordinated a citywide teen poetry slam competition. In addition, Felice has worked as an instructor at iMentor, using innovative, technology-based approaches to youth mentoring and education. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University and an MA in Creative Writing and Education from New York University 's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her work has been published in the Columbia University-based journal Roots and Culture, SLAM, DrumVoices Revue, Longshot, and the Def Jam anthology Bum Rush the Page.
email Felice at fbelle@teachingmatters.org
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Romana Bertolotti, Educational Consultant
Ms. Bertolotti has worked as a professional developer for more than eight years. Since joining Teaching Matters, Romana has helped developed Principals 2000, Teaching Matters' institute for principals, and Digital Literature, Teaching Matters' innovative program that engages students through the classics. Romana also teaches communication, media criticism and mass media history at Adelphi University and at Marymount Manhattan College. She holds a BA in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College and an MA in Media Ecology from New York University.
email Romana at rbertolotti@teachingmatters.org
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Howard Better, Educational Consultant
Mr. Better currently teaches 3-D Computer Animation at New York City College of Technology. For the past nine years, he has been teaching Animation and Video workshops to middle school students, which have culminated in videos focusing on subject matter such as Renaissance Art, Greek Fables, Cubism, and the History of Jackson Heights. He has been a film and video artist for twenty-five years. He has received a Puffin Foundation grant, and has exhibited his work in New York and other cities. He has taught Animation and Filmmaking at Brooklyn College and Bloomfield College in New Jersey.
email Howard at hbetter@teachingmatters.org
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Shelley Bookstein, Educational Consultant
Ms. Bookstein has been teaching for over thirteen years and has been with Teaching Matters since 2005. Before coming to Teaching Matters, Shelley spent eight years working as the technology coordinator/ specialist for schools in New York; helping the faculty and the students to integrate technology with the curriculum, and developing and implementing new projects that enhanced the use of technology in education. Shelley holds a BS from Boston University, School of Communications, and an MA in Teaching from Simmons College. In May 2007, Shelley earned her Advanced Certificate in Educational Technology from Pace University. Shelley has her permanent teaching license in Elementary Education (N-6) and her Professional Teaching license as an Educational Technology Specialist (K-12).
email Shelley at sbookstein@teachingmatters.org
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Solangel Brujan, Educational Consultant
Ms. Brujan is interested in the areas of language learning, pedagogy, and human development. She has focused on creating and analyzing the curriculum of elementary, bilingual, and special education programs. Ms. Brujan has developed extensive knowledge about the application of technology in curriculum through her many years of teaching. Her M.S.ED from Bank Street College of Education and current research for her doctoral dissertation at Fordham University have provided Ms. Brujan with a rich foundation for supporting technology integration within our New York City classrooms.
email Solangel at sbrujan@teachingmatters.org
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Jennifer Charles, Ed.D. Educational Consultant
Dr. Charles has provided in-classroom professional development on integrating technology with instruction for nearly 20 years. A former researcher for the Children’s Television Workshop and public school language arts teacher, she has taught courses at Bank Street College and the College of New Rochelle. She studied the effects of social and organizational factors on technology integration for her doctorate, which she received from Columbia University’s Department of Communications, Computing and Technology, Teachers College. Dr. Charles holds an M.Ed. from Teachers College and a B.A. from the University of the West Indies.
email Jennifer at jcharles@teachingmatters.org
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Jelbin DelaCruz, Educational Consultant
Mr. DelaCruz has worked as an instructional technology specialist for over seven years. He was manager of the Children's Museum of Manhattan Media Center (1997-2000), a state of the art television studio. There he developed media literacy programs for schools while facilitating workshops for museum visitors. He then proceeded to the Bertelsmann Foundation (Media Workshop New York) where he trained teachers on how to utilize technology in their classrooms. Through this four year initiative, Mr. DelaCruz worked at various high schools around the city including: Forest Hills High School, Taft High School, High School for Environmental Studies and Brandeis High School. Jelbin continues to expand his horizons within the field of instructional technology.
email Jelbin at jdelacruz@teachingmatters.org
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Richard Devir, Educational Consultant
Mr. Devir brings more than 22 years of in-classroom experience to Teaching Matters. Rich specializes in the integration of technology into mathematics and is a former classroom teacher of gifted students with learning disabilities. He conducted staff development courses and workshops and assisted classroom teachers with technology integration at Putnam / Northern Westchester BOCES for 15 years. Rich is a regular presenter at the National Educational Computing Conference. He is a graduate of Amherst College and has a Master of Arts degree from Teachers College of Columbia University.
email Rich at rdevir@teachingmatters.org
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Bill Donaldson, Educational Media Specialist
Mr. Donaldson has worked with teachers and students for more than eight years. Over the past three years, Bill has designed, implemented and refined the Digital Literature and History in Focus programs. He is currently developing a new program for public schools called the Poetry Network that promises to inspire students through poetry and technology. He has also coordinated special projects at Teaching Matters from the Annenberg Foundation, the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Mr. Donaldson holds a BA from University of Michigan and a Masters in Elementary Education from Hunter College.
email Bill at bdonaldson@teachingmatters.org
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William Heller, Ph.D. Educational Consultant
Dr. Heller has specialized in the integration of arts and technology across the curriculum in New York City schools for the past ten years. Bill received his doctorate from New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, where he also teaches graduate-level courses in Shakespeare and English Education. His doctoral research documented how students working on collaborative technology projects were able to demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of Shakespeare. Bill has written curriculum for a number of programs for Teaching Matters, including Constitution Today and Digital Documentaries, and his article on Internet filtering has appeared in newspapers across the country. Recently, Bill was accepted to present at NECC his work teaching seventh-grade classes in Queens to create hour-long digitally-animated productions of Shakespeare's Macbeth and As You Like It. Dr. Heller holds a BA from Albright College and an MA from New York University.
email Bill at wheller@teachingmatters.org
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Jamie Lilly, Educational Consultant
Ms. Lilly believes that a relevant public educational system will predict the future success of a society. For seven years, she taught in New York City Public Schools as well as in rural and suburban settings in Indiana. She joined the Content Team at Teaching Matters to develop curriculum for its Writing Matters program. As a classroom teacher, Jamie Lilly was awarded for innovative work around technology and curriculum with special education and gifted students. Ms. Lilly has taught using the Reading and Writing Workshop for several years at a variety of levels, and trained colleagues on using the workshop model in the classroom. She received her M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Literacy and Technology from Lesley University, and obtained her B.S. in Education with a minor in Literacy from Indiana University in Bloomington.
email Jamie at jlilly@teachingmatters.org
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Sebastian Mondrone, Educational Consultant
"You want your students not just to absorb the information you deliver, but also the enthusiasm in which you present it." Sebastian Mondrone began his teaching career in 1990 with a first grade classroom in a small private school. Initially a reading specialist with a love of computers, he soon began creating literacy programs for middle school students that implemented the growing presence of technology within the school environment. Working several years for the New York City Board of Education, he held the position of Project SMART Staff developer when becoming a teacher trainer for a private software provider working with dozens of NYC schools. Sebastian is a graduate of Fordham University where he is currently pursuing a higher degree as a "literacy specialist."
email Sebastian at smondrone@teachingmatters.org
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David Payne, Educational Consultant
Mr. Payne has been involved in education and technology for over 10 years. He entered the field as a teacher at such prestigious institutions as The Collegiate School and Grace Church School in New York City, where he was instrumental in establishing the Middle School Media Center, integrating Social Studies and Internet technology. He went on to become Technology Coordinator for the Ronald Edmonds Academy in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where he established two new computer labs with donations from corporate sponsors. Immediately before returning to Teaching Matters this year as a consultant, Mr. Payne was a Computer Training Specialist for the Long Island Rail Road, teaching Microsoft Office applications, as well as proprietary software. Mr. Payne has earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Sociology and African-American Studies and is currently completing his J.D. at St. John’s University.
email David at dpayne@teachingmatters.org
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Elizabeth Quispe, Information Systems Coordinator
Ms. Quispe joined the Distance Learning Department in 2001 to help implement the award winning programs Teaching with the ‘Net and The Connected Principal, courses for Teachers and Principals in New York City public schools. She has over six years of project management experience in education and Technology. She contributes to the maintenance, development and upgrades of Teaching Matters’ hardware and websites. Elizabeth is currently focusing to help design and implement web-based systems in educational programs for New York City public schools. Ms. Quispe received her B.T from New York City College of Technology.
email Elizabeth at equispe@teachingmatters.org
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Angela Russell, Educational Consultant
Ms. Russell previously taught 6th grade in
Harlem
, where her creative and successful use of computers in the classroom led to positions as Technology Instructional Specialist, and District Five’s Project SMART staff developer. A personal commitment to bringing technology to urban areas has led her to teach classes with Grosvenor Neighborhood House, Betty Shabbazz Leadership Academy and NYCHA after-school programs. Prior to Teaching Matters, Ms. Russell piloted the Mouse Squad program with MOUSE.org, and worked as a life skills Program Specialist for Directions for Our Youth. Coming full circle as an Educational Consultant with Teaching Matters, Ms. Russell works with the Constitution Today program and as an ITIS for Region 9. A
California
native, she holds a B.A. in Speech Communication from
California
State
University
,
Long Beach
, MOUS certified from Microsoft, Mentoring Supervisor Certificate from
Fordham
University
, and is presently pursuing a M.S. in Instructional Technology.
email Angela at arussell@teachingmatters.org
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Kristin Vallinoti, Educational Consultant
Mrs. Valinotti has been in the classroom for over 14 years having started out as a paraprofessional and moving from classroom teacher to staff developer. She comes to Teaching Matters with a wealth of experience working in elementary and middle schools in Brooklyn and New Jersey, where she resides with her husband and two sons. A graduate of Brooklyn College with a MS in Education, she was a member of Kappa Delta Pi , International Honor Society in Education. She has conducted workshops on Classroom Management and Balanced Literacy. She has worked as a mentor in the NYC Mentor Teacher Internship Program and teacher trainer to new teachers. She looks forward to working alongside teachers to help implement exciting literacy lessons that integrate technology.
email Kristen at kvallinoti@teachingmatters.org
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