Montessori For All’s next board meeting will be May 25, 2023 from 12:00pm-1:30pm at Magnolia Montessori 5100 Pecan Brook Dr Austin, TX 78724.
Board Meeting Agenda, Minutes, and Policies
All board members complete state required trainings and submit the required Conflict of Interest forms annually.
Board of Directors:
Richard Reddick, Chairman of the Board; Assistant Professor, University of Texas
Dr. Reddick is an assistant professor in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Administration at The University of Texas at Austin, and is also the coordinator of the M.Ed. program in College and University Student Personnel Administration, where he was honored with an Eyes of Texas Excellence Award. Dr. Reddick’s teaching and research focus on diversity in higher education, the sociocultural adaptation of Black families, and qualitative research methods. Dr. Reddick’s research on mentoring relationships between faculty and Black students includes factors influencing faculty mentorship, the role of formative experiences in professors’ lives in their approach to mentoring, and the advising and counseling approaches utilized by faculty in mentoring Black students. He is a proud graduate of an East Austin public high school.
Bob DeWitt, Associate Vice President – Investments, Wells Fargo Advisors
Mr. DeWitt received his degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting from the University of California in Santa Barbara. He is also a board member for the Austin Symphony and a graduate of Leadership Austin, class of 2016. He enjoys competing in various endurance events and he has finished the Hawaiian Ironman twice. Bob has been married to his wife Terrie for over 25 years and they are longtime residents of Austin, Texas.
Craig Hampton, Executive Director, PK-12 Partnerships, at New Leader
As Executive Director, PK-12 Partnerships at New Leaders, Mr. Hampton helps organizations achieve student success by focusing on equity and building leadership capacity. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Craig moved to Austin to begin his life’s work as a middle school teacher. Craig earned his M.Ed. from the University of Texas at Austin, and subsequently served as an assistant principal and principal, before transitioning to the private and nonprofit partnership development side of education. Craig currently resides in Austin where he enjoys playing tennis and fulfilling his most rewarding roles as husband, and father of two daughters.
Nicole De Santis, Consultant, Boston Consulting Group
Nicole is currently a consultant with Boston Consulting Group. She works in BCG’s education practice, focused on strategy for birth to three and PK-12 organizations and school systems in Texas and across the country. During her time at BCG, she has worked with state education agencies, school districts, collective impact organizations, think tanks, and other nonprofits. She previously served as Director of Operations for Dallas ISD Early Learning, managing the budget, data analysis and reporting, strategy, and operations for PreK through 2nd grade for the district. She also spent time working directly for the Austin based education leadership development nonprofit, The Holdsworth Center, during her time with BCG. She has volunteered with Lumin Education, a public Montessori charter school in Dallas, for over three years. Nicole is a graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in Economics.
Board of Advisors:
Matthew Kramer, Co-CEO, Teach For America
As president, Mr. Kramer is responsible for Teach For America’s overall performance, operations, and effectiveness. He works closely with the chief executive officer and leadership team to guide Teach For America’s long-term strategy, make operating decisions (including resource allocation), and develop the optimal organizational culture. He joined Teach For America after working at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where he was a partner and leader in the North American Financial Institutions practice. In addition to his work with insurers and asset managers, Mr. Kramer has also served nonprofit institutions focused on K-12 education. Prior to joining McKinsey, Mr. Kramer received a B.A. in economics from Harvard University.
Terry Ford, CEO and Founder of East Dallas Community Schools
After four years as a bilingual first grade teacher in the Dallas Independent School District, Ms. Ford founded and continues to oversee East Dallas Community Schools (EDCS), an organization with a 34-year track record of successfully educating young children from primarily low-income families. EDCS partners with families in the neediest areas of Dallas to provide excellent educational opportunities for their children. For more than three decades, Ms. Ford and her team have worked relentlessly to implement the philosophy of Start Young, Involve Parents. The early-education Montessori programs serve families starting in pregnancy through third grade. Investing in the education of young children reaps huge rewards. In neighborhoods where half of high school freshman do not graduate from high school as seniors, EDCS alumni graduate at a rate of 95% with 89% of those graduates attending college.
Jill Kolasinski, Founder of KIPP Austin
Ms. Kolasinski founded KIPP Austin in 2002. She led the strategic planning to grow the organization from a single school into a network that will encompass ten campuses.
After graduating from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Sociology, Ms. Kolasinski began teaching through the Teach For America program. Her fourteen years of teaching experience include work in public elementary and middle schools. She has taught all core subjects for grades five through eight.
Ms. Kolasinski was a pioneer teacher at the KIPP Academy in Houston in 1995. She moved to Austin in 1999 and began teaching in the Austin Independent School District. In 2002, she founded KIPP Austin College Prep to address the unique needs of students in East Austin and has a strong commitment to providing an excellent education and life opportunities for children from low-income families. In recognition of Ms. Kolasinski’s leadership, she received the Austin Under 40 award in the Youth & Education category in 2007.
Chong-Hao Fu, Chief Program Officer of Leading Educators
At Leading Educators, Mr. Fu oversees the curriculum development and the delivery of the Fellowship program and is responsible for the national program evaluation and assessment strategy. Part of that work includes cultivating and enlisting the support of a Curriculum Advisory Committee. He also collaborates with regional Executive Directors to evaluate program efficiency at individual sites. Before joining Leading Educators, Mr. Fu founded and led KIPP Sharpstown College Prep, a fine arts middle school in Houston, Texas. Prior to serving as a school leader, he was a teacher with the original KIPP Academy in Houston and with Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta. Mr. Fu holds a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and a M.A. in Education Administration from National Louis University.
Al Lopez, Executive Director, Economic Growth Business Incubator
Al Lopez is the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in East Austin that helps historically economically disadvantaged community members open their own businesses. Prior to joining EGBI, Lopez was a finance executive at Dell, Inc. for 11 years, most recently serving as vice president of finance for Dell’s Global Services & IT organization. Previously he spent 21 years at IBM in a host of financial management and executive positions, including two years overseas in France, after starting his career as a sales representative.