SCHOOL LEADER LAB TEAM
DAVID AYALA, Senior Director of Program. David Ayala is the Senior Director of Program at School Leader Lab. Prior to joining SLL, David worked as Head of Schools, supporting The Learning Center and coaching and managing middle school principals. He brings his experience as a Principal, Vice Principal, and Middle School English teacher. During the eight years he lead KIPP DC KEY Academy, the school was among the highest performing in DC and Ward 7, earning recognition as an OSSE Reward School and a KIPP Featured School. David has lead professional development for Teach for America, Accelerate institute and the KIPP School Leadership Program. He has been honored with the KIPP Founder’s Award, the KIPP DC Innovation Award, and the Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award. David is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds a Master’s in Educational Leadership from National Louis University.
TATIANA EPANCHIN, Co-founder, Head of Program. Tatiana leads our program design and execution. Before her work with School Leader Lab, Tatiana was SVP of Regional Operations at Teach for America, where she supported 8 regions across the country. Prior to TFA, she served as Aspire Public Schools’ Regional Superintendent where she led 11 schools in the Bay Area. While at Aspire, Tatiana was the founding principal of Aspire’s ERES Academy and was principal of Monarch Academy, both in East Oakland. Under Tatiana’s leadership, Monarch was recognized with a National Title I award for the most progress in closing the achievement gap in California. Tatiana’s school leadership began as a Lead Teacher with Aspire. Tatiana practiced social work with Families First as an intensive family preservation therapist and started her career as a TFA Corps member in New Orleans. Tatiana has a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an MSW from California State University, Sacramento and MEd in Educational Leadership from California State University, East Bay in partnership with New Leaders for New Schools. Tatiana was selected to be a Leveraged Leadership Institute Fellow with Relay GSE in 2016-17 and is currently a Leading for Equity Fellow with the National Equity Project.
AMANDA KRAMER BORDEN, Co-founder, Head of Strategy & Operations. Amanda oversees our strategy, operations, finance and project work. Amanda was most recently part of KIPP DC’s senior leadership team overseeing the Communications & Marketing, Talent and Data teams, partnerships, advocacy and strategic projects for the largest charter network in DC. Amanda came to KIPP DC from Success Academy Charter Schools in New York, where she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Instructional Development. Before moving to education reform, she worked in brand management, innovation, and strategy for Diageo. She started her career in strategy consulting and investment banking. Amanda graduated from Washington University, holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Education Leadership from the Broad Residency in Urban Education.
MELISSA MARTIN, Senior Director of Program. Melissa leads our coaching model and works on our program design. Melissa joins School Leader Lab from Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College. Over the past four years, Melissa has coached aspiring principals and principals from the district, charter and independent school sectors. Prior to Lynch, Melissa served as the Director of School Partnerships at Flamboyan Foundation in DC. As a New Leader, Melissa served with DCPS, as principal at Scott Montgomery Elementary and the Walker Jones Education Campus. She was also a founding member of the DC Collaborative for Change. She is a graduate of DCPS’s Wilson High School, Bowdoin College, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (EdM) and Trinity College where she earned an MSA in Educational Administration. Melissa is currently a National Supervisors Academy Fellow with Relay GSE.
OUR BOARD
Jessica Cunningham Akoto
Jessica works for the KIPP Foundation as Executive in Residence, providing critical support to KIPP schools. Prior to this role, she was with KIPP DC for 14 years. She began her career as the sixth-grade math teacher at the region’s flagship school: KEY Academy. Upon completing the Fisher Fellowship, Jessica founded KIPP DC’s third middle school, WILL Academy, and served as the school’s principal for four years. Jessica then served as a Chief Academic Officer for two years before deciding to return to school leadership in 2012 as the very proud principal of KIPP DC’s high school, KIPP DC College Prep.
Jacquelyn Davis
Jacquelyn has worked with entrepreneurs and national philanthropies on strategy, new initiative design, growth and start-up, and management. She has worked as a subject expert in the areas of human capital, school turnaround, charter management, and state and city education redesign. Previously, Jacquelyn served as an Education Fellow to the George W. Bush Institute and launched New Leaders DC, a national nonprofit that attracts, prepares, and supports outstanding school leaders. She co-founded Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School and Hands on DC. Prior to her work in education, she served as a Congressional Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, Legislative Assistant, and a Congressional campaign manager. Jacquelyn earned a J.D. with honors from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Brown University. She has been named a “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian Magazine.
Joaquin Tamayo
Joaquin is the National Director of the Kind Schools Project at Stand for Children. He is a native of Los Angeles and his mother is a veteran middle school teacher in LAUSD. He started his career in education as a high school teacher, was in the fourth class of New Leaders principals, and then served as the founding principal of the Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law high school in New York. He then served as Assistant Director of the Aspen Institute’s Education and Society Program and subsequently went to work for the Obama Administration, where he served on the President’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force and, ultimately, as Director of Strategic Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Education. It was in this role that he led a school climate initiative which, combined with his many other experiences, make Joaquin the ideal person to help Stand launch an initiative to improve school climates and reduce suspensions. Joaquin graduated from Columbia University and has a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University.
OUR ADVISORS
Angela Harvey-Bowen, Teach for America, Delaware
Kate Mehr, KJM Consulting
Matt Taylor, Achievement First
Butch Trusty, EdCities
JOIN US!
We’re always looking for great people to partner with, or to join our team. Please introduce yourself: hello@schoolleaderlab.org