Elizabeth serves as the Executive Director of Teach For America St. Louis. Originally from Chicago, Elizabeth began her career as a 2006 St. Louis Corps Member, where she taught high school special education for five years in the St. Louis Public Schools district. She joined the KIPP St. Louis team in 2012 as the founding Director of Talent Acquisition, managing the recruitment, hiring and talent functions and supporting the region’s growth from one to six schools. In 2018 Elizabeth joined the TFA St. Louis staff as the Chief of Staff and managed the talent, strategy and operations of the regional team before transitioning into the Executive Director role. Elizabeth received her BA in Political Science from Grinnell College, her Masters in Special Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and her MA/MBA in Educational Leadership and Marketing from Saint Louis University.

Charles Burton is a proud product of the St. Louis Public Schools, where he currently serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer. Charles prides himself on building structure and effective teams. He also currently serves as the Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church in Godfrey, Illinois
Charles’ academic credentials include a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from Washington University School of Law; a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. He believes, "Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself." - John Dewey

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Emily Dia has worked as a classroom teacher and instructional coach for the last 20 years. Her grounding purpose is to create equitable access to transformative teaching for all children. She is passionate about culturally responsive practice, standards-based grading, and dynamic curriculum design and spends her days as Partnerships Manager for the Modern Classrooms Project, supporting educators, schools, and districts reimagining instruction with the Modern Classroom model. Emily holds a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University and a Master’s degree in Learning & Instruction from Northeastern University. When she's not thinking about creating paths and systems to help all students succeed, she dreams about reading a book on a beach and enjoying time with her family and dog Buffy, slayer of vampires.

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Shalia Ford is the Director of Leadership Programs at FOCUS St. Louis where she designs and facilitates experiential leadership programs for mid-level career women and high school students as well as provides oversight for other FOCUS programs. Her career in the nonprofit sector spans more than 20 years with expertise in youth development, program/curriculum design, and nonprofit administration. She previously held leadership roles with the YWCA Metro St. Louis and NAACP National Office. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American Studies as well as a Master of Business Administration from Fontbonne University.  

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Jana Haywood is a principal with more than 15 years’ experience in education. In her role as principal, in addition to being an instructional leader, she manages the daily operations of the school.  Dr. Haywood plays an intricate role in advancing the vision of the school and district by ensuring an amazing learning experience that is foundationally steeped in equity for all. Employed by St. Louis Public Schools for much of her career and most recently the Ritenour School District, she has worked in a number of capacities to include administrator, teacher, instructional coach, athletic director and department head.

Gary W. Ritter is a Professor and Dean of the School of Education at Saint Louis University. Since taking the role as Dean in 2018, Ritter has focused on growing programs that are evidence-based, academically rigorous, and of direct service the St. Louis region. Ritter was a faculty member in Education Policy at the University of Arkansas from 2000-18. He has published over 100 articles, books, book chapters, and working papers on topics related to teacher quality, teacher evaluation, postsecondary access for low-income students, and the implementation and evaluation of programs aimed at improving educational outcomes for low-income students.

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For more than 30 years, Rick Skinner has championed the volunteer movement. As Vice President of the United Way Volunteer Center Rick leads strategy and operations to equip nonprofit agencies and Fortune 500 corporations to strengthen volunteer management programming to meet the region’s most-critical needs. Rick also serves on United Way WorldWide’s Employee and Volunteer Engagement Council and on leadership committees with Points of Light. Locally, Rick serves on the advisory board of the Chaifetz School of Business Service Leadership program at Saint Louis University. He also provides volunteer management and board service training and is a national and international speaker on these topics. Prior to joining the United Way staff in 1999, Rick served as assistant development director at United Cerebral Palsy Association and the Epilepsy Foundation. Rick holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, he is a graduate of the Leadership St. Louis program through FOCUS St. Louis, and he is also a professional disk jockey.

In 2018, Laura founded St. Louis Teacher Residency, the first program of its kind in the St. Louis region. STLTR’s model blends a rigorous full-year classroom apprenticeship with a carefully aligned sequence of academic coursework, designed to successfully prepare teachers for a career in education.  
Prior to this work, Laura served as the Chief Academic Officer at STEM Preparatory Academy, a charter school network located in Nashville, Tennessee. In her time as CAO, STEM Prep was consistently named a Reward School, performing in the top 10 percent of schools in the state. Laura holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy and a Master’s degree in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University. Laura is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, and she began her career as a 2006 Teach For America Corps Member, teaching high school English.

Dr. Robyn Wiens is the Assistant Superintendent of Students Services in the School District of Clayton.  Dr. Wiens has helped open two STEM-focused schools, including Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls, Missouri’s first single gender public school. Dr. Wiens has a background in project-based learning, equity, academic and behavioral interventions, and school leadership. She has worked in both traditional public and charter public schools in Boston and Seattle and has degrees from Drake University, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and University of Washington.  In her spare time, Dr. Wiens enjoys kickboxing and teaching her pandemic puppy new tricks.