Our team brings leadership experience, compassion, and a love of community to the work.
School Leader Lab Staff
Erica Beal
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Erica brings her passion for helping school leaders- the most important people in the world- to School Leader Lab. Her dream is that all leaders find joy and sustainability in their work through intentional relationships and gaining tools to strengthen their impact. She also works hard to make the world better for people of color, one individual and/or school system at a time. Erica began her career as a TFA corps member and after a decade as a teacher and school leader, joined School Leader Lab. Erica has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a Master's Degree from Columbia University. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her best friend (her husband), their three kids, and their little french bulldog, Charley.
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David leads the program team at School Leader Lab. In conjunction with the other partners at SLL, his work includes designing and facilitating cohorts and school partnerships as well as coaching leaders and their teams. With experience as a teacher and leader, he finds joy in the successes of the fabulous leaders who make up the SLL family. When he isn’t at work or with his wife (the best educator in the family), three kiddos, or their rescue pup Star, you’ll find him at the gym or lost in a book.
Akosua Kelley
Eryn Cochran
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Eryn plans and leads all of the event-related components for programming, collects and distributes data, and creates communication plans at School Leader Lab. With nearly a decade in education and several years experience in program management, she ensures that School Leader Lab experiences foster connections, affirm and celebrate school leaders, and go off without a hitch. A west coast transplant, she lives in Washington, DC, where she enjoys walking the city, trying new restaurants, and pretending to be a golfer.
David Ayala
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Akosua joins SLL after serving as a teacher, principal, and leadership coach in the Boston Public School system and Greater Boston Area. From these experiences, Akosua aims to provide space and opportunities for all leaders to hold on to hope, see progress, and lead with authenticity to maximize impact & create transformational experiences for children. Akosua lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband (aka her hype man) and loving son.
Advisors
Jessica Akoto
Kaya Henderson
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As a program advisor for the Executive Leader Cohort (EdEx), Kaya Henderson brings a wealth of experience and expertise to guide and help shape the experience of our executive-level leaders. With her distinguished background as the former Chancellor of DC Public Schools (DCPS) and her current role as CEO of Reconstruction Inc., Kaya offers invaluable insights into effective leadership practices at every level of the pipeline. Her tenure at DCPS, marked by remarkable gains and improvements in student outcomes, underscores her capacity to drive organizational change and foster innovation. In her advisory role, Kaya leverages her extensive knowledge to support our team as we craft and execute the EdEx experience. Kaya’s leadership journey exemplifies a commitment to educational equity and excellence, making her an invaluable resource for our organization and leaders.
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Catalan advises School Leader Lab on fund development, overall strategy, and planning. It has also supported the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, UnidosUS, Center for Housing Policy, Insight Center for Community Economic Development, Justice Policy Institute, Juvenile Law Center, National Juvenile Justice Network, Neighborhood Funders Group, Thorn, Urban Land Institute, Violence Policy Center, and others.
After 20 years of living and working in Washington, DC, Catalan now lives in Los Angeles and works with social change organizations around the country. A former middle school English teacher, Catalan combines her teaching and development experience to support our fundraising efforts. She has worked extensively with local and national nonprofit organizations on a wide range of issues, including education, youth justice, and economic justice.
For fun, Catalan loves taking in art, hiking new trails, and flying off to faraway places.
catalan@schoolleaderlab.org
Amy Omand
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Amy Omand is passionate about using her expertise in financial management to help mission-driven organizations thrive. Amy is a true numbers nerd; Amy gets a great sense of satisfaction in preparing an analysis for a leader that can help drive decision-making. After obtaining her MBA at Haas in 2007, Amy pivoted her career to only work at organizations that were addressing a social need - healthy school lunches, fighting poverty, and reimagining education. Amy does this because the most important job she will ever have is being a mom to two amazing humans; their generation will soon take the reins, and she wants her time working to leave the world slightly better than she found it. On the weekends, Amy enjoys hiking, live music, stand-up paddle boarding, and spending time with her family and two rescue pups in Oakland, California.
amy@7seatconsulting.com
Catalan Conlon
Partners + Faculty
Exceptional leadership requires deep collaboration. We partner with national and local adjuncts to bring expertise and local context to our programming. We want participants and our team to learn from the very best experts in antiracism, people, and academic leadership.
Equity work is still in startup mode. It’s time to bring it to scale.
A conversation card game and movement to spread empathy.
Helping leaders inspire so students succeed.
Unleashing leadership potential through the power of emotional intelligence.
Building leadership capacity for an interconnected world.
Working to empower educators to understand how racism manifests in our lives and school communities and to actively disrupt it.
Work With Us
We’re hiring for a new Partner! Check out the job description here.