Kathy Cox's tenure as the Chief Executive Officer for the U.S. Education Delivery Institute began July 1, 2010. Prior to this, she served as Georgia's State Superintendent of Schools from 2003 until 2010. She made significant strides in pointing Georgia's young people toward excellence. Under her leadership as superintendent, the state saw unprecedented achievement gains, with students scoring at or above the national average on reading and writing tests and have shown significant improvement on math tests. During her tenure, the state’s high school graduation rate reached an all-time high, improving by 15 percentage points. Cox was a classroom teacher for 15 years and served two terms in the state legislature before being elected to Georgia's highest educational post in 2003. She holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in Political Science from Emory University.
As Deputy Director, Rebecca oversees the U.S. Education Delivery Institute’s higher education team. Before joining the U.S. Education Delivery Institute, she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Wisconsin System from 2007 to 2011. Under her leadership, the System aggressively focused on improving the retention and graduation rates of underserved students. Prior to her time at the System office, Rebecca served for five years as Provost and Vice Chancellor at University of Wisconsin – Parkside. Before that, she served at the University of Vermont, where she held several positions including Senior Vice Provost, Interim Provost, and Acting President. She earned her doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, her master’s degree in Librarianship from San Jose State University, and her bachelor’s degree in educational psychology and history from the University of California-Santa Cruz.
Nick manages content development and internal learning at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. Previously, he worked with McKinsey where he assisted in the launch of EDI and coauthored the Deliverology 101 Field Guide. He has worked to implement reforms in several domestic and international governmental systems, including the Ohio Department of Education. Nick holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Stanford University. He was also awarded the British Marshall Scholarship for graduate study in the United Kingdom. There he earned a Master's in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Master's in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford.
Mike DiConti joined the U.S. Education Delivery Institute in 2010 as Director of Finance and Operations. From 2006 to 2010 he was Chief Operating Officer of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) in Washington, DC. As COO, Mike led BPC financial, IT, legal, and board governance functions and also helped create BPC's Economic Policy Project, serving as its first Director. In this role, Mike helped launch BPC's Deficit Reduction Task Force and its Capital Markets Initiative, for which he managed a series of Financial Regulatory Roundtables hosted for the U.S. House Capital Markets Subcommittee. From 1990 to 2005, Mike was Director of Operations and Legislation for the Business Roundtable in Washington, DC, where he led the financial and operational functions for the organization and also served from 2003-2005 as its legislative director of federal and state tax policy. Earlier in his career, Mike was a tax advisor for Ernst & Young, LLC in Los Angeles. Mike received a Ph.D. in political science from The Johns Hopkins University and during his dissertation was a Fellow with the Institute for the Study of World Politics. During his graduate studies, Mike was an International Relations instructor at Johns Hopkins and on the Business Faculty of the Community College of Baltimore. Earlier, he earned an M.B.A. in finance/accounting from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and was graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. in Psychology from Occidental College. He is author of the book, Entrepreneurship in Training: The Multinational Corporation in Mexico and Canada (University of South Carolina Press: 1992). Mike has three sons, Nolan, Aidan, and Jason and lives in Fairfax, Virginia.
Ellyn Artis leads the higher education work as a Senior Engagement Manager for the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. In this role, she supports public higher education leaders who are using the delivery framework to achieve goals to increase overall access, success, and to narrow equity gaps. She ftransitioned from The Education Trust where she was responsible for supporting the work of twenty-four higher education systems that have to agreed close by at least half the gaps in both college-going and college-completion that separate low-income and minority students from others, as part of the Access to Success Initiative. Before that, Ellyn was in the Casey Strategic Consulting Group at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where she supported state and local government leadership teams in their reform efforts and at Abt Associates where she evaluated national youth development programs. She holds a bachelor's degree from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Master's in Public Affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs at Princeton University.
Sharon works with K-12 education systems at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. She has a rich background in adult learning, education policy, and implementation. Most recently, she served as Deputy Education Officer for the Mayor of Philadelphia, where she led efforts to implement an aggressive agenda focused on the achievement of the Mayor’s educational goals of dropout reduction and college attainment. Previously, she worked as an Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, where she coordinated the implementation of a range of school reform initiatives and directed the School Services Unit, an office that provides legal, regulatory, and policy assistance to school administrators. She has also served as a technical assistance provider and adjunct professor, where she developed a strong background in training and facilitation. Sharon holds a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University – New Brunswick and a Master’s in Education Policy and Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Chris Navia is a member of the U.S. Education Delivery Institute’s higher education team. In this role, Chris provides support to state systems of higher education committed to producing equitable outcomes for all students, particularly in the arenas of access and success. Previously, Chris served as a Senior Institutional Planner for the University of Wisconsin System’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, working with institutions to craft learning environments that were more inclusive and student-centered. She earned her doctorate and master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College.
Sharron Steele provides hands-on support to K-12 state education agencies implementing the delivery framework. Prior to this role, she worked in the Office of the Chief Academic Officer for Dallas Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, where she coordinated and implemented district-wide process improvements, tools, and frameworks to improve the efficiency of the Teaching and Learning Division. Previously, she served as an Education Pioneers fellow, working on the Broad Foundation's principal leadership program development team. She also spent several years in the private sector as a management consultant. Sharron holds a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, a Master's in Business Administration from Duke University, and a Master's in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In her role as a Program Associate, Lexi organizes network events for our partners to share and learn from one another as they are driving delivery in their respective states. She also supports Engagement Managers in their on-the-ground work in K-12 systems. Previously, Lexi was a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company in the Public Sector Practice. She holds a BA in History from Williams College.
Omari works with higher education systems at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. Omari’s previous experience includes the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, where he researched successful examples of system-wide reform efforts in colleges and universities across the country in order to recommend best practices to system leaders. Omari has also worked with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard University Center for Workplace Development, and Accenture. He holds a Master’s in Organizational Management from the George Washington University and a Master’s in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and holds a Bachelor’s from the University of Maryland.
Lauren supports curriculum development and learning at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. Previously, she taught high school social studies in Atlanta, Georgia, as a Teach For America corps member. Most recently, she worked in the Office of the State Superintendent of Schools at the Georgia Department of Education. Lauren holds a degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies from Tulane University. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Policy from American University.
Rachel works as the Executive Assistant at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. She supports CEO Kathy Cox and Deputy Director Rebecca Martin. Previously, she worked as an administrative assistant as a contractor to the Department of Homeland Security supporting infrastructure protection. She holds a degree in Communication from George Mason University.
Jaqueline provides administrative support at the U.S. Education Delivery Institute. She also assists the Program Director and coordinates logistics for events and conferences. Most recently, she served as Production Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the President at MVI Post, a production and post-production media facility. Previously, she worked as Channel Media Archivist and Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Creative at the National Geographic Channel. Jaqueline holds a Bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary.