Board Of Directors

Grace Katabaruki

Chair

Grace Katabaruki is an Organizational Transformation Manager at Deloitte Consulting. She was previously a Principal at Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), where for seven years she led day-to-day operations of the Investment Practice Group. Grace began her career as an educator, teaching for five years at Washington, DC’s Maret School, where she was awarded the Thomas Prize for Teachers New to Teaching. She received a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University and was selected as one of the inaugural Pablo Eisenberg Public Interest Fellows. She also graduated, cum laude, from Harvard College.

Margie Yeager

Vice Chair

Margie Yeager is a Partner at Education Forward DC, leading their Advocacy portfolio. In this role she helps direct philanthropic resources to create enabling conditions to advance quality and equity in public schools. Prior to this, she was the Director of Advocacy and Policy at Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan coalition of state and district members, and the Chief of Staff to the DC Deputy Mayor for Education. Margie began her career as a second-grade teacher at Simon Elementary in DC with Teach for America. She received her BA from Tufts University summa cum laude and her MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School with thesis honors.

Dave Paris

Treasurer

Dave Paris is a Managing Director in the Forensic & Litigation Segment at FTI Consulting, Inc. He has over 30 years of experience addressing damages, valuation, and competition issues in complex commercial disputes in U.S. courts and administrative proceedings, and he also advises clients on issues involving intellectual property. These disputes and advisory engagements have involved patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, secondary considerations of non-obviousness, breach of contract, fraud, employment and antitrust violation, and covered a wide range of industries.  Mr. Paris has provided expert testimony on damages, including lost profits and reasonable royalties, and on economic issues, such as irreparable harm and commercial success.

Cherrelle Swain

Secretary

Cherrelle Swain is the Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships and Outreach at CityBridge Education, where she develops the talent pipeline of new school founders, establishes relationships to support school founders develop the business side of their model, and builds strategic partnerships. Prior to this, Cherrelle was the Development Officer for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS). Cherrelle majored in International Business with a concentration in Information Systems at Howard University. She then spent three years teaching English in Spain as a fellow for Spain’s Ministry of Education, while earning an MBA from the University of Seville in International Business.

Debbie Harrison

Debbie Harrison is a Senior Director of Government Affairs at Cigna. Her career has focused on policy and legal advice related to employee benefits, health care, and tax matters. She has a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, an MA in internal policy from the University of Sydney, and a BA in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard College. Debbie has been a member of the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill since 2008.

Katrina Mbaye

Katrina Mbaye is an events and venue management professional who currently serves as Managing Director of the National Housing Center in Washington, DC. Prior to this, she managed the American Geophysical Union Conference Center for two years after working for Casey Family Programs, the nation’s largest operating child welfare foundation as an operations manager for seven years. Outside of work she is passionate about urban agriculture and has a small vegetable farm in Prince George’s County. She holds a BA of Communications from University of Maryland University College.

Terri Taylor

Terri Taylor is the strategy director for postsecondary finance at Lumina Foundation, where she works to illuminate and address the many facets of financial need, especially for adult learners and students of color. Prior to this, she spent six years at Education Counsel as Senior Policy & Legal Advisor, advising organizations, institutions, and foundations on ways to achieve their goals in the complex American K-12 and higher education policy and practice environment. Terri earned her B.A., with distinction, in American studies and religious studies from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Eric Goldstein

CEO & Founder

Eric founded the program as a classroom teacher at SEED Public Charter School in Anacostia and has run the organization ever since. His career in education started after a solo, 5,000-mile bicycle trip across the United States. As a teacher, Eric earned a United States Department of the Interior Partners in Education Award. Eric holds a Master’s in Education from the University of Vermont and Master’s in International Policy from George Washington University.