Meet the Development Team

Principal Investigator: Dean Stephanie Knight, SMU Simmons School
Interim Project Manager: Karen Pierce, SMU Simmons School

The Executive Team consists of leadership from each partnering institution. This team receives updates from project leads about design team work, strategic decisions and other contextual information, then holds strategic discussions about how the partnering institutions can support the emerging work and proactively troubleshoot.

Stephanie Knight

Dean, Simmons School of Education & Human Development

SMU

Mike Goss

President, Toyota USA Foundation

TMNA

Brian Lusk Chief of Strategic Initiatives Dallas ISD

 

The Steering Committee actively provides strategic direction in support of the project’s success.

Co-Lead Marion Jackson Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School Master Principal Dallas ISD

Tony Petrosino

Associate Dean for Research and Outreach 

SMU

Angie Gaylord

Deputy Chief Officer of Transformation & Innovation Dallas ISD             

Nicole Bixby

Director, Operations & Choice School Planning Dallas ISD             

Colleen Casey

Senior Manager, Social Innovation

TMNA

Michele Broughton Executive Director Dallas ISD
Shakeatha Butler Director, Programming & Choice School Implementation Dallas ISD
Belva Bell Diversity + Inclusion Project Analyst TMNA
Karen Pierce

Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School Project Manager

SMU
Salem Hussain Executive Director Dallas ISD
Lorena Hernandez Garay Executive Director Dallas ISD

 

SMU Design Team Leads

Team Lead
Position
Professional Learning and Continuous Improvement
Karla del Rosal
Clinical Assistant Professor, Teaching and Learning
Curriculum
Jeanna Wieselmann
Assistant Professor, Teaching and Learning
Bridge, College, and Career Readiness
Kristi Flanders

Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School Site Coordinator

Community Development Design Team
Toni Harrison-Kelly Executive Director The Budd Center
Research
Beth Adams
STEM Evaluation Researcher
Evaluation
Annie Wright
CORE Director of Evaluation
Operations
Karen Pierce

Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School Interim Project Manager

 

The Sustainability and Finance team is focused on developing a sustainability plan inclusive of fundraising efforts through a multi-partner funding stream to meet foundational needs of the Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School.

Rob Strauss

Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations

SMU

Co-Lead Karen Pierce

Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School Interim Project Manager

SMU             
Michael Medalla Manager, Toyota USA Foundation TMNA
Paige Doyle Grant Writer SMU
Laura Madden Director of Development, Simmons SMU

 

The Building Design Team has been primarily led by Dallas ISD staff, they are charged with leading a comprehensive process of soliciting partner, community, parent, and student input into the eventual school building and with all logistics related to use of bond money and construction.

David Downing

Director of Planning & Design

Dallas ISD

Corey Clark

Senior Manager, Social Innovation

TMNA

David Bates Executive Director Dallas ISD

 

Communications Support Team

Yolette García

Assistant Dean for External Affairs & Outreach SMU             

Robyn Harris

Director, News and Information Dallas ISD

Matthew Sheldon

Social Innovation Communications Lead TMNA

 

Legal Support Team

Jesse Adkins Office of Legal Affairs, Associate University Counsel SMU
Leticia McGowan Assistant General Counsel Dallas ISD
Leslie Lurie Managing Counsel - Advertising/Transactions TMNA