Board of Trustees
Kevin Welner, J.D., Ph.D., (Board Chair)
Director, National Education Policy Center
Alejandra Ceja
Corporate Social Impact Executive
Janel George, Esq.
Associate Professor of Law,
Director, Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic, Georgetown Law
Lindsay Heck, Esq.
U.S. Government
Laura Jimenez
Former Director of Grantee Relations, U.S. Department of Education
Jacqueline Jones, Ph.D.
Former President & CEO,
Foundation for Child Development
Kevin Kelleher
Executive Director,
New Jersey Education Association
David Long
Retired Education Attorney
Aaron Merkin
Senior Confidential Specialist,
Office of the Executive Director,
National Education Association
Janelle Scott, Ph.D.,
Professor, School of Education, Distinguished Chair in Educational Disparities, University of California, Berkeley
Shital C. Shah
Former Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona & Director of Strategic Partnerships, U. S. Department of Education
Rebecca Spar, Esq.
Special Education Attorney
Honorable Gary Stein (Ret.)
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden
Clifford G. Stewart, Esq.
The Law Office of C. Gregory Stewart
Jamal Watson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Trinity Washington University, School of Professional and Graduate Studies
Staff
Robert (Bob) Kim oversees and directs ELC programs and activities. He has been engaged in civil and education rights law and policy for his entire 25+ year career.
View BioRobert Kim, Esq. is the executive director of Education Law Center, a legal advocacy organization dedicated to advancing and protecting public education and the rights of public school students nationwide. In 2020, he served as a member of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team. From 2011 through 2016, he served in the Obama Administration as deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, which enforces federal civil rights laws in K-12 and postsecondary institutions nationwide. Earlier in his career, Kim served as a senior policy analyst at the National Education Association and as a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. His most recent publications include Education and the Law, 6th ed. (West Academic Publishing, 2024) and Elevating Equity and Justice: Ten U.S. Supreme Court Cases Every Teacher Should Know (Heinemann, 2020).
CloseElizabeth Athos’ law practice focuses on issues related to special education, residency, school discipline, bullying, and New Jersey school funding.
View BioElizabeth joined ELC in 1997, after working as a Legal Services attorney in New Jersey. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. In 1990, she was awarded the Ronald B. Atlas Outstanding Attorney Award by Legal Services of New Jersey, and in 2014, she received the CAP Legal Advocate Award from New Jersey Child Assault Prevention.
CloseNicole Ciullo tracks legislative, policy, and research developments impacting K-12 public schools nationwide, and leads ELC’s individual giving efforts.
View BioPrior to joining ELC, Nicole served as the Fundraising & Events Intern at One Simple Wish and as the Communication & Development Intern at Habitat for Humanity of Trenton. Nicole received a B.A., cum laude, in Spanish and Sociology from The College of New Jersey, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Rutgers University-Newark.
CloseKaitlyn Comesañas provides program and administrative support to ELC staff, assists with external communications and manages fundraising efforts and annual events.
View BioBefore joining ELC, Kaitlyn worked as a contractor for Customs and Border Protection in their Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Division. She also served as Senior Intern for a Newark-based non-profit, SHE Wins Inc., that is dedicated to creating a pipeline of college, career, and community-ready young women leaders from the city of Newark. In 2020, Kaitlyn received her B.A., cum laude, in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Montclair State University.
CloseJosh Cowen is a Visiting Senior Fellow playing a key role in ELC’s ongoing work to oppose private education vouchers and support public schools through the Public Funds Public Schools campaign. While at ELC, Josh is taking a one-year distinguished leave from his position as Professor of Education Policy at Michigan State University’s College of Education; He is a nationally recognized expert and writer on topics related to school choice, teachers and teaching, policy analysis, and education politics.
View BioJosh has studied school vouchers, school accountability, charter schools, and parental decision-making as part of major research teams in several states, served as a director of the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice, and held editorial positions for major academic journals. He is frequently quoted and published in state and national media outlets and he speaks and testifies across the country on the dangers of school privatization. Josh holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan.
ClosePatrick Cremin supports ELC’s litigation and advocacy efforts through the Public Funds Public Schools campaign, which works to ensure that public education funds are allocated to public schools. Patrick also engages in legal and policy advocacy related to education equity and students’ rights.
View BioPrior to joining ELC, Patrick was an attorney at Children’s Law Center of California where he represented foster youth in their dependency proceedings. Patrick has a B.A. from UCLA and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he participated in the Education Law Clinic.
CloseJennifer Doeren directs PEER, a state-driven network fighting for education equity, racially-just public schools and an end to the ongoing divestment of public education.
View BioPrior to PEER, Jennifer was a senior program officer with Elev8, a national community schools initiative. She has worked in human rights and has advocated on behalf of marginalized communities both in the United States and internationally with UJA-Federation and other partners. Jennifer has also been involved in electoral politics, including as a staff member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C.
CloseDanielle Farrie maintains an extensive education database and conducts analysis to support litigation and public policy for ELC and partner organizations.
View BioBefore joining ELC, Danielle conducted research in the field of urban education on such topics as school choice, racial and economic segregation, and reactions to racial integration, and coauthored peer reviewed articles on parental involvement among low-income families. Danielle has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Temple University.
CloseSharon Krengel oversees communications and legislative, press and community outreach for ELC. She also coordinates the statewide education advocacy network, Our Children/Our Schools.
View BioPrior to joining ELC, Sharon served as Director of the Coalition to Preserve Public Education, an organization of NJ public school districts seeking to change the state’s charter school funding law. She also worked as a freelance journalist and an editorial and communications consultant to non-profit organizations and for-profit firms.
CloseWendy Lecker is responsible for developing, engaging, and managing ELC’s legal and litigation work to ensure fairness and adequacy in school funding and the equitable provision of resources essential to effectuate students’ constitutional and legal rights to public education.
View BioShe also assists on legal work and litigation for Public Funds, Public Schools, a national campaign to ensure that all public funds are used to support public schools.
Before joining ELC, Wendy was a staff attorney at the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) in New York. She has also worked as a consultant in education finance and policy for The Rural School and Community Trust and Connecticut Voices for Children. Wendy has a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from New York University. She is the former president of the Stamford Parent Teacher Council, and a former education columnist for Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
CloseJessica Levin directs ELC’s litigation efforts in state and federal courts. She also directs Public Funds Public Schools, a national campaign to ensure that public funds for education are used to support and strengthen public schools.
View BioPrior to joining ELC as a Skadden Fellow in 2014, Jessica served as a law clerk to the Honorable Carlos F. Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. She received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Cornell University, an M.Phil. in Comparative Government from the University of Oxford, and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
CloseTheresa Luhm is an Attorney and the Managing Director of the Education Law Center. Her work is focused on school funding equity, safe and adequate school facilities and accountability, and she is part of the ELC legal team responsible for representing the interests of the 300,000 plaintiff school children in the Abbott v. Burke litigation.
View BioTheresa has a B.A. with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from Rutgers-Newark School of Law. Prior to joining ELC, she worked as a research analyst at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
CloseKatrina Reichert provides litigation and advocacy support for ELC’s school funding, equity and student rights work.
View BioShe is a recent graduate of UC Davis School of Law where she participated in the Civil Rights Clinic and Aoki Conviction and Sentence Integrity Clinic serving incarcerated people across California. She also worked as co-director of the student-run Gender and Name Change Project. Prior to law school, Katrina worked in the education field holding leadership roles in nonprofits, school systems, and state government. Katrina has a B.A. from Mills College, an Ed.M. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, and a J.D. from UC Davis School of Law.
CloseAimee Roche works directly with parents and guardians who contact ELC for legal assistance.
View BioPrior to joining ELC, Aimee worked as a Community Organizer at La Casa de Don Pedro, where she was also responsible for implementing outreach and recruitment for the Abbott preschool program. Her efforts resulted in the enrollment of 2,182 preschoolers into Abbott Preschool programs in Essex County in 2002-2003.
CloseAnn Romero is responsible for overseeing ELC’s financial processes including payables, payroll, month-end close, grant reporting and the annual audit. She also works with senior management on fiscal planning and forecasting.
View BioPrior to joining ELC, she worked in finance at several other nonprofits including a special education school for children with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from James Madison University in Virginia and is a Certified Public Accountant.
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