Jeff is a founding Partner of EdSolutions and leads education innovation and philanthropy initiatives with a focus on underserved students, and actively promotes increased diversity in education leadership. What motivates Jeff is partnering with mission-based organizations to implement proven Market-Informed Impact innovations which reach K12 students who will benefit most.
Jeff spent more than a decade as a senior executive at McGraw-Hill Education. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Education Policy and Strategic Alliances.
During Jeff’s time at McGraw-Hill, he variously held general management and leadership roles including responsibility for Intervention, Career and Technical Education, Supplemental Publishing, Advanced Placement, Adult Basic Education, Workforce Training, Fine Arts and College Readiness. Prior to McGraw-Hill Education Jeff was a successful entrepreneur with specialties in instructional technology and marketing to urban school systems. As Co-Founder, of Achieva.com, Jeff helped to build the largest provider of online test prep and college prep for American high schools. Achieva.com was sold to the Kaplan K-12 Learning Solutions, a division of the Washington Post Company, in 2001.
Beth is a founding Partner of EdSolutions and leads EdSolutions’ product strategy & customer experience efforts. Beth believes deeply in the power of the market to positively impact underrepresented students.
Beth has spent over two decades steeped in the education market leading the acquisition, development, marketing and deployment of high quality, educational products and services. After spending time as a high school ELA teacher, Beth moved into educational publishing and served in executive leadership roles at Macmillan, Pearson, McGraw- Hill & Triumph Learning. She has managed large cross-functional teams in product development and marketing and launched dozens of leading K-16 products. She brings both a product and pedagogical perspective to every project.
Education: M.A., University of West Alabama, AL; B.A., Bethany College, WV
Jay Bakhru is a founding partner of EdSolutions where he leads initiatives focused on the intersection of education markets, innovation, and social impact. What motivates Jay is the opportunity to improve the education system in ways that benefit underserved students.
Prior to EdSolutions, Jay served as a consultant in Deloitte Consulting’s strategy practice, an SVP of marketing in Citigroup’s consumer group, the CEO of an Ed Tech company, and as the head of K-12 Marketing at Educational Testing Service. Outside of his work at EdSolutions, Jay is active in the education ecosystem, serving as the chair of the Wharton Education Network, a judge for the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education business plan competition, an advisor and investor in several education technology companies, and a contributing writer at EdSurge and Forbes. Jay began his career as a middle school English teacher.
Education: BA Brown University, MBA Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, MA in Education Policy from Teachers College at Columbia University with a thesis on the role of Market Dynamics on K-12 Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
JJ is a Senior Research Associate at EdSolutions where she specializes in applying qualitative and quantitative market research findings to help organizations improve programming, products, and services to drive more equitable outcomes for students.
With a background in journalism, JJ spent 13 years teaching a variety of courses in secondary language arts. Her last position, working with students who had been expelled from high school, drove her to earn a doctorate in education equity (executive leadership). Her dissertation focused on disproportionalities in expelled and out-of-school suspended student populations in a suburban district in the Denver, CO, area.
JJ believes true change and education improvement must be driven by the overall system- including classrooms, philanthropic education foundations, and education product suppliers. While data and research are powerful tools, their true impact comes from the stories they tell and the changes they drive. Organizations within the education space must be able to see the contextual implementations of market research to find practical and solution-focused methods to make changes in students’ learning.
Education: B.S., Colorado State University, CO; M.A., Northwestern University, IL; EdD, University of Colorado-Denver, CO
To-Nasia serves as the Operations Manager at EdSolutions, where she is responsible for supporting and executing operational initiatives at every level in the organization. In her work, she strives to create harmony between process and people. She is skilled in strategy development, process improvement, and tech and software implementation.
To-Nasia joins EdSolutions with a background in K-12 education operations. She was responsible for overseeing the non-instructional functions, services, and staff that provided scholars with an unparalleled educational experience. She opened a school in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and has led school teams in New York and New Jersey.
To-Nasia is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Data Analytics from Western Governors University.
Anjeli Doty is a Senior Research Associate at EdSolutions, where she conducts market research and analysis. Anjeli collaborates with project and consulting teams to translate data into actionable insights, develop best approaches, and deliver strategic solutions and recommendations.
Across her career, Anjeli works to leverage data to inform policy and practice in education, and to increase equitable access to learning opportunities and career pathways. She believes in shaping an educational system in which all students can thrive and maximize their potential. Towards this, she leverages her experience in leadership and management, systems and data, and strategic communication.
Anjeli formerly worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she built key community partnerships and supported regional education and economic development in collaboration with the LANL Foundation. Anjeli designed and managed the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge, a statewide high school design challenge launched with private and public partners. Following that success, she helped develop a regional stakeholder network and digital platform to advance PK-12 STEM education and college pathways in New Mexico. Before joining the education sector, Anjeli worked in technical science communications and public relations.
While at Harvard, Anjeli supported the Strategic Data Project at the Harvard Center for Education Policy Research where she helped plan and execute professional development programming for data strategists.
Education: Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education; B.A., Montana State University
In her role as an engagement manager with EdSolutions, Lea helps clients understand core education challenges and possible solutions – as well as how to think about them practically, in the context of real schools, students, and teachers.
Lea has 15+ years of experience in education. Her particular expertise is English Language Arts and the middle school years, which she focused on as both a teacher and a researcher. Prior to joining EdSolutions, she was on the research team of TNTP’s influential education report The Opportunity Myth, studying classroom instruction and student experience in public schools across the country.
Lea’s initial interest in teaching English came from a love of both literature and working with kids. Her experiences in schools have led her over time to a deeper interest in the structures and policies that shape them. She brings her deep education knowledge and experience to bear on all the projects she leads.
Education: BA, English Literature, University of Notre Dame, M.Ed., Secondary ELA Instruction, Hunter College, M. Ed., Education Management & Policy, Harvard University
Mackenzie Flynn is a Senior Engagement Manager at EdSolutions, where she supports foundations and other mission-based organizations. She specializes in producing actionable, market-based insights and recommendations for organizations looking to scale their impact in K-12 education through strategic investments.
Mackenzie is most passionate about increasing access to high-quality public education, as she believes it is the greatest lever we have for positive change. To that end, her career has been centered around impact strategy, including roles as the Chief of Staff for the Maine Charter School Commission and the Associate Director of Growth for KIPP Northern California. Throughout her career, Mackenzie has served as a consultant to a number of organizations in the education sector, including foundations, venture philanthropies, government agencies, and other non-profit organizations. Prior to shifting her focus to impact strategy, Mackenzie taught elementary school in Brooklyn, NY and Denver, CO.
Education: M.A., Stanford University Graduate School of Education; B.A., Elon University
Lily is an Engagement Manager at EdSolutions where she helps mission-based organizations navigate market dynamics to bring high-quality learning experiences to scale. She specializes in designing curated growth and marketing strategies. Lily passionately believes that all children deserve an education that nurtures their inner spark and potential, and that mitigating market inefficiencies is essential in paving the way.
Her journey in the education space began at the OECD Washington Center, where she analyzed the impact of schooling and learning on the world’s economies. Seeing the overwhelming influence of education at both the individual and macro levels, she eagerly transitioned to working directly in schools as an elementary school teacher in Washington, DC. Throughout her teaching career, she earned Washington, DC’s “Highly Effective” rating and also served as a special education teacher and the Director of an Early Learning program. Her first-hand experience as a teacher and her applied understanding of economic markets allow her to expertly guide organizations to contextualize the market and bring forward solutions that work for both students and teachers.
Education: M.S. Education, Johns Hopkins University School of Education; B.A. Economics, Oberlin College
Lora Kaiser is a Senior Director of Market Strategy and a strategic consultant to a number of leading organizations in the education sector. This work allows her to leverage her vast product and market knowledge, acquired through her work in mathematics and literacy teams across her career. Lora’s primary responsibility at EdSolutions is as a leader embedded within the Center for Education Market Dynamics, a project fiscally sponsored by Cambiar Education. As Head of Product Strategy, she is responsible for crafting the strategic view of how K-12 market research and data can be translated to inform faster, more impactful decision making by district leaders and those who serve them.
Lora has spent her entire career in K-12 education, beginning as a teacher and later coaching and training in districts across the country. Her work has spanned PreK-12 in sales, professional development, and product development roles. Prior to EdSolutions, Lora was the Sr. Director of Product Management, K-12 Mathematics at McGraw-Hill where she set the product vision for programs like Reveal Math and Everyday Math and developed key partnerships that have impacted thousands of students. Lora’s early work with underserved middle schoolers solidified a passion for the education industry that today fuels her work impacting more equitable student access to high quality materials and services.
Education: B.S., Indiana University, IN; MLS, Indiana University, IN
As a Senior Research Associate, Janaye McGrew conducts research and analysis to deliver strategic, data-driven solutions to organizations committed to educational equity and improving student outcomes.
Janaye believes that all students deserve liberating, affirming learning environments. She’s excited about the opportunity to support organizations that are instrumental in creating those environments.
Prior to EdSolutions, Janaye was a revenue operations consultant in the technology industry. Subsequently, she led data management and analysis initiatives at Detroit Children’s Fund as an Education Pioneers Fellow. Janaye’s work at Detroit Children’s Fund allowed the organization to better elevate its programs and demonstrate the organization’s impact both internally and externally. Janaye also worked as a tutor in Brooklyn elementary and a debate teacher on Rikers Island.
Emily is the Director of Research at EdSolutions, where she leads our team of Research Associates responsible for building our internal knowledge base, and gathering and synthesizing research to support project work. In addition to leading the Research team, she periodically works as an Engagement Manager responsible for executing projects.
Emily has about a decade of experience in the education sector in the United States and abroad, where she has taught in K-12 and higher education. Previously a full time teacher, she continues to make time to teach courses to non-native English speakers at the University of Strasbourg schools of Law and Business. She also sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal for Education Law and Policy.
As a Teach For America alum, Emily is passionate about education and proud to continue her work as part of the movement towards educational equity through her work with EdSolutions.
Education: B.A., Lawrence University, Wisconsin. M.S., Fordham University, New York
As the Director of Market Strategy at EdSolutions, Allison McNamara delivers strategic, innovative, and sustainable solutions to mission-focused clients based upon the proven Market-Informed Impact framework. Allison’s deep background in content acquisition and customer insights, her pedagogical understanding of content, and 15+ years of field experience make her a masterful co-developer of instructional and learning materials in support of customer needs.
Having led content teams at Pearson and McGraw-Hill Education and the Market Development team at Triumph Learning, Allison knows how quality instructional content is acquired, created, and developed by providers as well as how customers evaluate it. Operating at the intersection of product creation, messaging, and market development in the education market shapes Allison’s distinctive perspective and informs her ability to bring together stakeholders to develop, execute, and deliver products that focus on customer experience and drive impact.
Shatta Mejia is a product expert and project manager for Ed Solutions. He is responsible for deep dives into products, exploring key differentiators and how companies see themselves in the market. Using data and hypotheses, he determines the present and future direction that companies seem to be going. His contributions either confirm or deny broad questions in a k-12 landscape study.
His work at Ed Solutions translates to the market quickly. Shatta has a passion for including ideas and groups of stakeholders that are not traditionally focused on in education, such as the Native American public-school experience. This motivates him to be complete in ideas and ready with possible solutions rather than just pointing out problems. His personal mission is to highlight language and culture inclusion and possibilities in what schools do every day.
At HMH, Shatta was involved in product development & rollouts, teacher and leader Professional Learning opportunities, and the international market. As a national ELA consultant and a presenter for ICLE, he facilitated pilots, implementations, conferences, workshops, and district planning.
Education: University of Colorado/Metro State College: B.A. Sociology & History. UOP: M.A.Ed
Natasha is an Engagement Manager at EdSolutions. She specializes in supporting mission-based organizations in the K-12 education market in the development of sustainable growth strategies. She is passionate about education products and services that create equitable, transformative change and improved outcomes for young people.
Natasha has over a decade of experience in the education sector. She began her career as a first grade teacher and has worked in public schools in Mississippi and New York City as an educator. Prior to joining EdSolutions, Natasha spent six years working with schools in New York City within the NYC Department of Education as a Community School Director and Senior Community Schools Director. She implemented wraparound services for students and families, collaborated with school leadership teams, and managed school-based staff to create change strategies focused on equity, attendance, mental health services, social-emotional learning, and postsecondary readiness.
Education: M.P.A., New York University, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, B.A.
Charlyn is Chief of Staff to the CEO at EdSolutions. She specializes in leading special projects that advance overall strategy for the organization.
Charlyn is passionate about generating social impact through increasing the effectiveness of highly purposeful leaders. She is thrilled to continue her work with passionate social entrepreneurs at EdSolutions.
Charlyn joined EdSolutions from Redstone Strategy Group and brings with her a background in social sector consulting work for national philanthropic clients. Her most notable project involved working on and managing the strategy refresh for a client’s $300 million portfolio of national K-12 education investments. As a Redstone Strategy Analyst, Charlyn developed expertise in strategy development, project management, and facilitation within the education and economic development spaces.
Education: B.S.B.A, Washington University, Olin Business School.
Paul Neenos is an Engagement Manager and consultant with expertise in the PK-12 education sector. He specializes in supporting foundations and other mission-based organizations in identifying market opportunities to generate sustained impact and growth with focus on increasing equity and access while improving student outcomes, especially targeting underserved populations.
Paul has spent nearly two decades in the education industry. Beginning as an elementary classroom teacher, and later as a curricular developer and teacher coach in both public district schools and a dual language charter school network, he is deeply passionate about increasing access to high-quality public education. After spending a year living abroad in India speaking at education events and consulting with educational organizations and schools, Paul returned stateside and joined the Center for Supportive Schools serving in several direct impact and leadership roles, most recently as the Senior Executive Director, Northeast providing strategic vision and leadership for continued growth and deepened impact.
Education: M.S.Ed, Hunter College, CUNY; B.A., University at Buffalo, SUNY
As a Research Associate at EdSolutions, Tracy supports a mission-driven research team in building and synthesizing knowledge that promotes educational equity and student achievement.
Tracy has nearly a decade of experience at the intersection of communications and education, having most recently served as the Assistant Director of Communications at The Spence School. She’s also held multiple roles at the New York City Department of Education, from overseeing strategic communications for the DOE’s Office of Student Enrollment to teaching high school social studies as a Teach for America corps member. Before teaching, Tracy served on the communications team for New York Assistant Speaker – Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs.
In every role, both in the classroom and outside of it, Tracy has gained insight into the state of public education in the U.S. Tracy is passionate about serving students and families and is proud to continue this work at EdSolutions.
Education: B.A., CUNY Macaulay Honors College – Hunter College, NY. M.S., Fordham University, NY
Erin O’Leary is a Senior Engagement Manager at EdSolutions. She specializes in using her product development, operations, and project implementation expertise to create high-impact strategies in partnership with clients. She is driven to help mission-based organizations achieve large-scale, sustainable, and equitable outcomes for children and youth. While she most recently has been focused on early learning, Erin’s earlier work spanned K-12 solutions.
Erin has almost two decades of leadership experience developing and implementing educational solutions to meet the needs of underserved children, youth, and families. Prior to EdSolutions, she was the Executive Director for New York City and Managing Director of Operations for a non-profit, Center for Supportive Schools, where she scaled peer mentoring, community schools, and other social emotional solutions to serve over 100 K-12 schools across New York City, in addition to managing the implementation of federal grants and leading development and implementation of new products. Erin has also led project management and product development for an early childhood assessment company. Prior to working in education, she worked in consulting for financial institutions.
Gillian is a Senior Research Associate at EdSolutions, where she conducts desk research that informs projects both internally and with organizational and philanthropic clients, primarily in the early learning space.
Gillian was drawn to this work because of her passion for equity in education and her vision for a future where systemically marginalized students can access high quality education in the United States and internationally.
Prior to joining EdSolutions in August, 2022, Gillian worked as a public elementary school teacher in Houston, TX where she taught Kindergarten and 3rd Grade. While in Houston, Gillian also worked in the nonprofit space in economic and community development and served as a Case Manager for disaster relief after Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Education: B.A., Rice University, TX; M.P.P., Harvard University, MA
Meredith is a consultant with expertise in K-12 educational publishing. She currently supports the Markets Matter Professional Learning practice for EdSolutions creating meaningful engagements for mission-driven organizations focused on underserved students in need of business education and technical assistance.
Meredith has spent almost two decades in the educational publishing industry with a background in teaching, developing digital curriculum, and creating standardized assessments. Most recently, she oversaw the development of a new and innovative elementary mathematics product at McGraw Hill. As a former Director of Product Development of Elementary Mathematics, Meredith brings a deep understanding of mathematics pedagogy and the challenges of developing high quality products.
As a Mississippi Teacher Corps alum, Meredith has a deep passion for K-12 education and always brings diligence, diplomacy, and enthusiasm to her work and relationships to meet the needs of the students we serve. She’s excited to continue her work towards educational equity at a larger scale with EdSolutions.
Education: B.A., Smith College, MA, M.A., University of Mississippi, MS
Andrea is Director of Market Strategy and co-creator of the Markets Matter Professional Learning Program. Working alongside fellow market experts, she creates meaningful engagements for a variety of organizations in
need of business education and technical assistance. Motivated by the opportunity to support and serve mission-based organizations at the forefront of impact, she has a wide-range of business knowledge and a strong ability to build strategy that engages and delights the end-user, providing them the tools necessary for future sustainability.
Having spent her entire career in the education space, with over a decade in educational publishing at McGraw-Hill Education, Andrea specializes in product development and market development, working on a variety of traditional and tech products, in both core and supplemental. She successfully created and led a market development strategy for a first-generation tech program over the course of three years, leading to broader adoption within the company and received the Market Development Manager of the Year award in 2019. She deeply understands the importance of listening to the market and customer need, ensuring the development of products with impact.
Casey is a Research Associate at EdSolutions where she is responsible for conducting foundational desk research, informing the consultation of both single organization and philanthropic ventures as they seek to make an impact in education through innovation and service.
Casey has over ten years of experience in the education sector where she has taught in both K-12 and higher education settings. Since leaving the classroom, she has spent time in the tutoring space where she is able to continue her teaching practice while she works alongside the incredible team at EdSolutions in its mission to create change by supporting the needs of all students.
As a Teach for America alum, Casey is passionate about ending educational inequity and believes strongly that access to a high-quality education is a fundamental right for all.
Education: B.A., Sam Houston State University, Texas. M.F.A. in Creative Writing, California State University, San Bernardino, M.S., Fordham University, New York
As the Director of Operations at EdSolutions, Alex is responsible for the day-to-day prosperity of the business as well as long-term growth and strategy planning. From the financials to people operations, she is invested in making sure that everyone that works with or for EdSolutions has a good experience. She finds it particularly special when the team unlocks a new market insight for a client, or when an employee says this is the best place they’ve ever worked, because she knows that that synergy is impossible without a strong operational function.
Alex’s career in Education started as a Community Director in a Harlem middle school. She then opened up an elementary school in Flatbush, Brooklyn for Success Academy Charter Schools and eventually she took on a more central role for the company. There she led cross-functional teams to improve and scale business operations and talent development across all 47 schools.
While her career may sit further away from the classroom now, Alex knows that at the end of the day there are children on the other side of our work. In understanding that, she can thoughtfully support EdSolutions and our clients in driving positive impact for those that need it most.
Ilse delivers strategic market insights to each project, enabling clients to make well-informed decisions around their growth strategies. With a firm belief that market development means getting your product ready for the market and the market ready for your product, Ilse brings perspectives from both the supply- and the demand- sides of the equation.
Ilse’s extensive market knowledge is built on managerial positions in marketing at Pearson and John Wiley & Sons, as well as 15+ years consulting in both K-12 and Higher Education.
Ilse’s interest in public education and philanthropy extends beyond her professional life, she has served on her local Board of Education and has recently founded Power of Clean Water, a nonprofit connecting schools and students to the global water crisis.
As Senior Director, Margo co-leads the Markets Matter Professional Learning practice for EdSolutions and advises forward-thinking foundations on educational strategy with a focus on the role of public policy in driving systemic change and outsized educational outcomes for underrepresented learners.
Margo centers her work around leveling the playing field for all learners and catalyzing learning as a tool for transformational change.
She is also the founder of Yenko, an innovative financial aid planning tool that uses predictive analytics, real-time goal planning and productivity tools to help college students stay on track academically and financially. She previously served as Senior Manager for College Readiness and College Success at the Harlem Children’s Zone, overseeing seven programs and over 5000 students. She is also a founding member of Innovation for Equity which focuses on leveling the playing field for all learners.
Education: A.B., Harvard College, MA and M.B.A, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Jessica is a Senior Research Associate at EdSolutions. She specializes in conducting quantitative research to deliver meaningful insights to her strategic project teams.
Jessica is passionate about generating social impact and is drawn to this work as she is able to combine her financial background with her love for education. She is thrilled to continue her work in transforming educational equity at EdSolutions.
Jessica joined EdSolutions with an extensive background in elementary teaching and senior school leadership in both New Orleans and Harlem. As a Teach For America alum, Jessica has dedicated her career to generating impact for underserved students.
Education: M.Ed., Johns Hopkins University, B.A., Tulane University
Jaya uses her deep experience in launching product lines, portfolio management, and strategic communications to lead a team of education market experts to offer business planning and technical assistance services designed specifically to help mission-based organizations navigate the complexities of the preK-16 market. The team focuses on bringing rich market insights to help those organizations identify unique market opportunities that generate sustained growth and impact.
Jaya’s career has been immersed in communications and education. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President at Learning A-Z, a K-5 literacy-focused edtech. She built and led high-performing teams across product management, user experience and product design, content development and customer experience and successfully led the launch of two new “flagship” products and multiple customer-focused product enhancements. Prior to that, as Chief Product Officer at LEAP Innovations, Jaya led the scaling of the research, design, and impact of LEAP’s work. Jaya has spent much of her career at McGraw Hill, leading teams in K-12 literacy acceleration and literacy, professional development, college and career readiness, adult education and workforce development, and international markets – all while actively building out products, targeting key audiences and recognizing how best to reach them through progressively evolving marketing channels.
Education: M.A., The Ohio State University; B.A. Miami University, Ohio
Nikkie Zanevsky is a Senior Director at EdSolutions, where she leads our team of Engagement Managers responsible for developing strategy and market research projects for organizations seeking to increase equity and boost student outcomes. As Senior Director, Nikkie works closely with philanthropic foundations to inform practical investment strategies and tactical implementation plans with the ultimate goal of benefactor sustainability.
Nikkie has more than 15 years of marketing leadership experience in education markets. Her proficiencies include deep market and competitor analysis, new service launches, product positioning, multi-channel campaign management, and sales enablement. Prior to EdSolutions, she was the Director of Marketing at an award-winning private PK-3 ed-tech startup. Subsequently, she led Product Marketing for early learning software products, instructional integrations, formative assessment, and professional learning services at major PK-12 assessment supplier, NWEA.
Nikkie’s interest in public education springs from her years of working as a physical education instructor and coach for PK – 8 students in public schools in NYC and Jersey City. Prior to working in education, she was a consultant at McKinsey & Company.