Staff

CEL Faculty and Facilitators

Stephen Fink
Executive Director
206.221.6877
finks@uw.edu
Dr. Stephen Fink is the executive director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL), and affiliate associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies in the University of Washington College of Education. Dr. Fink has worked for many years with school district leaders focusing on the school district as the “unit of change” – particularly on developing systems-level leadership capacity for eliminating the achievement gap. In pursuit of this seemingly elusive goal, his particular interest and expertise is in helping school district leaders dramatically improve the quality of instruction in every school and in every classroom. In addition to directing CEL, Dr. Fink provides facilitation and executive coaching for superintendent and district-level leaders in a number of CEL partnerships. He has also been affiliated for the last twenty years as a senior consultant for the Panasonic Foundation’s urban school district partnership program focusing on school district reform in numerous medium and large urban school districts across the country. Prior to coming to the University of Washington, he spent 12 years as an assistant superintendent in the Edmonds School District (Wash.), and was a principal and special education teacher in Idaho and Los Angeles. Dr. Fink is the co-author of Leading for Instructional Improvement: How Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and Learning Expertise.

Anneke Markholt
Associate Director
206.616.9279
Markholt@uw.edu
Dr. Anneke Markholt began her career as an English as a second language specialist for Tacoma Public Schools where she taught for ten years. As an associate director of CEL, she designs and directs the Center's district partnerships focused on the development of instructional leadership. Dr. Markholt is particularly interested in the intersection of teaching, learning and the leadership capacity necessary for school systems to engage in instructional improvement, especially for linguistically diverse students. She is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and teaches in the Masters in Instructional Leadership program. Prior to her work with CEL, Dr. Markholt spent five years as an associate researcher for the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy at the University of Washington. Dr. Markholt is the co-author of Leading for Instructional Improvement: How Successful Leaders Develop Teaching and Learning Expertise.

Max Silverman
Associate Director
206.543.8977
silvermx@uw.edu
As the associate director, Max Silverman provides leadership for CEL's district partnership work. He joined the Center in 2009, after leading high school reform efforts in the Highline Public Schools for the past nine years. As a principal and central office leader, he successfully led the transformation to a portfolio of high schools focused on sustainable instructional improvement and personalization. His central office experience was focused on instructional leadership for ten high schools, particularly in the areas of literacy and math.

June Rimmer
Associate Director
206.685.6460
juner2@uw.edu
Dr. June Rimmer joined CEL in 2011 as an associate director.  In this role she develops and manages district partnerships committed to building leaders’ expertise in instructional leadership and to transforming central office.  Prior to joining the CEL team, June served in numerous leadership roles in urban education settings most recently as chief academic officer in Seattle.  Before coming to CEL, she served as a program director with the Stupski Foundation in San Francisco coaching and providing technical assistance to urban district leaders committed to reform.  In addition she was part of a research team examining powerful student learning experiences that lead to 21st century skills and competence as well the system-level change needed at both the district and state levels to support 21st century learning.  June’s professional interests lie in the design of equity-based instructional systems and building expertise in educators’ practice to ensure that all students, particularly our most vulnerable children, exit our systems able to thrive in our dynamic, interconnected, global community.

Sandy Austin
Project Director
sandy2@uw.edu
Dr. Sandy Austin has been working with district and school administrators as a leadership consultant with CEL since 2006. She also teaches educational leadership courses for district teams in ESD 189. For the past fifteen years she has been an assistant superintendent in the Nooksack Valley School District and previously served in the district as a school administrator. She received her Ed.D. from the University of Washington in 2006.

Rita Lowy
Project Director
206.221.0833
ricalo47@uw.edu
Rita Lowy joined CEL in 2008.  Rita helps support CEL's 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning (5D) assessment and professional development as well as provide leadership coaching with a focus on mathematics.  Most recently, Rita was an administrator in the Bellevue School District beginning in 1993 when she was the assistant principal at Sammamish High School.  She then became the principal of Ardmore Elementary until 2000, then principal of Puesta del Sol (Spanish Immersion School) until her retirement from the Bellevue School District in 2007. Rita worked briefly at the Teachers Development Group before joining CEL.

Lara Lyons
Project Director
206.221.6882
lyonsl@uw.edu
Lara Lyons joined the Center for Educational Leadership in 2007.   In her role as a project director she oversees and manages several of CEL's district partnerships and she supports schools and districts by providing leadership coaching and professional development related to CEL's 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning.  She also coordinates and teaches through CEL's collaboration with both the UW Danforth and UW Bothell Educational Leadership preparation programs.  Lara has been serving the field of education for close to twenty years.  Prior to her work at the Center, Lara was a principal in the Bellevue School District and a K-12 literacy coach and teacher in the Federal Way School District. She received her master's degree in education from the University of Virginia and her administrative credential from Seattle Pacific University.

Patty Maxfield
Project Director

pamax@uw.edu
As a project director for CEL, Patty Maxfield supports several districts partnerships by providing instructional and leadership coaching connected to CEL’s 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning. In addition, Patty is a member of CEL’s Teacher-Principal Evaluation Pilot project team. Patty has been involved with public education for more than 30 years as a teacher, teacher leader, facilitator and administrator. Her passion is continually enhancing instructional practice to develop democratic, thinking-based learning for students and teachers. Prior to her work with CEL, Patty worked directly with teachers and administrators as the director of teaching and learning in Clover Park School District and the regional director for ATLAS Communities. She loved her twenty years spent in K-12 classrooms as a special education, history, health and AP teacher. Patty received her master’s degree in education administration from Western Washington University and is currently an Ed.D. student at the University of Washington.

Jenn McDermott

Project Director

206.685.5682

jennmcd@uw.edu


Jennifer McDermott joined CEL full-time in June, 2011.  She has been consulting for CEL since 2004.  Jennifer's work focuses on supporting teachers in secondary literacy, supporting literacy coaches with their coaching practice and helping schools and districts design professional development.  Prior to her work at CEL, Jennifer taught high school English, coached middle school literacy teachers and worked as a secondary literacy coach for Center for School Improvement at the University of Chicago.

University of Washington Faculty Partners

Chrysan Gallucci    
Principal Investigator, CEL Research Project
chrysan@uw.edu
Dr. Chrysan Gallucci is a research assistant professor for the College of Education at the University of Washington.  She is also a research associate at the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, as well as co-program director for the Masters in Instructional Leadership program.  Chrysan led a qualitative study of CEL's school district partnership work - a comparative case study of instructional leadership and improvement in three school districts.  Her research and teaching focus is on education policy and its connection to issues of professional learning. Her particular interest regards how education professionals who work in diverse systems engage problems of practice related to the improvement of teaching and learning.  Prior to joining the University of Washington faculty, Chrysan was on the research faculty at University of California, Santa Barbara. She has worked as a classroom teacher and has extensive background implementing as well as studying inclusive education for students with disabilities.

Meredith I. Honig
Associate Professor
206.616.0679
mihonig@uw.edu
Dr. Meredith I. Honig is a faculty partner at the Center for Educational Leadership and associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies in the College of Education at the University of Washington.  Her research and teaching focus is on policy, leadership, and organizational change in urban educational systems.  She is particularly interested in how school district central offices innovate and collaborate to improve opportunities for all youth to learn.  Prior to joining the University of Washington faculty, Meredith was assistant professor and co-director of the Center for Educational Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has worked at the California Department of Education and in other state and local youth-serving agencies.  Meredith's recent publications include the edited book, New Directions in Education Policy Implementation: Confronting Complexity (2006, SUNY Press). She has also published numerous articles in education journals.

Operations and Communications

Angela Anderson
Program Assistant
206.543.3048
Angela75@uw.edu
Angie Anderson's key role as part of CEL's office staff is to provide support for project directors and CEL district partnerships.  As part of this role, Angie coordinates the Center's workshops, online courses, and customized program offerings.   She also supports CEL's online 5D Instructional Leadership Assessment by assisting with the registration process and by providing technical support for school district personnel.  CEL benefits from Angie's knowledge and background in supporting education.  Prior to joining the Center in 2008, Angie worked for various school districts in western Washington including Edmonds School District and the Seattle Public Schools.

Donna Andle
Administrative and Fiscal Manager
206.616.5793
andled@uw.edu
Donna joined CEL in 2010.  In her current role she oversees the financial functions at CEL as well as serving as office manager.  She brings expertise in budgeting, finance and operational management from her prior work experiences.   Donna has a B.B.A. degree in accounting from Gonzaga University.  She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Washington.

Steve Goll
Communications Manager
206.616.5678
sgoll@uw.edu
Steve joined CEL as communications manager in September 2011. In this role, he works with the management team to develop and execute communication strategies that increase awareness of CEL’s services, products and impact. Prior to joining CEL, Steve served as communications director for Washington Technology Center at the University of Washington. He began his career teaching secondary school visual arts as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. He holds a master’s degree in educational communication and technology from New York University.

Rachel Lodge
Product Developer
206.221.3547
rlodge@uw.edu
Rachel works with the CEL team to develop new learning tools and communications strategies that support CEL's 5D and Central Office Transformation frameworks.  Before coming to CEL she worked for 7 years on program design,  implementation and statewide technical assistance for Healthy Start, a statewide learning support program in California.  She also brings 7 years' experience as an independent consultant developing strategic communications and program development tools for education, social services and arts organizations in California and Washington State.  Rachel has an A.B. degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Texas, Austin. She is also a working artist.

Claudia McNeill
Program Coordinator
206.543.9735
cmcneill@uw.edu
Claudia is the primary administrator and support provider for the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning (5D) assessments.  She also copy edits publicity and course materials, and provides other administrative support as needed.  Claudia has worked in administrative support positions at the University of Washington, Seattle University, the University of Pennsylvania, the New Road Map Foundation, as well as for an attorney's office in Seattle.  She received an M.L.S. degree from Syracuse University's School of Information Studies and worked as a librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia for six years.

Ayako Pieters
Technology Specialist
206.543.5674
ayakop@uw.edu
Ayako provides comprehensive support for the Center's technology needs and a wide and varied range of administrative support for the management team and project directors.  She also is a creative lead for Web and print materials. Prior to joining the Center, Ayako worked for ten years as a translator and editor for corporations in the U.S. and Europe.  She has a B.A. degree in English linguistics from Kyoto Notre Dame University in Japan.