Ilia, a bi-lingual 30-year Bronx educator, was our Model Classroom Pilot Lead and now serves as Director of Instructional programs at LAC. In this role, Ilia leads LAC’s professional development and coaching, curriculum mapping, and documentation. She brings 19 years of teaching experience, including positions in bilingual, multi-age, and ESOL collaborative teaching classrooms. Ilia’s classrooms served as lab sites for the teaching of math and science in conjunction with the New York City Math Project and the Workshop Center for Science Inquiry. She has also been a member of the Prospect Center and published a review of her water study with 2nd and 3rd-grade students. Ilia has served as an elementary math instructor at Lehman College and facilitator of descriptive review groups at the Prospect Center. She has presented math workshops at regional curriculum conferences and orchestrated school-based and district-wide professional development for elementary math teachers in the White Plains Public Schools. Ilia holds a B.A. in Sociology from Hamilton College, an M.S. in Elementary Education from The City College of the City University of New York, and an Advanced Certificate in Bilingual Education along with a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership (Lehman College, CUNY).

Ruth is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Literacy Academy Collective and brings over 20 years of leadership and innovation in the NYC education sector. Ruth founded the New York office of Bottom Line and served as its Executive Director for eight years. During her tenure, Bottom Line NY grew from an inaugural class of 125 students to a thriving program helping over 3,000 students annually to earn their college degree, establishing itself as a leader in the college access and success space. Previously, Ruth worked at New Visions for Public Schools where she launched and directed New Visions’ first Data and College Readiness departments. Before joining New Visions in 2005, Ruth worked in the Bloomberg Administration on the integration of after-school services across several New York City agencies. Ruth has served on the advisory board of several NYC nonprofits and education coalitions. She began her career as a New York City public school teacher through Teach for America. Ruth holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley; and a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Emily leads External Affairs and Strategy. Emily is a community activist and parent of a child with dyslexia. She is the former Vice President of the CEC for District 2 founding the Students with Disabilities Committee which she convened monthly with parents from across the district. She served as PTA president, on the School Leadership Team, and was a pioneer family of a new and incubated D2 school- Peck Slip PS343. As Co-Chair of 75 Morton Community Alliance, Emily organized multiple community focus groups and envisioning sessions. She has a background in non-profit fundraising serving as the former development director of start-up non-profit Shine Global and finance chair of several state-wide and national political campaigns. She was a working actress in New York City from 1994 to 2004. 1998 she co-founded the Project 400 Theater Company, co-creating and acting in, among other works, The Donkey Show- a hit off-Broadway musical running for 8 years in NYC.

Naomi is our Director of Community Engagement. Naomi became involved in educational advocacy work when her oldest child was diagnosed with Dyslexia 17 years ago and given an IEP. She quickly had to learn how to navigate the special education bureaucracy in NYC and experienced first-hand the overwhelming complexity of the system. Through support from organizations, she learned the special education law and lent herself as a support for other special education parents in her community. In 2015 she joined the Community Education Council for School District 1, where she served as President for five of her eight years. As President of the CEC, and as a proud product of NYCHA, she helped develop and implement NYC’s first district-wide Diversity in Admissions system, and the first Family Resource Center in District 1. She has a professional background in legal, marketing, operations, and finance.