Global DEI Committee

Doretha Allen is a National Board Certified Teacher in Literacy-Reading Language Arts: Early to Middle Childhood, and works as the Innovation Coordinator in Dallas ISD. Doretha has served as a member of the National Board’s Dream Team, working to recruit and support minority candidates in the National Board Certification process, the English Language Arts Standards Revision Committee, and the What Book Revision Committee. She has also served as co-chair for Educators Rising Standards. She contributed to the Model Code of Educator Ethics for the National Association of State Director of Teacher Education and Certification and led the Professional Learning Committee for EdTech Evidence Exchange for the Genome Project. Doretha has been a conference presenter for Dallas Council of the International Reading Association, Texas State Reading Association, Texas Partnership for Accomplished Teaching, National Association for Black School Educators, International Reading Association, Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation, Texas Association of Black School Educators, and National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Conferences and webinars. Dr. Allen is currently the president of the Texas National Board for Coalition for Teaching. She is married with two children.

Lizette Burks is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the department of Urban Education at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), Texas. She leads a graduate degree program in Educational Leadership with a focus on equity for UHD. Previously, as Director and Graduate Faculty at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Lizette served as the subject matter expert on equity-focused innovation for education and led numerous education reform initiatives with the Kansas State Department of Education where she served as a State Science Education Programs Supervisor and co-principal investigator for a 13-state STEM grant aimed at advancing equitable systems in science education. She also serves as a member of the Council of State Science Supervisors Access and Equity Committee and an Institute for Teachers of Color Teacher Educator Fellow. Most recently, she chaired NBPTS’ first ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Standards Committee. Lizette has taught science, grades 4-12, in Texas and Kansas. In addition, she has presented lectures and papers on science education, educational leadership, and equity in numerous educational settings. Her research is informed by learning English as a second language as a child, and later, teaching science education in schools designated as Title I with high percentages of children from low-income families in rural and urban communities.

Jaime Festa-Daigle is a National Board Certified Teacher in Adolescence and Young Adulthood/Social Studies-History in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where she currently serves as the Director of Student Achievement. She holds K-12 endorsements in English as a Second Language, Career and Technical Education, and Speech. In her role as Director of Student Achievement, she has implemented district literacy initiatives and ESL programs for students K-12 as well as designed assessment plans to support data-driven instruction. She has sat on standards committees for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Educators Rising, and has worked on the AZK12 Teacher Solutions Team, which focuses on teacher leadership since 2011. In addition, she has served as a faculty advisor and teacher mentor in her district as well as leadership roles with the National Honor Society Advisory Board through the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Presently, Jaime serves as an executive board member with the Arizona Rural School Association, the Martin Springer Institute, and with the AZK12 Center. In addition, she has served as a former high school assistant principal and social studies teacher where she taught civics, economics, American History, and English. In 2012, Jaime was named the American Civic Educator of the Year and was nominated as the Arizona VFW Teacher of the Year in 2014. She is presently pursuing a doctorate in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis on K-12 Leadership.

Dr. Gillard earned his B. A. in Liberals Arts from California State University, Dominguez Hills and graduated from Pepperdine University with an M. A. in Education. He received a doctorate in Organizational Leadership and Human Services from Nova Southeastern University. He is currently pursuing a position as a school administrator with Clark County School District.

Dr. Gillard is a Gifted and Talented Education Specialist with expertise in K-8 education, curriculum development, and professional development for educators for Title I and non-Title I schools. He provides instructional strategies for teachers with students identified as gifted and high-achieving. He serves on several committees providing interventions and educational plans for students with learning deficits.

Dr. Gillard is a member of the Equity and Diversity team for several schools in the country's fifth-largest school district. As a Restorative Practice Coach, Dr. Gillard aims to reduce the disproportionality in the suspension and expulsion of Black students. He believes that creating a mindset of shifting student discipline from punishment to reflective learning is key to student success. Dr. Gillard was also selected as a Teach Plus Fellow in Las Vegas, Nevada, and served as a member with the Human Rights Campaign for the Nevada Chapter.

Chad achieved National Board Certification in School Counseling with a specialization in Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood and presently works as an elementary school counselor in the state of Montana. He has certifications in elementary education and Modern Languages as well as certification as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Montana. He began his career teaching elementary school and junior high for several years. He also worked for two years at the Center for Children and Families as a therapist. At the center, he conducted group therapy, individual sessions, and trauma care among other therapeutic services. In his current position as school counselor, Chad specializes in differentiated behavioral interventions, trauma informed care, suicidal response and prevention, and curriculum development and design. In addition to being an active member of local and state National Board Networks, Chad has worked with the American School Counseling Association National Model in developing comprehensive counseling programs. In 2022, Chad was selected as Montana’s School Counselor of the Year.

Francisca Martinez Jensen earned National Board Certification as an Early Childhood/Generalist and presently serves as an English Language/English as a Second Language teacher in Norman, Oklahoma. She has taught numerous grade levels including kindergarten through freshman-level community college courses throughout her fifteen years in education. She is on the New Teacher Liaison in her school district where she facilitates new teachers with professional development resources and instructional strategies that ensures effective instruction and student learning. She has served as a member of the Oklahoma Education Association’s Human and Civil Rights Committee and was selected as an Early Childhood Representative to help write and design standards for Educators Rising. In 2010, Francisca served as a member on the National Board Early Childhood Generalist Standards revision committee and has worked on other committees to bring attention to matters impacting students while creating pipelines for high school students to enter the field of education. She is presently pursuing her doctorate degree (Ph.D) in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with a specialization in Early Childhood Education.

Susan Lafond is a National Board Certified Teacher in English as a New Language, Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood with twenty years of combined teaching experience in ESL and World Languages. She currently works as an Assistant in Educational Services with New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). She also serves as an adjunct professor at Siena College where she covers topics including social justice, educational equity and access for English learners, and culturally responsive teaching for diverse student populations. She is a member of the American Federation of Teachers’ ELL Educator Cadre as well as an AFT National Trainer and member of their Professional Learning Advisory Group. In addition, she serves as an expert practitioner and advisor to Colorín Colorado. Susan participated as a member of the ELA Work Team for the Common Core State Standards Initiative. She was appointed to National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ English as a New Language Standards Committee to review and revise the English as a New Language Standards as well as the revision committee for the “What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do” book. She is the Federal Advocacy Coordinator for NYS TESOL and serves on their Advocacy Committee. She has published articles for NYSUT’s Educator’s Voice, Colorín Colorado and multiple blog posts with Larry Ferlazzo for Education Week. She was recognized for her contributions to the profession with an award from NYS TESOL in 2021.

Mark Miller is a National Board Certified Teacher in Mathematics with a specialization in Early Adolescence. He is a mathematics teacher and department chair at Cheyenne Mountain Junior High School in Colorado. His leadership experiences include serving as the 8th grade representative on the National Assessment Governing Board as a Member of Executive Committee, Vice Chair of Assessment Development Committee, Member of Nominations Committee, New Member Orientation Co-Leader, and Strategic Vision Small Group Leader with the United States Department of Education. Mark has also served as a liaison on the superintendent's hiring committee in his school district. Other leadership experiences include working in curriculum and instruction, working with culturally and linguistically diverse and gifted students, and serving as a math coach in his district. Mark is a multiple time nominee for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science. In addition, he has presented at several education conferences including Colorado Council of Teachers of Math, Colorado NBCT Summit, and at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Conference.

Grand Pacheco achieved National Board Certification in Exceptional Needs, Early Childhood Through Young Adulthood and presently serves as a special education resource teacher and department chair at the International High School in Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland. He previously worked as a PreK-8 special education resource and classroom teacher in Prince George’s Public Schools, Maryland, and a high school teacher in the Philippines for eleven years. Grand also has experience teaching English to speakers of other languages, as well as high school social studies/history and school administration. He has been a recipient of the Men of Prince George’s County Public Schools, the Eaves-Carden Scholarship, the Vest Graduate Endowment Scholarship at The George Washington University, and the 2020 Department of Educational Leadership and Administration at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Other leadership experiences include serving as a curriculum writer, facilitator, and mentor for Prince George’s NBCT Network, and candidate support mentor for the Maryland State Education Association Mentorship and the National Board’s Learning CORE Programs. In 2021, Grand received his doctorate in education with a specialization in Educational Leadership and Administration.

Tonya Perry was one of the first teachers in Alabama to receive National Board Certification in 1999, in English Language Arts/Early Adolescence. She has a doctorate in Education Leadership with a concentration in English and secondary curriculum. She is presently serving as the Vice Provost and Faculty Affairs Administrator for Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to her position at Miles College, she served as Interim Department Chair of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her studies at the university included teaching diverse and historically marginalized student populations, teacher leadership, teacher education, and adolescent writing. At the university, she also served as the Executive Director of GEAR UP, which provides resources for college entry and retention for Alabama’s Black Belt, areas with economically-challenged and disadvantaged populations in the state. Tonya also served as the Director of Urban Education at the university which aimed to foster and support research in the area of diversity and inclusion. Prior to her years at the collegiate level, she worked as an English language teacher in Alabama and North Carolina. She also served as Executive Director of the Red Mountain Writing Project and presently serves on the National Writing Project Board of Directors at University of California at Berkeley. She recently co-authored Teaching for Racial Equity: Becoming Interrupters. In 2000-2001, Tonya was selected as Alabama’s Teacher of the Year and further recognized as a National Teacher of the Year Finalist. Tonya was recently elected Vice President of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Anaheim, California.

Noraa Ransey achieved National Board Certification in Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood and presently teaches literacy at the elementary level in Calloway County Schools, Kentucky. As a National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) Minority Teacher Mentor, she works with educators pursuing National Board Certification and with the Kentucky Education Association where she recruits teachers of color and mentors them from the first year of teaching and beyond. She has also worked extensively with the National Education Association (NEA) cohort to mentor aspiring educators taking the Praxis examination and with the organization's diversity initiative where she has created modules on diversity for classroom implementation. She presently serves as Kentucky’s Ethnic Minority Director and a Mentor of Aspiring Educators of Color with the National Education Association. Noraa has served on the Kentucky NBCT Network Board where she chaired the organization’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and was a member of the Advisory Board for Murray State University. In 2020, Noraa was named Kentucky Education Association Teacher of the Year.

Ray is the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) and Special Initiatives with the National Arts Education Association where they oversee ED & I initiatives for classroom teachers, museum curators, pre-service teachers, and administrators. Ray has facilitated diversity and equity workshops, led affinity groups, trained with the National SEED Project, and served on the NAEA Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Task Force. They have spent time in a range of art education fields as a classroom art educator, a grade-level dean in Seattle, an administrator in Chicago Public Schools, a museum educator at the Seattle Art Museum, and as an instructor teaching graduate courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Other leadership experiences include facilitating outreach and professional development programs at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center, developing school and art partnerships, facilitating professional development workshops and programming across other disciplines including music, dance, drama as well as project-based learning and social justice with the arts. In addition, Ray presently co-facilitates Visual DEI Chats, a platform that includes online dialogues around visual facilitation of tools to engage diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.