Sydney Schaef, Ed.D., M.B.A.
Founder & Executive Director
Sydney Schaef, Ed.D., M.B.A., brings over 18 years of experience in nonprofit and organizational leadership, education design, adult learning, and competency-based education. Sydney has been recognized by the Skoll Foundation for her innovative programming in East Africa, and was awarded the Skoll Scholarship for Social Entrepreneurship in 2011. Sydney's work has been featured on the Big Ideas in Education podcast, the Getting Smart podcast, Aurora Institute's CompetencyWorks, and The 74 Million.
Sydney holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford, a Master of Urban Education from University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.A. from the University of Florida.
Erica Dolland, M.S.
SEL & Wellness Consultant
For nearly two decades, Erica Dolland, M.S., has served diverse learning communities in the U.S., West Africa, and the Middle East. She has worked as an educator, instructional coach, school leader, and learning designer supporting school systems in whole-child education.
She specializes in integrating the principles of SEL in learning communities, focusing on learning experience and curriculum design, educator and school leader capacity development, and academic integration to achieve equitable outcomes for all students.
More recently, she served as a curriculum consultant to Mind Body Align, integrating CASEL competencies and culturally responsive teaching practices into K-5 lessons, and as a learning experience designer with reDesign, creating cutting-edge student-facing learning designs to develop future-ready skills, build connection, and cultivate critical consciousness.
Erica holds a B.A. in Performance Studies and Writing from New York University and an MS Ed in Childhood Education from City College.
Outside work, you’ll find her globe-trotting, immersed in nature, and leveling up her sewing skills— she wants to be as good as her mama.
Andrea Avery, Ed.D.
Research, Design, & Editing
Andrea Avery, Ed.D., is a teacher, published author, and skilled designer with a rich variety of experiences in teaching and leadership that have attuned her to both the power of individual interpersonal moments and the complexity of school systems and structures. Andrea is committed to supporting learner-centered models that honor the whole humanity of the people who work and learn within them.
Andrea Avery holds a BA in music, an MFA in creative writing, and a Doctorate of Education. Her writing about education has appeared in Radical Teacher, The Oxford American, and Journeys in Learning Across Frontiers. She is also the author of Sonata: A Memoir of Pain and the Piano.
When she’s not reading or writing, Andrea can be found swimming; walking; sewing; knitting; drawing; journaling; baking; scouring thrift stores for new additions to her collections of brass belt buckles, novelty Bundt pans, and vintage Scandinavian kitsch; or palling around with her four cats and her spouse.
Jen Soalt, Ph.D.
Research & Design
Jen Soalt, Ph.D., is a literacy expert, passionate about climate education, literacy leadership, curriculum development, and education writing. She has developed ELA and literacy curriculum for a number of education organizations, with works included in state curriculum collections and reviewed by ILA and NCTE.
Jen's education writing has appeared in The Reading Teacher, Literacy Today, The Greater Good Magazine (UC Berkeley), and ASCD Express. Jen is currently writing a book on equitable talk in ELA classrooms for Teachers College Press.
Jen holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from The University of Virginia, and an M.Ed. in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School Of Education.
