Data & Tools Advisory Board Members
Marshall Anthony Jr., The Institute for College Access & Success
Dr. Marshall Anthony Jr. directs the research agenda at The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), where he leads innovative work to ambitiously advance and radically reimagine a higher education system that equitably serves people from all walks of life. Marshall’s personal and professional mission is to improve the educational and socioeconomic mobility of traditionally underrepresented communities. He has published for various public, policy, and academic audiences. Marshall’s work and commentary has been featured in multi-media outlets, such as About Campus, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Higher Ed Dive, Higher Education Today, Inside Higher Ed, NBC News, NerdWallet, Politico, RealClearEducation, SiriusXM, The Associated Press, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Hechinger Report, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, and U.S. News & World Report. He has also testified before the U.S. House of Representatives. Before joining TICAS, Marshall served as the associate director of policy and advocacy for higher education at the Center for American Progress (CAP) as well as a higher education research analyst at The Education Trust. During his doctoral studies, Marshall was a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow of Class XIV at the Florida Department of Education, and he also served as a graduate research assistant and instructor in the inaugural Leadership Learning Research Center at Florida State University. Additionally, he has worked in other academic and student affairs functional areas at public and private institutions of various sizes. A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Marshall holds a Ph.D. in higher education (public policy) from Florida State University. He also earned a master’s degree in higher education administration, graduate certificate in teaching, training, and educational technology, bachelor’s degree in business administration, and minors in accounting and Spanish from North Carolina State University.
Jason Borgen, Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Jason Borgen has worked in the K-12 environment for close to 20 years–First as a teacher focused on creating an environment beyond brick and mortar learning. Jason spent many years following by supporting school administrators across California with effective ways to leverage technology to lead 21st century schools as part of the statewide Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL) project as well training teachers in transformative practices in their classroom. Jason spent 3-years in leading curriculum and technology programs in a small school district in the Silicon Valley. Currently, Jason is leading Technology, Innovation, and Communication at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education as the Chief Technology & Innovation Officer and is the former president of the Board of CUE, INC. Board of Directors – a non-profit focused on inspiring innovation in education. Jason is Google Certified Trainer and Google Certified Innovator. He is also certified trainer in the Leading Edge Certification program and helped develop the curriculum for the program.
Lisa Catanzarite, UNITE-LA
Lisa Catanzarite, Ph.D. is Vice President of Research and Evaluation at UNITE-LA, where she oversees research and evaluation activities in education and workforce development, focusing on anti-racism and equity in education and employment. Recent research projects include: challenges and supports for parenting students; teacher preparation at L.A.-area universities and teacher outcomes at LAUSD; labor market experience and aspirations of systems-involved individuals; talent needs of L.A. area tech employers; business organization interest and engagement in education and workforce issues; a supply and demand analysis of allied healthcare pathways for L.A. opportunity youth; and employment needs and aspirations of L.A. youth. Dr. Catanzarite’s experience includes two decades as a professor and senior research sociologist at UCLA, UC San Diego, and Washington State University. Her published, peer-reviewed research on labor markets, education, and poverty centers on inequalities by gender, race/ethnicity, and immigration. Recent professional service activities include, among others: National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Expert Panel on Evaluation of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Compensation Data; Public Policy Institute of California Data Collaborative; and USC Sol Price Center Neighborhood Data for Social Change Steering Committee. Dr. Catanzarite completed a bachelor’s degree in history, master’s degrees in education and in sociology, and a Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University, as well as a National Institute of Mental Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship in sociology at UCLA.
Lisa Chavez, State Bar of California
Lisa Chavez is the Director of the Office of Research and Institutional Accountability at the State Bar of California. She has developed and led quantitative research initiatives for academic, non-profit, and public agencies such as EdSource, WestEd, San Francisco Unified School District, and the Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at Berkeley Law School. Lisa has researched access to the University of California, Latino community college transfer students, school discipline, federal school accountability for English learners, immigration enforcement, and school integration. She has also lectured in the Chicano/Ethnic Studies department at UC Berkeley, teaching an upper-division undergraduate course, “Chicanos and the Education System.” The common thread throughout her career has been her deep passion for promoting social justice through research and advocacy and partnering with executives, leaders, and team members to ensure research products have maximum social impact. A first-generation college graduate, Lisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz and her Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Berkeley. She is a proud native of the San Gabriel Valley and currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.
Tamika Connor, Calbright College
Tamika Connor has a strong background in building sustainable partnerships with higher education institutions, community-based organizations, industries, and local government agencies. Her post-secondary education work includes private and public colleges (e.g., Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and California community colleges). Tamika is dedicated to using data-informed strategies to improve college access and student success with equitable outcomes. She has a broad range of experience in academia, including credit for prior learning, skill-based competency-based education, and equity-aligned community college initiatives such as AB 705, the new student-centered funding formula, Student Equity and Achievement Program, and Guided Pathways. Currently, Tamika serves as Senior Vice President at Calbright College and as a core team member of the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (IEPI) Strategic Enrollment Management Community of Practice program. She previously served as Acting Assistant Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management, Department Chair, and Tenured Faculty at the Peralta Community College District/Laney College. She was also the Adult Education Director for the Chabot/Las Positas Community College District—Mid Alameda County Adult Education Consortium.
Regan Foust, The Children’s Data Network at the University of Southern California
Regan Foust, PhD, is the Executive Director and a Senior Research Scientist at the Children’s Data Network (CDN) at the University of Southern California. An experienced researcher, project manager, and data translator, she works closely with data, research, and funding partners to pursue and communicate the CDN’s transdisciplinary research agenda, inform children’s programs/policies, and build the capacity of government agencies to make better use of their own data. Formerly, as Senior Manager, Data and Research for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, she managed kidsdata.org, guided development and implementation of child health and well-being initiatives, and stewarded strategic data and communication partnerships. She also comes with prior experience replicating effective youth development interventions and evaluating and improving child welfare and educational programs. Dr. Foust holds a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Psychology from U.C. Davis.
Diana Harlick, San Mateo County Office of Education
Diana Harlick is the lead manager at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) for The Big Lift – a countywide collective impact initiative to increase the percentage of children reading proficiently at third grade. Throughout the course of her career, Diana has led or co-led several multi-partner, multi-sector countywide early childhood initiatives and evaluation studies, combining partnership development, program development and data development seamlessly to scale high impact interventions for vulnerable and at-risk young children. She has built an integrated, 7-district preschool to third grade (P-3) data strategy that can serve as a model for other counties, and that provides actionable data and data tools for a range of local stakeholders. As a daughter of teen parents raised in a working class family, Diana has experienced the transformative power of education in her own life. She believes the key to unlocking the full potential of early childhood initiatives to close early achievement gaps in California lies in addressing existing multi-sector preschool through second grade data gaps. Diana holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology & French from the University of California, Davis.
Khathy Hoang, YMCA of Los Angeles
Khathy Hoang is the Associate Vice President of Community Impact & Development for the YMCA of Metropolitan of Los Angeles where she supports programmatic, evaluative, and foundation, government, corporate and other resource garnering efforts for the organization’s nearly 30 locations throughout Southern California. Khathy holds a Master’s degree in Community Public Health (California State University, Northridge) and Bachelor’s degree from the University of California Los Angeles. Ms. Hoang currently sits on the State Bar of California’s Closing the Justice Gap Working Group and has served in other leadership roles for different organizations. Khathy continues to be an advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion work as she supports the YMCA’s Cradle to Career Success pipeline and New American Welcome Centers as a Department of Justice accredited representative providing support for clients seeking citizenship application assistance, and is committed to better serving our community and future leaders!
Heather Hough, Policy Analysis for California Education
Heather Hough is the executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). Dr. Hough’s work focuses on using research and data to strengthen state and local structures supporting continuous improvement and to advance policies that support the whole child. Dr. Hough has worked in a variety of capacities to support policy and practice in education, including as an improvement advisor at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and as a researcher at the Public Policy Institute of California, the Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford University, and the Center for Education Policy at SRI International. Dr. Hough received her PhD in education policy and her BA in public policy from Stanford University.
Brendan Livingston, University of California, Davis
Brendan Livingston is the Director of Enrollment Management Analytics (EMA) at the University of California, Davis. EMA provides critical data analysis and recommendations to campus leadership, allowing them to make informed data-driven decisions for the essential functions of enrollment management: Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid and Scholarships, and Office of the University Registrar.
Helen Norris, Chapman University
Helen Norris is the Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Information Technology at Chapman University, where she is responsible for leading the university’s information technology strategy and services, and oversight of the University Library. Ms. Norris joined Chapman in 2014 after holding technology leadership roles at California State University, Sacramento, and the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Norris serves on several national non-profit boards. She serves as the board chair of EDUCAUSE, a non-profit whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology. She is a trustee and past chair of the board of the National Endowment of Financial Education (NEFE), an operating foundation that champions financial education at a national level. She serves on the Dell Technologies Higher Education Advisory Board and as an advisor to Empowher Institute, whose mission is to empower girls in marginalized communities in Los Angeles through mentorship. Originally from Ireland, Ms. Norris earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with honors, from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, and a Master’s degree in Computer Resource Management and Business Administration, with Distinction, from Webster University, St. Louis.
Jennifer Orlick, Campbell Union High School District
Jennifer Orlick is the Director of Innovation for the Campbell Union High School District, which serves roughly 8,500 high school students in Silicon Valley. She oversees data systems, research, and the development of the Local Control and Accountability Plan. Previously she worked at the Los Angeles Unified School District on human capital initiatives and performance management. She has also worked in the nonprofit sector, in public housing, and taught middle school English in Japan. She is excited to serve on the Cradle-to-Career Data & Tools Advisory Board to share perspectives from the K-12 landscape to inform the evolving design of longitudinal data systems in California.
Laura Owen, San Diego State University
Dr. Laura Owen is the Executive Director for the Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment at San Diego State University. A prior urban school counselor, district counseling supervisor, and district crisis team lead for Albuquerque Public Schools, she is a passionate advocate for closing postsecondary opportunity gaps. Her research focuses on evaluating the impact of practices designed to address the systems, structures and policies needed to remove barriers for historically marginalized communities. Dr. Owen has researched interventions targeting FAFSA completion, the high school to college transition, virtual advising, the use of technology in college counseling, how students prefer to receive college and career information and the pandemic’s impact on students’ postsecondary choices. She is committed to the discovery of models that support access, retention and completion of postsecondary credentials aligned to the workforce and connected to high wage, high demand jobs.
Diana Phuong, Braven
Diana Phuong is the Executive Director of Braven in the Bay Area. She joined Braven at San Josè State as Site Director in January 2020 and in her first year, adapted the core Accelerator Course to an entirely virtual context to much success. Prior to Braven, Diana engaged counties, districts, and schools in integrated STEAM education by leveraging hands-on learning as a Partnership Director for a local nonprofit, RAFT. She launched a RAFT STEAM Summer Program through joint funding as a 4.0 Schools Tiny Fellow. Prior to that, Diana spent a decade in teaching and high school administration. Her teaching began as a Teach For America Fellow in Memphis, TN, where she taught 3rd-5th grade English as a Second Language. Diana earned her Bachelor’s in English from the University of California-Irvine and a Master’s in Education from Christian Brothers University. She is the first in her family to receive her Bachelors and Masters. Born and raised in the East Bay, she is the daughter of refugees who started over in America in the late 70s.
Vikash Reddy, Campaign for College Opportunity
Vikash Reddy has over ten years of experience in higher education research, with particular expertise in outcomes-based funding policies and developmental education reforms. Prior to joining the Campaign, Vikash was a Policy Analyst at the California Policy Lab at UC Berkeley, where he worked with California government agencies including the California Community College Chancellor’s Office and the California Student Aid Commission to analyze administrative data and evaluate pilot programs. Vikash previously worked at the Community College Research Center and the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he co-authored books and articles on performance funding in higher education, researched reforms in developmental education, and helped to create and evaluate multiple measures placement systems at the State University of New York. Vikash earned his PhD in Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was awarded a Department of Education Policy & Social Analysis Dissertation Fellowship for his dissertation, From the Schoolhouse to the Statehouse: The Role of Teach for America and Its Alumni in Education Policy. He holds a Masters Degree in Elementary Teaching from Pace University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Dartmouth College.
J. Oliver Schak, The County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department
Oliver Schak is a nationally recognized expert on higher education affordability and finance, and he has an extensive repertoire of working with education data for decision-makers, and shepherding data tools for consumers. He previously directed the College Insight website, a user-friendly college profile search tool developed by The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS). At The Education Trust, he co-led the creation of the State Equity Report Card, which spotlighted each state’s opportunity and success outcomes for Black and Latina/o students. One of his crowning achievements was helping to launch the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard. Oliver is currently a Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist for Santa Clara County’s Behavior Health Services Department, where he creates data tools to inform stakeholders and provides statistical analysis to support program performance and improvement. For graduate school, Oliver completed his Master of Public Policy degree at the University of California — Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. A native of Minneapolis, Oliver graduated from Carleton College with a bachelor’s degree in economics.