State Facilitators
State Facilitators provide training and on-going technical assistance to State Teams
to implement the projects activities.
- Conduct training in the Five-Step Program Improvement Model
- Inventory State Team professional development needs
- Identify research and resources that support the work of the ESG and State Teams
and submit these to the Virtual Learning Community (VLC)
- Develop support materials and resources to increase the effectiveness of State Teams
- Provide technical assistance to state teams of STEM educators and professionals
regarding the implementation of the STEM Equity Pipeline project activities
- Assist State Contact in developing State Team
- Implement training with State Team/s
- Assist State Team/s in developing annual work plan
- Monitor State Team/s progress
- Work with evaluator to implement State Team evaluation plan/s
- Maintain regular monthly communication with State Team/s via phone and email
- Make on-site visit with State Team/s quarterly to conduct training and assess progress
- Assist in identifying potential professional development training opportunities
for state teams
- Work with State Team at the annual STEM Equity Pipeline Project Leadership Institute
Courtney Reed-Jenkins
Iowa Facilitator
Contact information
creedjenkins@napequity.org
Courtney Reed Jenkins, J.D., is an educational equity expert. For almost two decades,
she has worked to eliminate institutional barriers to the success of underserved
students. She developed innovative grassroots training programs for community-based
organizations and excelled in coordinating new programming in the non-profit sector.
She brought her program management and legal training to the Wisconsin Department
of Public Instruction. During the past decade, she has managed systems-change equity
grants related to gender in STEM classes and race in education. She served on the
Career and Technical Education team as the gender equity coordinator and as the
co-director of Wisconsin SkillsUSA. She is the author of numerous articles on gender
and race in education.
Freda Walker
Illinois and Missouri Facilitator
Contact information
fwalker@napequity.org
Freda Walker is an educational consultant specializing in equity in education at
the secondary and post-secondary levels. Being a Consumer Home Economics teacher
at the junior high, high and college level, provided her with a strong foundation
in Career and Technical Education. With a Master’s in Educational Administration
she has been a junior high school principal, an alternative high school principal,
a co-op director of categorical programs for 29 secondary school districts and superintendent
of a high school district.
For 13 years as a Director, she managed California State-level Gender Equity Projects
funded through federal Carl Perkins dollars. These project provided technical assistance
and professional development to assist approximately 300 California secondary school
districts, 100+ community-based organizations and the California Youth Authority
to address gender equity issues in career and technical education, increase underrepresented
genders in nontraditional careers, and implement self-sufficient and vocational
training programs for displaced homemakers. She worked with a team to develop and
conduct regional and state level conferences focused on gender equity, nontraditional
careers, females in math and science, best practices and partnerships. During this
time she was publisher of various newsletters and publications focused on gender
equity. She is the author of Talking Together, a manual for teens and adults for
discussing the role of work (including nontraditional careers, math and science
careers) and home responsibilities and the co-author of Helping Youth Succeed, A
Guide for Parents and the Community. Currently she serves on the Joint Special Populations
Advisory Committee (JSPAC), a California joint secondary and post-secondary state-level
career and technical education advisory committee.
As a skilled facilitator, Freda has experience in various educational settings and
with private and public entities that include county supervisor boards, public library
volunteer organizations, domestic violence task force, and watershed councils. Additionally,
she organized and for three years led a group, composed of administrators, faculty,
and school board representatives to consensus on issues of conflict. She enjoys
working with groups in problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution,
goal setting and strategic planning.
Claudia Morrell
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Georgia Facilitator
Contact information
cmorrell@napequity.org
Claudia Morrell is the Chief Operating Officer of the National Alliance for Partnerships
in Equity Education Foundation. Prior to her assuming the position, she was founder
and CEO for the Multinational Development of Women in Technology (MDWIT), an organization
founded in 2007 and that received a Governor's Citation in 2008. Ms. Morrell is
formerly the executive director of the Center for Women and Technology where she
worked for seven years and helped to build the organization from start-up to become
an internationally recognized organization at the University of Maryland, Baltimore
County. She is a skilled leader with record of accomplishment in creating and directing
innovative organizations and programs that have a demonstrated significant impact
in improving student outcomes. Her efforts to advance women and girls in nontraditional
fields through innovative programs has been highly successful and as a result she
and her work have received numerous awards. Ms. Morrell has expertise in initiating
and facilitating partnerships between private and public sectors and has been highly
successful at corporate, foundation and government-based fundraising. She also has
significant experience in the education arena. Ms. Morrell has a Bachelor of Science
degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Master's of Science
degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Master of Arts degree from
Loyola College in Maryland.
Mimi Lufkin
California, Missouri, and New Hampshire Facilitator
Contact information
mimilufkin@napequity.org
Mimi Lufkin has over 26 years of experience as an educator and as an administrator
of local and state level projects in California and Pennsylvania. In California
Mimi’s career began in 1979 as high school agricultural education teacher. Over
the next fifteen years she was a teacher educator, an executive director of a women’s
microenterprise development agency and the director of development for a community
college.
Mimi graduated from U.C. Davis with a BS in Animal Science and then attained a MS
in Agricultural Sciences from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis
Obispo and a MA in Educational Administration from St. Mary’s College.
In 1994, Mimi moved to Pennsylvania and became the Executive Director of the National
Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, a consortium of state and local education and
workforce agencies providing national leadership for equity in education and workforce
development. In this capacity she reviews and analyzes federal legislation, conducts
professional development activities and provides technical assistance to state and
local educational agencies focused on best practices for serving special population
students.
Susie Wheeler
Texas Facilitator
Contact information
swheeler@napequity.org
Susie Wheeler has been a professional educator for over 30 years. Most recently,
she has been the project manager for a Perkins State Leadership grant titled Gender
Equity in CTE, working with Texas community colleges to help them improve non-traditional
student participation and completion by using the NAPEEF 5-Step Process. Wheeler
works at Amarillo College in the Assessment & Development Division.
Wheeler earned her B.A. from Eastern New Mexico University and her M.A. from the
University of California- Santa Barbara.
Ben Williams
Ohio Facilitator
Contact information
bwilli03@cscc.edu
Ben Williams has been the site lead for the Ohio STEM Equity Pipeline Project since
February 2010, and he is now both NAPE facilitator to the initial three pilots and
Project Director of the Ohio Department of Education-funded expansion of the projects
to eight additional sites by FY2013. Ben is in his ninth year as the Coordinator
of the Perkins Two-Year Program at Columbus State Community College, a large comprehensive
urban community college in Central Ohio, and he is part of the Perkins Advisory
Board to The Ohio Board of Regents. Ben has extensive experience and expertise in
program administration, Admissions and Academic Advising, and International Education.
He regularly presents in local, regional and national arenas. Ben's research interests
have revolved around racial identity, college student development, and inter-cultural
communication. Ben enjoys teaching undergraduate and graduate courses focused on
Cultural Diversity and Global Issues. He is currently designing a new "Community
College" course for The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology
which he will teach in fall 2011.
Ben is very excited to join NAPE as the consultant to Ohio. He is passionate about
the work of the STEM Equity Pipeline Project, and increasing the participation,
persistence, program completion, and ultimate job placement of females and other
under-represented groups in STEM fields.
Ben has his BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts,
and his MA in Student Affairs Administration and Ph.D. in Educational Policy & Leadership
from The Ohio State University.
Rick Larkey
Oklahoma Facilitator
Contact information
ricklarkey@napequity.org