Board of Directors and Advisory Council of the Board
The Teaching for Change board of directors plays an integral role in ensuring that the organization does all it can to meet the mission of building social justice, starting in the classroom. The board is charged with overseeing the governance and growth of Teaching for Change. As a diverse and committed group of scholars, educators, artists, lawyers, and people in other professions — each board member helps us execute our work with intention.
BOARD OVERVIEW
The board shall be made up of no fewer than three and no more than twenty-three voting members.
Board terms are two-year commitments with the option for a consecutive recommitment (at max four consecutive years of service).
Board officers (executive committee of the board) are elected every two years, who can hold a total of six years of service to the Teaching for Change board.
Board members commit to a meaningful “give or get” one-time annual, recurring monthly or quarterly gift. Historically this amount is $1,000 or more.
The board meets quarterly with the leadership staff to stay informed about the programs, review finances, plan fundraising, and outline strategic direction. In addition, board members participate in standing or ad-hoc committees and support organization programmatic and fundraising efforts.
ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE BOARD
Introduced in 2025, the advisory council of the board appointed by the executive committee of the board and senior leadership of Teaching for Change, who have a long-standing commitment to Teaching for Change’s mission. Have identified ways their skillset and network can benefit the mission without the time commitment of serving as a voting board member or staff member.
Advisory Council of the Board is not
A launchpad for Teaching for Change voting board membership
Responsible for any fiduciary or legal governance of the board
JOINING THE BOARD
Teaching for Change values diverse experiences and skill-sets. Every effort is made to achieve a diversity based on race, gender, area of expertise, profession (teacher, parent, administrator, community member) and geographical location.
Teaching for Change is currently accepting applications for board membership. Consider applying if you would like to play an active role in preserving the health and vitality of Teaching for Change. The board is looking for committed, passionate people who care about providing students the skills, knowledge, and inspiration to be citizens and architects of a better world. (If you have not served on a board before, it would be useful to read: “Ten Basic Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards” and “What Should I Know Before Joining the Board?“ We also encourage participation in The Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s Board Basics A to Z (Part I and Part II).
To express your interest, send a letter to the board chair that includes: why you want to join the board of Teaching for Change; what you can offer to the organization in terms of skills, contacts, and/or resources; and your own definition of social justice. Include a bio or resume and email to [email protected].
Recruitment/Confirmation Process Expressions of interest in board membership are reviewed on a rolling basis by the Teaching for Change board staff liaison and the executive committee of the board.
A conversation is scheduled with a member of staff senior leadership and/or the executive committee of the board before presenting materials and candidate recommendation to the full board of directors for review and vote for approval.
Upon approval of a quorum of the board, the new member will be installed at the next board meeting and formal onboarding to the board will begin.
Current Board Members
Nzinga Tull, Board Chairperson
Board member since 2008. Chief Systems Engineer Aerospace Engineering Division, Jackson and Tull
Nzinga Tull is a native Washingtonian, a graduate of the D.C. public school system and Spelman College, and a systems engineer with her family’s engineering firm, Jackson and Tull. She has been working with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Mission Operations Team since July 1998, supporting on-orbit activities and anomaly investigation, as well as three servicing missions. She has represented the HST various public forums, including 60 Minutes (CBS), Behind Closed Doors with Joan Lunden (A&E Network), and the HST 15th Anniversary Symposium. Tull believes deeply that broad access to progressive publications and to rigorous, culturally relevant, student-centered K-12 public education is critical for healthy communities. When she isn’t wearing her “engineer” or “education advocate” hats, she enjoys studying and performing with KanKouran West African Dance Company. She also enjoys spontaneous dance-offs with friends and eating chocolate.
Image credit: Darrow Montgomery
Lauren Khouri, Board Vice Chair
Board member since Fall, 2014
Lauren Khouri is an associate attorney with Correia & Puth, PLLC, where she represents the civil rights of employees in the workplace. Prior to joining Correia & Puth, Khouri was a Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, advocating for women’s economic security and equality in education and employment. She is a graduate of St. Louis University and American University Washington College of Law.
Gita Rao, Board Treasurer
Board member since 2007 Independent Consultant, Investment Management
Gita Rao worked for four years with the Non-Profit Finance Fund and for four years with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation. Rao has a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy. She currently resides in New York with her family.
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, Board Secretary
Board member since 2019 Critical Educator, Teacher Educator, Researcher
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, PhD, with nearly 20 years of teaching experience spanning elementary, secondary, and higher education. Mitchell Patterson earned her doctorate in multilingual/multicultural education and education policy from George Mason University. Her research interests include racial and social justice in education, education activism, and teaching Black histories, underrepresented narratives, and people’s history in social studies education. Advocacy, activism, intersectionality, anti-racist and anti-oppressive education lie at the core of her work. Education is her revolution.
Fouzia Chaparro-Bencheikh
Board member since 2019
Fouzia Chaparro-Bencheikh served as a Capacity Building Officer at The Malala Fund. Her expertise is in designing and implementing leadership advancement programs for community leaders, organizers, and activists in the U.S. and around the world. Fouzia has worked for various domestic and international organizations, including World Learning, The OpEd Project, and the National Association for Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Education Fund. She received her bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and a master’s of law in International Law with International Relations from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies. Fouzia joined Teaching for Change’s board to honor her parents and high school teachers who fostered her political, social, and cultural awareness and helped her find her place in the world.
Satara Charlson, PhD, MSW
Board member since 2020 Professor of Social Work, UMASS Global
Satara Charlson, PhD, MSW is an innovative social work educator and passionate advocate for social and economic justice. Since 2005, she has developed and implemented a social work curriculum at both the masters and bachelors’ levels. She is the recipient of the Robert C. Ford scholarship for doctoral study, the Impact Initiative Award from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, and the Theology/Philosophy Departmental Scholarship from Baker University. A dedicated advocate for health equity, Charlson has a particular interest in Native American health, elder justice, and the relationship between art and social change. She enjoys teaching and mentoring students, developing sensory experiences in the on-ground and online classrooms, and connecting elders with youth through innovative, intergenerational programming.
Nancy Raquel Mirabal
Board member since 2019 Associate Professor of American Studies and U.S. Latina/o Studies, University of Maryland, College Park
Nancy Raquel Mirabal is a historian who has published widely in the fields of Afro-diasporic, Latinx, gentrification, and spatial studies. Her most recent publication is Suspect Freedoms: The Racial and Sexual Politics of Cubanidad in New York, 1823-1957 (NYU Press, 2017) and she is also a co-editor of Keywords for Latino Studies (NYU Press, 2018). Nancy has a long history of political, community, and educational activism. She collaborated with Nancy Shia and Teaching for Change on the Out My Window Project, and is a co-founder/co-PI of the Urban Equity Collaborative at the University of Maryland, where she directed the Community Fellows Program, a program that invites local activists to collaborate with University of Maryland faculty and students on their individual projects. She is currently researching a project that examines the history and future of gentrification practices and policies.
Britt Jordan
Board member since 2026
Britt Jordan is an educator and curriculum leader whose work sits at the intersection of curriculum policy, teacher learning, and inclusive history education. Her career reflects a sustained belief in education as a pathway to agency and informed engagement with the world, particularly through curriculum that helps learners understand power, context, and responsibility.
Jordan began teaching history in Newark, New Jersey, through Teach For America and spent the next ten years teaching, providing instructional leadership, and developing curriculum. Her teaching and leadership experience spans domestic and international contexts, including service in departmental leadership at an IB World School in the Middle East, where she taught IB History and strengthened curriculum alignment and instructional practice.
Jordan developed an African American history curriculum implemented in schools across New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, shaping how African American history is taught within K–12 settings. She later contributed to the development of the AP African American Studies course, supporting the creation of its inaugural assessments with an emphasis on historical rigor, positive representation, and African American agency, and a commitment to upholding both academic integrity and the humanity of the histories they evaluate.
She has since supported statewide efforts to advance inclusive history education, working across curriculum development and professional learning to strengthen implementation and impact. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Rutgers University–Douglass College and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work is informed by the ideas of bell hooks, Carter G. Woodson, James Baldwin, and Paulo Freire, particularly their shared belief in education as a means of truth-telling and critical engagement.
Susanne Nobles
Board member since 2026
Susanne Nobles has spent her career working to empower educators and students with research, structures, and tools for meaningful and effective learning. After a 20+ year career as a middle and high school English teacher and administrator, she now leads all things pedagogical and teacher-focused at a national nonprofit, bringing research-backed, free ELA resources to hundreds of thousands of educators and their students every year. Susanne is also an instructional coach for career-changers and has been an adjunct instructor. Her PhD research focused on creating effective digital communities of practice.
Monika Robinson
Board member since 2026
Monika Robinson is an educator, leadership coach, and advocate with 17 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, nonprofit director, and consultant. She holds a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Lamar University and a Texas Principal Certificate. Robinson founded ReparationsEd, a company dedicated to strengthening education leaders and repairing harm from overwork caused by outdated systems. Through workshops, coaching, and keynote speaking, she helps leaders avoid burnout while supporting educators in understanding systems of inequity that harm students, families, and communities.
Robinson has served on Dallas ISD’s Trustee Appointed Advisory Committee, contributing to changes in district discipline practices and equity efforts. She is also deeply committed to community service, volunteering with organizations supporting survivors of domestic violence, mentoring young parents in college, and guiding early-career women professionals through leadership networks.
Joseph Starchia
Board member since 2026
Joseph Starchia brings more than 20 years of experience across education, organizational leadership, workforce development, and equity-centered practice. His work focuses on strengthening pathways to opportunity, supporting inclusive hiring and advancement practices, and building partnerships that connect communities to long-term economic mobility. He works nationally with educators and organizational leaders to design learning experiences that develop practical skills for equity-minded decision making, relationship building, and institutional accountability.
His scholarship examines the experiences of workplace “solos,” exploring how identity, representation, and organizational culture shape belonging and voice. He writes on decolonizing organizational life, anticipatory inclusion, and the cultural signals that influence who feels seen in institutional spaces.
He is completing his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.
María Luisa García Underwood
Board member since 2026
María Luisa García Underwood is an educational equity advocate and anti-racist pedagogy scholar with over 35 years of experience. Her work centers on advancing marginalized communities, particularly multilingual learners and families historically excluded from educational opportunities. She currently partners with New York City educators from preschool through 12th grade. García Underwood has served as a classroom teacher, program leader, and college adjunct instructor and has spent the past 15 years coaching teachers. She specializes in transformative literacy practices, asset-based approaches to second-language acquisition, and instruction that honors students’ cultural and linguistic identities while challenging inequitable systems.
García Underwood completed her doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research examined anti-racist pedagogy and the experiences of early-career teachers navigating systemic inequities. Outside her scholarly and advocacy work, García Underwood finds joy in dancing, listening to music, traveling, and spending time with family.
Sheldon Scott
Board member 2011– 2026. Inaugural Advisory Council of the Board member 2026 Performance Artist
A native of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, Sheldon Scott received his BS in Psychology from Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. He began his career in social work at the Boys & Girls Club of Horry County. Upon moving to the Washington D.C. area, Scott joined a private practice, specializing in mental health, substance abuse and sex-offender treatment. He now is a dedicated performance artist. His work surveys the intersection of race, economics, and sexuality with a critical lens on ideals of exceptionality of the Black male form, while assessing the social taxes levied on Black bodies and psyches. Scott also serves on the board of Youth Pride Day, D.C. and he is the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, 1A03. Scott is a Halycon Arts Fellow and Director of Culture for Eaton Workshop.
FORMER BOARD MEMBERS
Trish Ahern, Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
Board of Directors and Advisory Council of the Board
The Teaching for Change board of directors plays an integral role in ensuring that the organization does all it can to meet the mission of building social justice, starting in the classroom. The board is charged with overseeing the governance and growth of Teaching for Change. As a diverse and committed group of scholars, educators, artists, lawyers, and people in other professions — each board member helps us execute our work with intention.
BOARD OVERVIEW
The board shall be made up of no fewer than three and no more than twenty-three voting members.
Board terms are two-year commitments with the option for a consecutive recommitment (at max four consecutive years of service).
Board officers (executive committee of the board) are elected every two years, who can hold a total of six years of service to the Teaching for Change board.
Board members commit to a meaningful “give or get” one-time annual, recurring monthly or quarterly gift. Historically this amount is $1,000 or more.
The board meets quarterly with the leadership staff to stay informed about the programs, review finances, plan fundraising, and outline strategic direction. In addition, board members participate in standing or ad-hoc committees and support organization programmatic and fundraising efforts.
ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE BOARD
Introduced in 2025, the advisory council of the board appointed by the executive committee of the board and senior leadership of Teaching for Change, who have a long-standing commitment to Teaching for Change’s mission. Have identified ways their skillset and network can benefit the mission without the time commitment of serving as a voting board member or staff member.
Advisory Council of the Board is not
JOINING THE BOARD
Teaching for Change values diverse experiences and skill-sets. Every effort is made to achieve a diversity based on race, gender, area of expertise, profession (teacher, parent, administrator, community member) and geographical location.
Teaching for Change is currently accepting applications for board membership. Consider applying if you would like to play an active role in preserving the health and vitality of Teaching for Change. The board is looking for committed, passionate people who care about providing students the skills, knowledge, and inspiration to be citizens and architects of a better world. (If you have not served on a board before, it would be useful to read: “Ten Basic Responsibilities of Non-Profit Boards” and “What Should I Know Before Joining the Board?“ We also encourage participation in The Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s Board Basics A to Z (Part I and Part II).
To express your interest, send a letter to the board chair that includes: why you want to join the board of Teaching for Change; what you can offer to the organization in terms of skills, contacts, and/or resources; and your own definition of social justice. Include a bio or resume and email to [email protected].
Recruitment/Confirmation Process
Expressions of interest in board membership are reviewed on a rolling basis by the Teaching for Change board staff liaison and the executive committee of the board.
A conversation is scheduled with a member of staff senior leadership and/or the executive committee of the board before presenting materials and candidate recommendation to the full board of directors for review and vote for approval.
Upon approval of a quorum of the board, the new member will be installed at the next board meeting and formal onboarding to the board will begin.
Current Board Members
Nzinga Tull, Board Chairperson
Board member since 2008.
Chief Systems Engineer Aerospace Engineering Division, Jackson and Tull
Nzinga Tull is a native Washingtonian, a graduate of the D.C. public school system and Spelman College, and a systems engineer with her family’s engineering firm, Jackson and Tull. She has been working with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Mission Operations Team since July 1998, supporting on-orbit activities and anomaly investigation, as well as three servicing missions. She has represented the HST various public forums, including 60 Minutes (CBS), Behind Closed Doors with Joan Lunden (A&E Network), and the HST 15th Anniversary Symposium. Tull believes deeply that broad access to progressive publications and to rigorous, culturally relevant, student-centered K-12 public education is critical for healthy communities. When she isn’t wearing her “engineer” or “education advocate” hats, she enjoys studying and performing with KanKouran West African Dance Company. She also enjoys spontaneous dance-offs with friends and eating chocolate.
Image credit: Darrow Montgomery
Lauren Khouri, Board Vice Chair
Board member since Fall, 2014
Lauren Khouri is an associate attorney with Correia & Puth, PLLC, where she represents the civil rights of employees in the workplace. Prior to joining Correia & Puth, Khouri was a Fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, advocating for women’s economic security and equality in education and employment. She is a graduate of St. Louis University and American University Washington College of Law.
Gita Rao, Board Treasurer
Board member since 2007
Independent Consultant, Investment Management
Gita Rao worked for four years with the Non-Profit Finance Fund and for four years with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation. Rao has a Masters of Public Policy from the University of Chicago Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy. She currently resides in New York with her family.
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, Board Secretary
Board member since 2019
Critical Educator, Teacher Educator, Researcher
Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, PhD, with nearly 20 years of teaching experience spanning elementary, secondary, and higher education. Mitchell Patterson earned her doctorate in multilingual/multicultural education and education policy from George Mason University. Her research interests include racial and social justice in education, education activism, and teaching Black histories, underrepresented narratives, and people’s history in social studies education. Advocacy, activism, intersectionality, anti-racist and anti-oppressive education lie at the core of her work. Education is her revolution.
Fouzia Chaparro-Bencheikh
Board member since 2019
Fouzia Chaparro-Bencheikh served as a Capacity Building Officer at The Malala Fund. Her expertise is in designing and implementing leadership advancement programs for community leaders, organizers, and activists in the U.S. and around the world. Fouzia has worked for various domestic and international organizations, including World Learning, The OpEd Project, and the National Association for Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Education Fund. She received her bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and a master’s of law in International Law with International Relations from the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies. Fouzia joined Teaching for Change’s board to honor her parents and high school teachers who fostered her political, social, and cultural awareness and helped her find her place in the world.
Satara Charlson, PhD, MSW
Board member since 2020
Professor of Social Work, UMASS Global
Satara Charlson, PhD, MSW is an innovative social work educator and passionate advocate for social and economic justice. Since 2005, she has developed and implemented a social work curriculum at both the masters and bachelors’ levels. She is the recipient of the Robert C. Ford scholarship for doctoral study, the Impact Initiative Award from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, and the Theology/Philosophy Departmental Scholarship from Baker University. A dedicated advocate for health equity, Charlson has a particular interest in Native American health, elder justice, and the relationship between art and social change. She enjoys teaching and mentoring students, developing sensory experiences in the on-ground and online classrooms, and connecting elders with youth through innovative, intergenerational programming.
Nancy Raquel Mirabal
Board member since 2019
Associate Professor of American Studies and U.S. Latina/o Studies, University of Maryland, College Park
Nancy Raquel Mirabal is a historian who has published widely in the fields of Afro-diasporic, Latinx, gentrification, and spatial studies. Her most recent publication is Suspect Freedoms: The Racial and Sexual Politics of Cubanidad in New York, 1823-1957 (NYU Press, 2017) and she is also a co-editor of Keywords for Latino Studies (NYU Press, 2018). Nancy has a long history of political, community, and educational activism. She collaborated with Nancy Shia and Teaching for Change on the Out My Window Project, and is a co-founder/co-PI of the Urban Equity Collaborative at the University of Maryland, where she directed the Community Fellows Program, a program that invites local activists to collaborate with University of Maryland faculty and students on their individual projects. She is currently researching a project that examines the history and future of gentrification practices and policies.
Britt Jordan
Board member since 2026
Britt Jordan is an educator and curriculum leader whose work sits at the intersection of curriculum policy, teacher learning, and inclusive history education. Her career reflects a sustained belief in education as a pathway to agency and informed engagement with the world, particularly through curriculum that helps learners understand power, context, and responsibility.
Jordan began teaching history in Newark, New Jersey, through Teach For America and spent the next ten years teaching, providing instructional leadership, and developing curriculum. Her teaching and leadership experience spans domestic and international contexts, including service in departmental leadership at an IB World School in the Middle East, where she taught IB History and strengthened curriculum alignment and instructional practice.
Jordan developed an African American history curriculum implemented in schools across New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, shaping how African American history is taught within K–12 settings. She later contributed to the development of the AP African American Studies course, supporting the creation of its inaugural assessments with an emphasis on historical rigor, positive representation, and African American agency, and a commitment to upholding both academic integrity and the humanity of the histories they evaluate.
She has since supported statewide efforts to advance inclusive history education, working across curriculum development and professional learning to strengthen implementation and impact. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Rutgers University–Douglass College and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work is informed by the ideas of bell hooks, Carter G. Woodson, James Baldwin, and Paulo Freire, particularly their shared belief in education as a means of truth-telling and critical engagement.
Susanne Nobles
Board member since 2026
Susanne Nobles has spent her career working to empower educators and students with research, structures, and tools for meaningful and effective learning. After a 20+ year career as a middle and high school English teacher and administrator, she now leads all things pedagogical and teacher-focused at a national nonprofit, bringing research-backed, free ELA resources to hundreds of thousands of educators and their students every year. Susanne is also an instructional coach for career-changers and has been an adjunct instructor. Her PhD research focused on creating effective digital communities of practice.
Monika Robinson
Board member since 2026
Monika Robinson is an educator, leadership coach, and advocate with 17 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, nonprofit director, and consultant. She holds a Master’s degree in Education Administration from Lamar University and a Texas Principal Certificate. Robinson founded ReparationsEd, a company dedicated to strengthening education leaders and repairing harm from overwork caused by outdated systems. Through workshops, coaching, and keynote speaking, she helps leaders avoid burnout while supporting educators in understanding systems of inequity that harm students, families, and communities.
Robinson has served on Dallas ISD’s Trustee Appointed Advisory Committee, contributing to changes in district discipline practices and equity efforts. She is also deeply committed to community service, volunteering with organizations supporting survivors of domestic violence, mentoring young parents in college, and guiding early-career women professionals through leadership networks.
Joseph Starchia
Board member since 2026
Joseph Starchia brings more than 20 years of experience across education, organizational leadership, workforce development, and equity-centered practice. His work focuses on strengthening pathways to opportunity, supporting inclusive hiring and advancement practices, and building partnerships that connect communities to long-term economic mobility. He works nationally with educators and organizational leaders to design learning experiences that develop practical skills for equity-minded decision making, relationship building, and institutional accountability.
His scholarship examines the experiences of workplace “solos,” exploring how identity, representation, and organizational culture shape belonging and voice. He writes on decolonizing organizational life, anticipatory inclusion, and the cultural signals that influence who feels seen in institutional spaces.
He is completing his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania.
María Luisa García Underwood
Board member since 2026
María Luisa García Underwood is an educational equity advocate and anti-racist pedagogy scholar with over 35 years of experience. Her work centers on advancing marginalized communities, particularly multilingual learners and families historically excluded from educational opportunities. She currently partners with New York City educators from preschool through 12th grade. García Underwood has served as a classroom teacher, program leader, and college adjunct instructor and has spent the past 15 years coaching teachers. She specializes in transformative literacy practices, asset-based approaches to second-language acquisition, and instruction that honors students’ cultural and linguistic identities while challenging inequitable systems.
García Underwood completed her doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research examined anti-racist pedagogy and the experiences of early-career teachers navigating systemic inequities. Outside her scholarly and advocacy work, García Underwood finds joy in dancing, listening to music, traveling, and spending time with family.
Sheldon Scott
Board member 2011 – 2026. Inaugural Advisory Council of the Board member 2026
Performance Artist
A native of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, Sheldon Scott received his BS in Psychology from Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. He began his career in social work at the Boys & Girls Club of Horry County. Upon moving to the Washington D.C. area, Scott joined a private practice, specializing in mental health, substance abuse and sex-offender treatment. He now is a dedicated performance artist. His work surveys the intersection of race, economics, and sexuality with a critical lens on ideals of exceptionality of the Black male form, while assessing the social taxes levied on Black bodies and psyches. Scott also serves on the board of Youth Pride Day, D.C. and he is the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, 1A03. Scott is a Halycon Arts Fellow and Director of Culture for Eaton Workshop.
FORMER BOARD MEMBERS