What is the Community Advisory Group?
The D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is looking for committed and thoughtful parents, community members and students to serve as members of the PCSB’s Community Advisory Group (PCSB CAG). Duties of this informal, voluntary board include meeting monthly or quarterly as needed with PCSB members and staff to offer insights, personal experiences and comments on the impact of the PCSB’s work. The PCSB CAG does not influence board decisions regarding public charter schools but will have input into the PCSB’s priorities, goals, and strategy.
Members serves as a sounding board for the PCSB’s outreach and transparency efforts, be the PCSB’s eyes and ears in D.C.’s many diverse communities and bring back the perceptions, concerns and experiences of their communities.
Community Advisory Group Members
Lorielle Akintunde
Lorielle Akintunde, lives in Ward 5 in the Bloomingdale neighborhood and is a parent to a school-aged child that will soon start school at a DCPS or public charter school. As a DC realtor she is in contact with numerous local families who search for homes and have questions about the quality of DC schools. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since November 2011. |
Barabara Asare-Bediako
Barbara Asare-Bediako lives in Ward 8. Ms. Asare-Bediako is an actor, writer, anthropologist, and educator with degrees in education and anthropology. Ms. Asare – Bediako has also had theatre and film training. Her professional experience includes management, treatment counseling, finance, and fitness/health services. Ms. Asara-Bediako is the parent of a former KIPP D.C. Will Academy PCS student. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since 2011.
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Alison Brown
Allison Brown lives in Ward 7 in the Hillcrest neighborhood. She is a charter school parent and serves on the board of Shining Stars Montessori Academy Public Charter School. She is a former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section. She founded an education consulting firm that works with school districts and schools to focus on federal compliance through equity and collaboration with students, parents and communities.She has served on the Community Advisory Group since May 2012. |
Derica Butler
Derica Butler lives in Ward 8. Ms. Butler is the parent of a graduate of KIPP DC WILL Academy public charter school. She works as an Electrical Engineer and Electrician and has built and renovated schools in the District and Afghanistan. She is also a tutor at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since 2011. |
Sam Chaltain
Sam Chaltain lives in Ward 1 in the Columbia Heights neighborhood and is a DC-based writer and education activist. A former teacher in New York City, Mr. Chaltain has also directed a national network of schools and led a DC-based education policy think tank. A regular contributor to CNN and Huffington Post, Mr. Chaltain writes regularly at www.samchaltain.com. His son will enter pre-kindergarten in the fall of 2012 at a DC public charter school. He has served on the Community Advisory Group since May 2012. |
Deidre Curtis
Deidre Curtis lives in Ward 5 in the Edgewood neighborhood and serves as an Education Coordinator for a Head Start Agency. She is a former educator who taught in DC area public schools for more than 15 years, and has also studied international school systems in South Korea and Costa Rica. Her godson attends a DC Public Charter School. Ms Curtis has served on the Community Advisory Group since December 2011.
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Selma Simms
Selma Simms lives in Ward 1 in the Columbia Heights neighborhood and is a nationally-certified Interpreter for the deaf. She is the former President of the National Alliance of Black Interpreters DC Chapter. She works as the Coordinator of Interpreting Services for Family Service Foundation. Ms. Simms served as a Parent Representative for KIPP: DC Public Charter School for three years. Ms. Simms has also served as a Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) Ambassador Network for Parents. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since May 2012. |
Koren Stevenson
Koren Stevenson lives in Ward 5 in the Bates neighborhood and is an attorney with a Juris Doctor from Georgetown, where she studied Education Law and Policy while a law student. She works with her neighborhood association and volunteers regularly with the DC Bar Pro Bono Program. She is also a parent. She has served on the Community Advisory group since December 2011.
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Julie Sweetland
Julie Sweetland lives in Ward 4. She currently serves as sociolinguist and Director of Learning at the Frameworks Institute where she leads the translation of research findings into learning tools for nonprofit leaders. She was previously the Directory of the Urban Teacher Academy at the University of the District of Columbia. She is also a Professorial Lecturer in Linguistics at Georgetown University and has been involved in DC education reform arena for the past seven years. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since April 2012. |
Joseph Younger
Joseph Younger lives in Ward 4 and is a grandparent of DC public and DC public charter school students. He is a retired Federal Government employee who now participates in his neighborhood association. He has served on the Community Advisory Group since 2011. |
Gloria Younger
Gloria Younger lives in Ward 4 and is a grandparent of DC public and DC public charter school students. She is a former DC public school employee and currently works in public schools in Maryland. She also participates in her neighborhood association. She has served on the Community Advisory Group since month 2011. |
Interested in Joining the Community Advisory Group?
Basic requirements
All Community Advisory Group members must be:
1. District of Columbia residents
2. At least 15 years old, (with permission from parents if under 18)
Community Advisory group members may not be:
1. Employed by a D.C. government agency that is involved in K-12 education or youth services or oversees these agencies;
2. A D.C. elected official;
3. Employed by or a board member of a charter advocacy/support organization or charter school
4. A member of the press or media entity
Selected members will be asked to sign confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements and an acknowledgment that this is an unpaid, volunteer position.