Candice Frazier, Human Capital Director

Candice Frazier received her bachelor’s degree in theology from Georgetown University. After college she returned home to Louisiana to work with the Louisiana Board of Regents to recruit high quality candidates for the alternative teacher certification programs at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Grambling State University. In 2005 she joined the staff of The New Teacher Project and helped manage the Louisiana Board of Regents contract and launched the Memphis Teaching Fellows program in Memphis, TN. In October 2008 Candice joined the New Schools for New Orleans team as the Director of Recruitment and Selection. Candice is thrilled to be in New Orleans and is dedicated to the mission of ensuring all of our children receive an excellent public education.

 

Neerav Kingsland, Chief Strategy Officer

Neerav Kingsland joined New Schools for New Orleans at its inception after graduating from Yale Law School. As a law student, he co-wrote an amicus brief to the United State Supreme Court, was director of the Education Adequacy Project legal clinic, worked as a legal assistant at a war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, and drafted a human rights report on the state of democracy in the Tibetan Government In-Exile. Neerav was first drawn to education reform as an undergraduate at Tulane University, where he tutored students at Woodson Middle School and taught creative writing to illiterate adults at the Y.M.C.A.  After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, Neerav and two other law students formed the Hurricane Katrina Legal Clinic, which assisted in the creation of New Schools for New Orleans.

 

Matt Leffert, Development Director

Matt joined NSNO with over 10 years of experience in development. His fundraising experience spans a broad spectrum of non profit organizations including PRBO Conservation Science and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Most recently, Matt served as the Legacy Development Director for Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico.

 

Bernadette Lucas, Operations Manager

Bernadette Lucas received a B.S. in Accounting from Dillard University and a M.B.A. from the University of New Orleans.  With fifteen years of experience in accounting and business, Bernadette, a native of New Orleans, is excited to bring her experience and knowledge to NSNO and to participate in supporting NSNO's vision of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans.  She has served as a volunteer After School tutor and worked in Summer Enrichment programs.

Adrian Mendez, School Operations Manager

Adrian has been a resident of New Orleans since he was ten years old. He attended New Orleans public schools. He graduated in 2005 from the University of Chicago with a major in political science and a minor in Latin American Studies. In Chicago he developed an interest for education, particularly college attainment for low-income communities. While in college he created a community service organization dedicated to helping Chicago public school students get into college. After college, he helped his family and community recover from the hurricane, and later moved to New York to work at a corporate law firm. Adrian returned to New Orleans because he deeply believes in the future of the city.

Maggie Runyan-Shefa, Managing Director of Schools

Maggie Runyan-Shefa recently re-joined the staff of NSNO as the Managing Director of Schools. Maggie previously served as NSNO’s Instructional Quality Director in 2007 before heading to Harvard’s Kennedy School, where she earned a master’s degree in public administration in 2009. Maggie founded and led KIPP STAR College Prep Charter School in Harlem, New York City and is a graduate of the KIPP School Leadership Program. Under her leadership, KIPP STAR was among the highest performing open-enrollment public schools in Harlem and its graduates gained acceptance into some of our nation’s finest college preparatory high schools. She was recognized by the Robin Hood Foundation with its Hero’s Award in 2004. Maggie is a former Teach for America corps member (Mississippi Delta ’97) and holds a B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University.

Michael Stone, Investment Partner

A New Orleans native, Michael is thrilled to be helping ensure that every child in New Orleans has access to a high quality education.  Prior to joining NSNO, Michael was with the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in New York.  While at McKinsey, Michael worked on a number of education-related projects, including developing Pennsylvania’s Race to the Top application strategy.  Prior to McKinsey, Michael taught 7th, 8th, and 9th grade math in public schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan through the New York City Teaching Fellows program.  He has worked in various capacities for the Achievement First charter school management organization and for Bronx Charter School for the Arts.  Michael is a graduate of Harvard College, and received a teaching degree from Pace University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.  

  

Sarah Newell Usdin, Founder & CEO

Sarah Newell Usdin has spent the last eighteen years in education reform. In 1992, after teaching in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, she joined Teach For America, a national corps of recent college graduates who teach in our nation's lowest-income communities. Usdin spent the next three years teaching in Baton Rouge before becoming Teach for America's Executive Director in Louisiana. Believing that more needed to be done to systemically impact the quality of teachers in public schools, she became a Partner with The New Teacher Project, a national nonprofit teacher recruiting and training organization. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sarah formed New Schools for New Orleans to assist in the recovery and reformation of public education. Sarah majored in religion and German at Colgate University. Sarah also holds a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University.

Heide Winston, Executive Assistant to the Founder & CEO

Heide Winston, a native German, holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Hamburg, Germany, in Cultural Anthropology with minor focused on Educational Science, German Literature, International Film and Television, and Museum-Management. Previously, Heide worked as an assistant teacher at a day-care center, a trainee at a youth empowerment nonprofit-organization, and as an administrative secretary in a law firm. She recently moved to New Orleans and is passionate about supporting public education in this very special city.