Mary Kay Dugan is a managing technical assistant consultant at AIR. She is passionate about identifying evidence-based promising practices and translating them into policies and effective programs focused on underserved populations including disadvantaged youth and young adults. Dugan has over 30 years of experience helping federal, state, and local governments ...
Kristin Ruedel, managing researcher at AIR, currently serves as a task leader on the Center for Technology Innovation. Responsibilities include developing and writing of an Implementation Practice Guide including as well as providing support to field site liaisons and overall coordination of field test activities. She also collaborates with team ...
Niu Gao is a principal researcher at AIR specializing in K-12 education policy. Her current work focuses on COVID-19 and education, and she is leading multiple projects to examine the impact of the pandemic on K-12 education and identify effective strategies to help students recover—and recover equitably. Her other areas ...
Frank Rider is the senior human services financing specialist at AIR. For almost four decades, he has worked in youth and family servicing systems at the state and local levels, including tribal communities. As a skilled technical assistance provider, he is proficient at conducting needs assessments, enhancing capacity with state ...
Deborah Moroney is a vice president at AIR, where she leads AIR’s work in the area of Youth, Family, and Community Development. Dr. Moroney is a methodological expert in implementation science—in the context of both rigorous research and program evaluation—and her work often bridges the two worlds of research and ...
Beth Howard-Brown is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR. She is currently supporting the early warning and intervention and monitoring system project and the AIR social and emotional learning solutions group. Dr. Howard-Brown has over 25 years of experience leading and managing local, state and federal initiatives. She served ...
Veronica Tate is a managing director at AIR and serves as a senior leader on the management team that shapes the technical assistance delivery and supports effective collaboration across the comprehensive centers operated by AIR. She provides leadership, project management, and quality assurance supervision to ensure the effectiveness of services, ...
Bobbi Newman is a principal researcher and director of AIR’s practice area for standards and assessments. She has more than 15 years of experience in research and evaluation of school reform efforts. Dr. Newman has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the state. As ...
Jessica Heppen, a nationally recognized expert in education research, policy, and practice, is the president & CEO of AIR. Dr. Heppen been with AIR for 20 years and, in that time, has held several key roles during her tenure.
Nicholas Sorensen is a principal researcher at AIR. His research is primarily focused on dropout prevention and helping struggling students succeed across the transition to high school. His work emphasizes the role of social psychological interventions, strategies to support success in algebra and mathematics, and use of early warning systems ...