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.
Kwelin Waller is senior program manager with the AIR Equity Initiative. Waller works to combine research and technical assistance with real-world applications, leading the Equity Initiative's work in the interconnected areas of workforce development, community health and well-being. Additionally, she leads the AIR Scholars and Leaders Award grant competition, an initiative that ...
Sara Wraight Wolforth is a managing director in the Youth Family and Community Development program at AIR. Wolforth leads AIR’s Child and Youth Development Portfolio, which houses work related to the implementation and study of policies, programs, and initiatives that are designed to support whole child and youth development in ...
Amanda Ahlstrand is a managing director in the Workforce Policy and Programs practice area of AIR. In this role, she provides strategic leadership, business development, and resource management to a team that delivers technical assistance, mixed methods research, and evaluation services to clients ranging from Federal and state agencies to ...
Kimberly Kendziora is a managing researcher at AIR with experience and expertise in evaluating school-based student support initiatives. Her recent work has focused on evaluations of school- and community-based initiatives to promote social and emotional learning and support students who are not succeeding. She has directed or served as principal ...
Karen Francis is a vice president and the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at AIR. Dr. Francis leads AIR’s overall DEI efforts through the implementation of the DEI framework and strategic pillars focused on workforce and work environment; cultural and linguistic competence; identity, brand, and thematic research; and growth ...
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, ...
Christina Herzog is a principal TA consultant. Prior to joining AIR, she served as a consultant, coach and project manager for technical assistance projects under contracts with federal and state agencies at Maher & Maher. Herzog’s expertise lies in developing national, state, and regional technical assistance that effectively blend in-person and ...
Jesse Levin is a principal research economist at AIR, where he has directed projects investigating school finance equity and adequacy, resource allocation, and educational effectiveness. He is the founding director of the AIR Economic Evaluation of Policies and Programs Methods Hub and led the Cost Analysis Standards Project, which produced ...
Christina Yancey is vice president of workforce development within AIR’s Human Services Division. A nationally recognized workforce policy and program evaluation expert, Dr. Yancey champions the use of rigorous mixed methods to build and apply new knowledge. She has extensive expertise building institutional capacity for data use, while promoting innovation, ...