Alka Arora is a senior researcher at AIR with more than 15 years of experience in large-scale comparative studies of educational achievement. In her current position, she provides technical and psychometric support for the development of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) across all NAEP subjects. Additionally, she provides content ...
Nancy Velasco is a senior technical assistance consultant and a project manager at AIR, providing technical and financial support for public sector organizations in the federal, state, and local levels. Velasco currently manages AIR’s Department of Housing and Urban Development portfolio. As the project manager, she has managed the development ...
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 ...
Manolya Tanyu is a community psychologist and prevention researcher with 15 years of expertise in evaluation of school- and community-based interventions to prevent risk behaviors and promote youth development and well-being. A core aspect of her work is understanding the interrelationships across the settings (i.e., human serving systems, communities, schools, ...
Xan Young is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR. She directs the Violence Prevention Technical Assistance Center (VPTAC), funded by the Prevention Practice and Translation Branch, in the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). VPTAC provides comprehensive training and technical assistance (TTA) ...
Kelly Wells is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR, with almost two decades of direct experience providing training and technical assistance to state and local education and mental health agencies to develop a comprehensive approach to school mental health. Wells currently leads all the training and technical assistance (TTA) ...
Katie Rich is a senior researcher at AIR. She leads and supports a variety of projects related to mathematics and computer science education. She is currently serving as a coaching and technical assistance lead for the Engagement and Achievement through Computational Thinking (ENACT) partnership within the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, ...
Rebecca Zumeta Edmonds is a managing researcher at the AIR in Washington, DC, where she serves as the co-director of the National Center on Intensive Intervention, and as project director for an Investing in Innovation and Improvement (i3) Development Grant. She previously coordinated services for the Response to Intervention Center ...
Elizabeth (Lizzy) Stahl joined AIR as a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager in 2021 to provide design, data collection and analysis, and technical assistance support to AIR’s range of programs and business development. Over the last decade, she has designed and conducted qualitative studies and has served on teams ...
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.