Team
Maria Coady, PhD
President
Maria has been a teacher, teacher-educator, and advocate for English language learners in the United States and abroad for more than 30 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual, Multicultural and Social Foundations of Education from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Coady provides educational professional development in the US and internationally, including Ukraine, China, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries. In 2020 she was awarded the American Educational Research Association (AERA) “Exemplary Contributions for Practice-Engaged Research” for her work with rural, multilingual communities.
Philip Kellerman
Treasurer
Phil was an advocate for migrant farmworkers and immigrants from 1989 - 2015. For 16 years he responded to thousands of calls from migrant farmworkers to the federally-funded National Migrant Education Hotline operated by ESCORT at the State University College in Oneonta, New York. As a result in 1997 he established the non-profit Harvest of Hope Foundation that distributed over $1 million dollars in emergency and educational financial aid to migrant farmworkers and families across the country. Mr. Kellerman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with migrant families by the National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education (NASDME). Phil now works for the Oley Foundation, under Albany Medical Center of Albany, New York, assisting children and adults dependent on IV therapy or tube feeding due to cancer, intestinal problems, stroke or ALS.
Lisa Gifford
Secretary
Lisa has been a special educator and advocate for secondary students with special learning needs for more than 35 years. She holds an M.Ed. from Boston College. Along with teaching children, Lisa is a licensed Special Education Administrator and has served as a Director of Special Education and English Language Development in the State of Massachusetts.
Michele Cheney
Ms. Cheney has worked in education for more than 30 years. She began her career teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and went on to work as a consultant providing expert project support for ESL and MEP programs. As Assistant Director for ESCORT, she served as a project leader of multi-disciplinary teams of recruiters, advocates and educators in states that include Kentucky, Maine, and Missouri in addition to leading smaller-scale state program and professional development efforts for over two decades. She previously served as the coordinator for the Preschool Initiative CIG, coordinating the activities of nine states focused on ensuring more migratory preschool age children received high quality kindergarten readiness services.
Ms. Cheney holds a M.Ed. in Reading from UNCW and a BA in English and Bilingual-Bicultural Education from Eastern Michigan University.