Staff
The GCSA professional staff is dedicated to serving our member schools and expanding public school choice in Georgia. We offer customized consulting services, discount programs, and a wide variety of training programs for petitioners, established school leaders, and aspiring school leaders. Through advocacy, communication and education, our aim is to help launch and sustain high quality charter schools that can change childrens’ lives.
Call us. Partner with us. Let us know what you need.
Tony Roberts
Chief Executive Officer
t: 404.835.8900
troberts@gacharters.org
Tony has significant experience in the areas of associational and nonprofit management, resource development, advocacy, and government relations. His first experience in the field of charter schools came while serving as Vice President of Development for Texans CAN! Academies based in Dallas, Texas. At Texans CAN!, he was responsible for raising awareness and support for ten charter high schools, serving 7,000 at-risk youth annually in five major Texas cities.
He previously served as the Executive Director of Camp Fire USA, a children and youth development agency located in Dallas, TX. He has also served as Vice President of Development for Evergreen Foundation, where he was in charge of all fund-raising, board development, marketing and public relations. Prior to this, he served as CEO for Sertoma Center, Inc., an agency serving persons with disabilities in Knoxville, Tennessee. Additionally, he served as the CEO of a local affiliate of the National Home Builders Association in the Greater Knoxville, Tennessee area.
Tony has been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) since 1986. He was a founding and charter member of the Smoky Mountain Chapter of AFP in Tennessee. He is also a member of the American Society of Association Executives.
A native Tennessean, Tony earned the M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He received his B.A. degree from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
Tony and his wife Cindy live in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Andrew Lewis
Executive Vice President
t: 404.835.8902
alewis@gacharters.org
Andrew has been in the charter public school sector since 2002, first as a 6th and 7th grade Social Studies and lead teacher at an Atlanta area charter school. In 2005, Andrew became the Communications and Development Director for Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA).
While at GCSA, Andrew has presented on charter school advocacy at the 2006 and 2011 National Charter Schools Conferences, worked as the 2nd Lead in the review of six charter school petitioning groups for the City of New Orleans on behalf of The Louisiana Department of Education and The National Association of Charter School Authorizers in 2008, served as a reviewer of federal grant applications by seven State Education Agencies on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education in 2011, served on the National Alliance for Public Charter School’s Communications Committee, and served on the National Alliance’s Annual Charter Schools Conference Planning Committee in 2006 .
Andrew has played a significant role in the passage of several charter school related pieces of legislation including House Bill 881, allowing for a statewide alternative authorizer of charter public schools.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Alabama. Andrew lives in Decatur, where he and he his wife Alisa are the proud parents of two young children, Ansel and Analisa.
Kelly Cadman
Vice President, School Services
t: 404.835.8916
kcadman@gacharters.org
Kelly was Founding Board President of Brighten Academy, a public charter school in Douglasville. She served as Governing Board President and was responsible for leading the planning, development, and beginning operations of the school. She also worked in an administrative capacity and was responsible for developing and implementing the curriculum, staff development, and school improvement plan. Brighten has achieved academic success since its inception, earning top ten rankings in the state 5 times in two years. Kelly’s two children attend Brighten and keep her busy with school functions.
Prior to Brighten, Kelly worked as a public school teacher in Douglas County, Georgia where she was a team leader and educator in elementary grades 3 and 4 for eight years. Kelly started her career with the Coca-Cola Company where she was a member of the Impact Team in the Compensation Delivery Organization in Human Resources.
Kelly holds a Master’s degree in education from Mercer University, Atlanta, Ga. and a Bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, In. The Cadman family resides in Villa Rica.
Jeniffer Collins
Administrative Assistant and Business Manager
t: 404.835.8900
jcollins@gacharters.org
Jeniffer received her certificate in Secretarial Studies from Katharine Gibbs School in New York. Before joining GCSA, Jeniffer was the Administrative Assistant and Parent Coordinator at the Academy of Lithonia. Prior to that, she worked in several industries, ranging from investment banking, Mutual Funds to property management.
Jeniffer splits her free time by volunteering with her community, church and the high school her daughter attends. She is the proud parent of Cory and Christina.
Nina Rubin
Director of Communications
Director of G-PAN: Georgia Parent Advocacy Nework, G-CEN, Georgia Charter Educator Network
t: 404.835.8903
nrubin@gacharters.org
Nina Rubin joined GCSA in 2008 after holding positions as Associate Director of Marketing at Jewish Family & Career Services and Director of Media Relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Before moving to Atlanta, Nina spent 10 years on the creative side of the New York ad agency world creating print, tv and radio advertising for such well known brands as Hefty, Pedigree Foods, Good Seasons, Bufferin, Bolla Wines, and Colgate. As a freelance writer Nina spent 15 years handling her own clients. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, and The Forward.
Nina earned a Bachelors degree in Urban Studies at SUNY Purchase, and has done graduate work in Fundraising and Development.
As Director of G-PAN and G-CEN, Nina is building a statewide advocacy network for charter school parents, charter school professionals and other charter school stakeholders. She is available to speak to school groups, PTO’s and others who want to learn more about charter schools in Georgia, and supports emerging petitioner groups around the state. Contact her at nrubin@gacharters.org. Sign up for G-PAN at www.mygpan.org Membership is free.
Nina is the mother of Sam, a public relations specialist in Washington, DC, and Gabriel, a student at The George Washington University. She loves living in Intown Atlanta.
Rena Youngblood
Director of Membership and Member Business Services
t: 404.835.8915
ryoungblood@gacharters.org
Rena joins GCSA after four years as an Educational Consultant with Paxton/Patterson. She covered four states with a focused curriculum serving various areas of Career Technical Education. Before that, she worked 12 years with a human resources, payroll and tax filing company followed by a couple of years as a stay at home mom volunteering countless hours at her son’s schools.
Rena graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a BA in English and minor in Communications
Rena and her husband Steve have lived in the Atlanta area for over 20 years and are the parents of Chris and Michael. Her favorite pastimes, aside from children’s concerts and games, are reading and going to the movies.
Elisa Falco
Director Education and Training
t: 404.897-2973
efalco@gacharters.org
Elisa Falcó joined the Georgia Charter Schools Association in January 2011, after serving GCSA as a consultant to develop and implement quality initiatives.
Elisa is the former principal of Tech High School in Atlanta. While serving as principal of Tech High for four years, she led the school’s charter renewal effort, which resulted in a new five-year agreement with the Atlanta Public Schools. Additionally, she directed Tech High through the rigorous Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Council of Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS-CASI) accreditation process, leading to a five-year accreditation for the school. In 2009, Falcó served on the Governor’s Teacher Effectiveness Committee that helped develop the Race-to-the-Top grant.
Prior to working at Tech High, Elisa worked as a high school Spanish teacher, and in the private sector as a program coordinator and systems analyst.
Elisa earned a Bachelor’s degree (1993, Spanish Language and Literature) from Georgia State University, a teaching certification from Chapman University (1999, Santa Maria, CA), and a Master’s degree in education and business administration from Arizona State University (2006), where she participated in the Leadership for Educational Entrepreneurs (LEE) Program. The LEE program was designed to prepare educators and/or members of the business community for charter school leadership. The LEE program was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation.
Elisa is looking forward to serving GCSA, where she will work to increase the quality of charter schools in the state of Georgia.
A resident of Atlanta, Elisa enjoys living in town with her daughter who is a receiving a high quality charter school education.
Juli Sergi
Director, Certification Programs
t: 912-531-6190
jsergi@gacharters.org
Juli has served as a middle and high school science and technology teacher for more than ten years. She transitioned into administration as the Federal Programs Coordinator and Professional Learning Coordinator at a local charter school in Statesboro, Georgia. She earned a Master’s degree in Secondary Education from Ohio University and an Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Georgia Southern University (GSU). She is currently working on her doctorate in Educational Administration at GSU. Her professional passion is professional learning and her research interests include alternative teacher certification programs to ensure teacher quality and improve student achievement, as well as the leadership of educational program design, implementation, and assessment.
Juli and her husband, a GSU Biology Professor, reside in Statesboro, Georgia. She enjoys learning, reading, cooking, and traveling.
Derrick Brown
Director, Performance Management
t: 678-467-1256
dbrown@gacharters.org
Derrick’s passion is empowering people via methods that balance skill & will, analysis & synthesis, ideas & execution, and activity & achievement.
He has published a digital catalog of more than 70 short films, learning games, visual dictionaries, poems, essays, newsletters, inspirational posters, and projects. He has also delivered more than 30 presentations, workshops, keynote addresses, and invited lectures at conferences, high schools, colleges, universities, and churches.
From 2004-2010, he served as a founding faculty member, Governing Board Representative, Director of Corporate Relations, Dean of Student Services, and Assistant Principal of Tech High (Charter) School in Atlanta GA.
Derrick founded KnowledgeBase, Inc., in 1998, served as its full-time executive director until 2004, and still serves as its part-time Principal Consultant. KnowledgeBase’s mission is to educate and to empower people by creating content that enhances their reading, writing, math, entrepreneurial, leadership, and critical thinking (problem solving) skills. He was formerly the Vice-President of Strategic Planning and Marketing for BGS Infosystems, Inc. (BGSI), an Internet startup firm who produced an Internet directory of African-related resources called “The Universal Black Pages” (www.ubp.com). While with BGSI, Derrick authored the company’s business and marketing plans, and also wrote strategic plans for BGSI’s advertising, consulting, and electronic commerce operations.
Derrick earned his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering with honors from Clemson University in December 1991. He then worked for The MITRE Corporation’s (Reston, VA) Signal Processing and Advanced Technology Department for one year before beginning graduate studies at Georgia Tech, where he received his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in March 1994.
Derrick is a newlywed, having married the former Keisha Lanier on March 26, 2011. They reside in Marietta.
