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

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

Chief Programming Officer
t: 404.835.8902

Andrew has been in the charter public school sector since 2002, first as a 6th and 7th Social Studies and school-wide Lead Teacher for The Academy of Lithonia Charter School in Lithonia Georgia and as Communications and Development Director for Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA).

While at GCSA, Andrew has served on the National Alliance for Public Charter School’s Communications Committee, served on the National Alliance’s Annual Charter Schools Conference Planning Committee in 2006, presented on charter school advocacy at the 2006 National Charter Schools Conference, and in 2008 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 2007 and 2008, Andrew, working through GCSA played a significant role in the passage of House Bill 881, allowing for a statewide alternative authorizer of charter public schools. The statewide Charter Commission has the authority to approve a charter public school in any school district in the state.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Alabama. An avid traveler and committed philanthropist, Andrew serves on the Temple Early Learning Center’s Directors Committee, participates on Clairemont Elementary School’s School Leadership Team.

Andrew lives in Decatur, where he and he his wife Alisa are the proud parents of two young children, Ansel and Analisa.

Kelly Cadman

Director, Education and Training
t: 404.835.8916

Kelly was an original founder 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.

Seth Coleman

Director of Communications
t: 404.835.8917

Seth joins GCSA after two years as a Public Relations Specialist with Sutherland, a Top 100 law firm in midtown Atlanta. He facilitated article placements and media interviews for a number of the firm’s attorneys and coordinated its efforts to win the 2006 Atlanta Business Chronicle Dealmaker of the Year award.  Prior to that, Seth was the Public Information Officer for the Atlanta Public Schools, where he helped revamp the district’s communications, media and public relations efforts. He has experience as a news reporter and writer on the staffs of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Macon (GA) Telegraph and the Belleville (IL) News-Democrat.

Seth and his wife Daphne, an Atlanta native and University of Georgia graduate, live in south Fulton County with their three children – Camryn, Christian and Cailyn.

Seth graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in Communications.  His free time is spent attending his children’s activities, watching sports on television, and writing occasional freelance articles.

Jeniffer Collins

Administrative Assistant and Business Manager
t: 404.835.8900

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 church and the charter school her daughter attends. She is the proud parent of Cory and Christina.

Nina Rubin

Director of Marketing & Development
t: 404.835.8903

Nina joins GCSA from recent 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, and 15 years handling her own clients.  She has held leadership positions in several non-profits and has been an advocate for child abuse prevention and quality childcare.

Nina earned a BA in Urban Studies at SUNY Purchase, and has done post-graduate work in Fundraising and Development.  Locally, she is a member of the Atlanta chapter of AFP and is active in the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and the Atlanta Social Media Forum.  She is a founder of Limmud Atlanta + Southeast, an innovative international program of Jewish learning.

Nina lives in Druid Hills and is the mother of Sam and Gabriel.

Rena Youngblood

Director of Membership and Member Business Services
t: 404.835.8915

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.