AppleTree Institute Board of Directors

Celia Martin, Chair.

Ms. Martin served as appraiser of financial institutions for the purposes of bringing them public at Trident Financial Corporation in N.C., and as a research analyst for the Institutional Group of Johnston, Lemon in Washington, DC. She was one of the initial equity partners and founders of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., and held duties as research analyst, editor of printed research, investment banker for debt and equity raised for several financial institutions, and institutional sales covering NYC, among other areas. She served on a corporate board resulting in the sale of the company, and has served on the financial committees of several philanthropic boards. Ms. Martin received a B.A. in International Relations from James Madison College and the Honors College at Michigan State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Darden School at UVA.

Charles Kelly, Vice Chair.

Mr. Kelly is the Director of Human Resource Issues at Edison Electric Institute. He has over 20 years of experience in effectively assuming the development and administration of Safety and Human Resources programs. He is a Recipient of the National Safety Council's Distinguished Service to Safety Award (DSSA), the highest award given to an individual by the NSC. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from West Virginia University.

Jennifer Pryce, Finance Committee Chair.

Ms. Pryce is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Calvert Foundation. She is responsible for building strategic funding partnerships that aim to aggregate various types of capital to address critical unmet needs in economic development, such as leverage debt for New Markets Tax Credit Investments, emergency liquidity facilities for charter schools in California, or systemic sources of facility financing for community health centers. Previously, Ms. Pryce oversaw the management and growth of Calvert Foundation’s domestic investments as the U.S. Portfolio Manager, including investments in community development finance institutions, affordable housing development, and initiatives around transit oriented development and green communities. Prior to the Calvert Foundation, Ms. Pryce worked with Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national CDFI, as the Director of the Washington DC-MD-VA office. Before NFF, she also held positions at Wall Street firms, working at Neuberger & Berman as an equity research analyst and Morgan Stanley’s London office in the Investment Banking division. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon, Africa as well as worked at the Public Theater in New York City. Ms. Pryce received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and an MBA from Columbia University. In addition to her service as the Finance Chair on the Board of AppleTree Institute, she is also a Board member of Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL). Ms. Pryce is a member of Leadership Greater Washington class of 2011.

Anthony J. Colón, Governance Committee Chair.

Mr. Colón is the President of A.J. Colon Consulting, LLC, a firm dedicated to training a new cadre of education reformers and helping educational systems do a more effective job of educating low income, minority, and underserved students. He served as Chairman of the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, Senior Manager of Education Investment Strategies at Fight for Children, and Vice President for Education at the National Council of La Raza. He has served in a variety of teaching and leadership roles at community, charter, and day schools in California and New York. Mr. Colón holds an M.Ed in Educational Administration and an M.S.Ed in Eduation from Fordham University, and a B.A. in Sociology from St. Francis College.

Krisann Pearce

Krisann Pearce is Vice President of Congressional Relations at United Student Aid Funds, a provider of student access and success services and the nation’s largest student loan guarantor. Prior, Ms. Pearce served as Policy Counsel at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Feld; Deputy Director of Education and Human Resources Policy at the U.S House of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee; and Education Counsel at the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, working on K-12 to postsecondary education issues. In addition, Ms. Pearce served as a classroom teacher for several years for the Olathe Public Schools (Olathe, KS). She holds a B.S. in Education and M.S. in Education from the University of Kansas, and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.

Julia Peyton

Julia Peyton is an Executive Director for Cambium Learning Group. Inc., the leading intervention company in the US with a mission of reaching students who struggle with learning. She served as Vice President of Research and Development for Cambium Learning Group Inc. and Voyager Expanded Learning from 2005 until 2011 focusing on program development, efficacy studies, evaluations, and strategic support for large districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District and Buffalo City Public Schools in effectively implementing outcome driven models to use data to drive instruction. Prior, Dr. Peyton taught at the University of Oregon in School Psychology and was a Research Associate at Dynamic Measurement Group. In addition, she spent seven years collaborating on multiple studies in the area of early identification and intervention for reading disabilities in Washington State where she also served on the board of the International Dyslexia Association. She holds a B.Ed. in Special Education and Early Childhood Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, cum laude; an M.Ed. in Specific Learning Disabilities and Brain Dysfunction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill, Honors; and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Michael D. Usdan

Michael D. Usdan is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL). He served as President of IEL from 1981 through 2001. Before joining IEL Mr. Usdan was Connecticut's Commissioner of Higher Education and President of the Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit. He worked on the staff of the late Dr. James B. Conant in the latter's famous studies of American education and has taught at Columbia University, City University of New York, Northwestern and Fordham Universities, and in schools in New York City and White Plains. He also served as a member and president of the school board in the city of New Rochelle, New York from 1969 to 1974. Currently, among other affiliations, he is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Phi Delta Kappan magazine and a consultant to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Hunt Institute, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the George Washington University. Mr. Usdan received his masters and doctoral degrees from Columbia University, having previously completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University.

Russell Zint

Russell Zint is Vice President and Relationship Manager at U.S. Bank, N.A., in the Federal Banking Division. He has seven years of non-profit leadership experience and previously served as a public charter school facilities finance program manager at Building Hope in Washington, DC. Mr. Zint has an M.Div from St. Meinrad Seminary and is a 2012 MBA candidate at Johns Hopkins University.