Michele Chapman

Director of Postsecondary Success, Elgin

Michele Chapman is the director of Post- Secondary Success at School District U-46. Michele is a former teacher and high school administrator who has worked with numerous administrators to develop their leadership abilities.

With Alexa Charsha, Michele leads the district wide post-secondary team for School District U-46. The district comprises five comprehensive high schools and one alternative school. Michele and Alexa host regular district wide meetings and support the development of individual school teams and their leadership.

Alexa Charsha

Lead Counselor, Elgin

Alexa Charsha is the lead counselor for School District U-46. Alexa is a licensed school counselor with an extensive background in supporting students to develop their post-secondary plans and leading school administrators in developing their own leadership teams.

With Michele Chapman, Alexa leads the district wide post-secondary team for School District U-46. The district comprises five comprehensive high schools and one alternative school. Michele and Alexa host regular district wide meetings and support the development of individual school teams and their leadership

Patty Diaz-Andrade, Ph.D.

Chief Impact Officer, OneGoal

Patty is a first-generation high school and college graduate who joined OneGoal as the founding Executive Director of OneGoal, Massachusetts. In that role, Patty launched the OneGoal program across seven Massachusetts school districts (enrolling 700+ students in the program), secured over $4M during the region’s critical start-up years, and built a highly talented team focused on student post-secondary success. Today, Patty leads OneGoal’s effort to aggressively accelerate the organization’s reach across the country. As Chief Impact Officer, Patty’s primary responsibilities include redesigning how OneGoal delivers its program to achieve impact at scale, while also charting the organization’s path to sustainability. Patty holds a MA in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from Columbia University and a PhD in Educational Leadership from the Steinhardt Graduate School of Education at New York University.

Jennifer Kirmes

Executive Director for Teaching & Learning, Illinois State Board of Education

Jennifer Kirmes is the Executive Director of Teaching & Learning for the Illinois State Board of Education where she supports ISBE’s departments of Educator Effectiveness, Curriculum & Instruction, and CTE & Innovation. Prior to joining ISBE staff, Dr. Kirmes served as the Principal & CEO of Amandla Charter School for six years, and before that was Principal of Bowen High School in Chicago Public Schools. Through all of her roles, she has demonstrated commitment to ensuring excellent educational outcomes for all students and a passion for achieving educational justice.

Andrew Schmitz, M.A.T., M.P.P.

Managing Director of Secondary Partnerships, OneGoal

Andy leads the execution of OneGoal’s Postsecondary Leadership Series, serving leaders at partner schools and districts. In this role, he sets the vision and manages the implementation of different services and products that build leadership capacity to strengthen postsecondary practices and systems. Before joining OneGoal, Andy worked as a teacher, teacher coach, and Assistant Principal in Chicago and led the Urban Education Institute’s school improvement leadership coaching team. Andy holds an MAT from Dominican University and MPP in Education Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.