OneGoal Leadership
Network Coaches
OneGoal’s coaches make up a deep network of diverse leadership and expertise. Our team provides your district with strategic insights fueled by their extensive hands-on experience as school and district leaders.
COACH
Michael Allen, Ed.D.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Dr. Michael Allen facilitates learning experiences and provides one-on-one coaching for school and district leaders. He spent 14 years serving as principal at various schools in the Chicagoland area and was named 2020 Elementary Principal of the Year. As a mentor and a coach, Michael has extensive experience helping leaders effectively implement comprehensive mindfulness practices in their schools. He is also a skilled researcher specializing in emotional intelligence, equity, and school improvement. Michael and his brother co-authored the best-selling children’s book, Brotherly Love. He advocates tirelessly for ending policies that hold down students of color. He was the only contributing school leader on the 2021 Inclusive Education Act, which mandates the teaching of pre-enslavement Black history to all students in Illinois. Michael holds an Ed.D. in Education Administration and Supervision from Loyola University Chicago, an M. Ed. in Education, and a B.A. in Sociology from Valparaiso University.
TEAM LEADER
Beth Bazer, Ed.D.
Senior Director of Secondary Partnerships, OneGoal
Dr. Beth Bazer oversees the support of school and district leaders to improve their postsecondary leadership. Before joining OneGoal, Beth was the Executive Director of Schools That Can Chicago, a local educational non-profit. Before this experience, Beth was a principal, assistant principal, and teacher in Chicago Public Schools. Beth has passionately pursued equity and inclusion for her students throughout her career and is thrilled to be a part of OneGoal’s mission. Beth holds an Ed.D. in Urban Education Leadership from the University of Illinois Chicago and an M.A. in Education from Northwestern University.
COACH
John Boumgarden, M.S., Ed.D.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
John works with district leaders across Illinois by coaching and facilitating professional development sessions for OneGoal partner schools and districts. He works with system leaders to co-create coherent, system-wide solutions to ensure that all students are on their way to postsecondary success. Before joining OneGoal, John worked with the Chicago nonprofit LEAP Innovations as an Instructional Coach and helped lead their education policy initiatives. He began his career in education with Teach For America and worked in a variety of school structures in St. Louis, New York City, and Baltimore. He holds an M.S in Education from Hunter College and an Ed.D. in K-12 Education Leadership and Policy from Vanderbilt University.
LEAD DESIGNER
Ivory Duncan, M.A.
Senior Director, Postsecondary Leadership Network Design, OneGoal
Ivory Duncan has spent over 13 years as an education leader advocating for innovative approaches to honor the experience and identity of scholars from resilient communities. She has held various roles in education and non-profit spaces, such as Senior Vice President of Programs and Special Initiatives at the Urban League of Greater Kansas City and Assistant Principal at Noble Network Charter Schools. Lead by her passion for Equity, Ivory was a Loyola University Leading DEI 2021 Cohort Fellow, A Diverse Leaders Fellow, and an Anti-Racist Planning Committee member at Noble Schools, and served on the Teach for America Planning and Design Task Force for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusiveness Council. She holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and M.A. in Public Policy.
COACH
Dustin Dunlavy, M.A.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Dustin collaborates with educational leaders to reduce inequities in postsecondary preparation, resources and exposure for students. As a first-generation student, Dustin has always wanted to be that person he wished for during his journey toward a postsecondary education. Fueled by his journey, he began his career in college admissions, enrollment management, higher education leadership, the college access non-profit space, technical education and graduate education for the last 14 years – all while championing efforts to increase the accessibility of postsecondary education through policy and process reform. Dustin earned his B.A. in Psychology + Public Administration from Capital University, his M.A. in Communications from the University of Cincinnati and plans to begin his Ed.D in the coming year at the University of Cincinnati for Urban Educational Leadership.
COACH
Julie Fregien, M.Ed.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Julie Fregien facilitates learning experiences for school and district leaders and provides one-on-one coaching to build their capacity to create system-wide solutions to support postsecondary success for all students. She began her career in education as a high school mathematics teacher. From teaching, she served as a high school principal in urban and rural communities. As a principal, she worked to create inclusive and compassionate school communities that supported equity and access for all students to relevant, rigorous learning experiences to prepare them for postsecondary success. Prior to joining OneGoal, Julie served as a district Director of Data Strategy, utilizing real-time data to build early warning systems to design tailored intervention systems for students. Julie holds an M.ED in Educational Leadership from Ball State University, as well as a B.A. is History and a B.S. in Education from Valparaiso University.
TEAM LEADER
Milissa McClaire Gary, M.Ed.
Managing Director of Secondary Partnerships, OneGoal
Milissa is an experienced educational leader, coach, consultant, and National Board Certified Teacher with an M.A. in Educational Research and Policy. She began her career as a high school teacher in Chicago and then transitioned to work at the district level, developing teachers and supporting instructional leadership teams. Milissa went on to be a consultant and program director for New Teacher Center, where she developed instructional coaching, mentoring, and professional learning. In her current role, Milissa engages district and school leaders in the OneGoal Leadership Network. She is also responsible for leading the Postsecondary Leadership Coaches with partner districts across the state. Her entire career has been driven by a deep desire for young people—particularly those historically underserved—to have equitable access to opportunities and choice-filled lives.
COACH
Danyeil Reese, Ed.S
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Danyeil Reese is an educator with more than 15 years of experience in instruction, program administration, and leadership in career & technical education. Danyeil has experience working in every aspect of college and career readiness planning, from convening advisory boards to designing content and programmatic outcomes. Prior to joining OneGoal, Danyeil was a postsecondary success specialist with Chicago Public Schools. Danyeil holds a Bachelors in Business from Wilberforce University and M.A.T and Education Specialist degrees in Workforce Education from the University of Georgia.
COACH
Kayla Ritter Rickels, M.S.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Kayla Ritter Rickels serves as a Postsecondary Leadership Coach, working with district leaders across the commonwealth of Kentucky. With a set of values rooted in the belief that education is liberation, she has dedicated her career to the creation of enabling conditions for equity in exploration, access, and attainment of a postsecondary credential. She began her career in college admissions and enrollment management and has moved through roles within college access non-profit, K12 school district, and ed tech organization spaces that allowed her to drive impact and system change with a keen focus on equity for historically marginalized and minoritized students. She earned her M.S. in Marketing from the University of Cincinnati, her B.A. in Mathematics from Thomas More College, and is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Northern Kentucky University.
TEAM LEADER
Andrew Schmitz, M.A.T., M.P.P.
Managing Director of Secondary Partnerships, OneGoal
Andy leads the execution of the OneGoal Leadership Network, 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 M.A.T. from Dominican University and M.P.P. in Education Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.
COACH
Catisha Toney, M.P.A
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Catisha Toney is a graduate of Indiana University who has more than 15 years of experience working in education developing, coordinating, and implementing college and career readiness programs. Throughout her career she has been working for, speaking for, and representing underserved students. Prior to joining OneGoal, Catisha served as the Senior Director of College and Career Advising for Lighthouse Academies—supervising the network’s College and Career team across five campuses. Catisha is an advocate for equity in education and an educator who is passionate about creating opportunities for underserved students and young adults so that they can pursue their dreams and positively impact their families and communities. Catisha also holds a Master’s in Public Administration and Management through Indiana University—Northwest and serves as a consultant for the Indiana Association of College and Admission Counselors.
COACH
Renee Vai, M.A.T.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Renee engages partner school and district leadership in the shared creation of systemic solutions through one-on-one coaching and the facilitation of professional development sessions. Renee has over 14 years of experience dedicated to creating equitable initiatives in education for underserved students with a career history steeped in the facilitation and creation of curriculum, equitable instructional practices, productive partnerships, and individual coaching and adult capacity building. As a high school administrator, Renee identified and confronted problems with inequity at every level, from teaching and implementing culturally relevant classroom management and equitable instructional practices, to building holistic student development and supports, to improving structural and programmatic issues, including implementing college readiness workshops and work experience programs to provide real-world experience to students while connecting them to business professionals and postsecondary opportunities.
COACH
Andraya White, M.A.
Managing Director of Program Implementation, OneGoal
Andraya facilitates learning experiences for school and district leaders and provides one-on-one coaching to build their capacity to improve postsecondary success for all students. Previously, Andraya served as a Director of Teacher Support at OneGoal, leading professional development sessions, coaching teachers, and working with school leaders to improve postsecondary outcomes in their schools. Before joining OneGoal, Andraya was a lead school counselor for a program designed to provide preventive services and promote student success. Andraya is experienced in providing learning experiences to educators that build trauma-informed and resilience practices within their schools. Andraya began her career in education in Lexington, Kentucky, after earning a B.A. in Secondary Education and an M.A. in Education at the University of Kentucky. She also holds an M.A. in School Counseling from Eastern Kentucky University.
COACH
Heather Zoll, Ed.S.
Postsecondary Leadership Coach, OneGoal
Heather facilitates learning experiences for school and district leaders and provides one-on-one coaching to build their capacity in creating systems and structures that help ensure postsecondary success for all students. Heather has more than 16 years of experience and leadership in education. She began her career as an English language arts teacher. From the classroom, she moved into the role of director of her district’s first stand-alone career academy. Heather most recently served in a school administrator role as Academy Coach, where she worked to help implement wall-to-wall career academies that changed the focus and quality of learning experiences for all students at her school and throughout the district. Her passion is to work with district, school, and community members to bring relevance and purpose to learning in an equitable way and to have a long-term impact on student postsecondary success. Heather holds an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership and an M.A. in Secondary English Education from the University of Kentucky. She also holds a B.A. in English from Western Kentucky University and a National Board Teacher Certification.