Eduseed's Board of Directors

1666 K St.
NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202/778.6424
Fax: 202/778.6473

EDUSEED'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012

EduSeed Board of Directors Retreat

Montina M. Cole, Chair

Montina Cole has over a decade of experience in the legal, political, government and legislative sectors. She is Counsel at the law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP. She was previously Of Counsel at Sullivan & Worcester LLP and at the law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, where she was a member of the law firm's Hiring Committee, and helped to recruit women and minorities.

Ms. Cole previously served as Special Counsel to the General Counsel, at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she advised senior departmental officials on legal and policy issues regarding U.S. investment abroad. She worked with U.S. and South African government officials and non-governmental organizations to help develop the 1995 U.S.-South Africa Seminar on Commercial Law, to help promote trade between the U.S. and South Africa.

Ms. Cole's legislative and political experience also includes her service on the congressional staff of former U.S. Representative Jim Slattery, and experience with campaign finance management.

Ms. Cole received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1991, where she served on the Senior Editorial Board of the Journal of Law and Politics, and was a founding member of the Coalition for Diversity. She graduated from Washburn University in 1988, where she received her B.A. in political science, cum laude, with University and Departmental honors. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia and in Pennsylvania, and the American and Energy bar associations.

Ms. Cole is a certified yoga instructor. She received her teacher certification from Satchidananda Ashram --Yogaville, Buckingham, Virginia. She has a daily practice of meditation and yoga.

Shireen K. Lewis, Ph.D.

Dr. Shireen Lewis has received many awards for her work with SisterMentors, including from EBONY magazine in August 2009, for making a difference for children, schools and communities. She has devoted over 30 years to mentoring and coaching women and girls. She has mentored women in college, encouraging them to pursue graduate and professional school. Dr. Lewis was Dean and teacher of a high school for girls in Trinidad and Tobago. She has served on the board of several community organizations that promote education and equity for women and girls. She is past Co-President of the Washington Branch of the American Association of University Women.

Dr. Lewis earned her Ph.D. from Duke University and her J.D. from The University of Virginia School of Law. She has a B.A. from Douglass College, a women's college at Rutgers University, where she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society in her Junior year.

Dr. Lewis practices yoga and meditation every day and is a frequent visitor to Satchidananda Ashram ---Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia. She is also vegan....more

Kris Miller

Kris Miller is an executive leadership coach and co-founder of the Washington Coaching Group. He works with leaders around the world, coaching both individuals and teams in the corporate sector, government, non-profits, associations and universities. He challenges clients to develop and achieve goals from the perspective of what is working for them, and what is not.

His coaching expertise is complemented by 20 years of international business development experience as an entrepreneur and leader. He created innovative business models and inspired engineering and commercial teams for building two companies in the global satellite sector. From 1990 to 1993, Mr. Miller served as Senior Vice President of Columbia Communications Corporation (CCC), an international satellite operator. He led commercial operations and managed a strategic partnership with TRW Corporation. He also structured and negotiated the partnership for the first non-US ground station accessing the satellite. This agreement served as the cornerstone in the creation of Teleport London International (TLI) described below.

From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Miller served as Business Development Director for TLI. After closing the agreement between CCC and the parent company of TLI he was invited to join the TLI start-up and build the business. Highlights of his contributions include annual sales growth of $45 million, created a business model that changed the standards for the satellite industry and persuaded the parent company to develop the business beyond its original vision.

In 2004, Mr. Miller co-founded Henley Partners International, a consulting practice serving broadcast and telecom industry clients. He served as a consultant designing and implementing business and organizational development projects, and began his work as an executive coach. Mr. Miller worked with Henley Partners until co-founding the Washington Coaching Group in 2008.

Mr. Miller's recent activities related to his coaching business include participation as a faculty member of the Mason Institute for Leadership Excellence, conducted Strengths-Focus workshops designed to increase workforce engagement across generations and facilitated Coaching Skills workshops for executive MBA students.

Educated as a coach at Georgetown University, he received his coaching certificate through the International Coach Federation. He holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BS from Louisiana State University.

Thomas Jesulaitis

Thomas Jesulaitis has served as the Director of Contracts and Grants at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) for the past 27 years. AIR is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to conduct and apply the best behavioral and social science research and evaluation towards improving people's lives, with a special emphasis on the disadvantaged. He has participated in the growth of the organization through sound counsel and advice in proposal submission, contract negotiation, and project administration. Mr. Jesulaitis has built the contract function from an initial staff of one to a staff now of eleven with significant expertise in all areas of contract development and administration. As part of AIR's Leadership Team, he is also involved in all aspects of strategic planning and development and implementation of corporate goals both yearly and over five years.

Mr. Jesulaitis received a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a Masters Certificate in Government Contracting from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Winifred V. Quinn, Ph.D

Dr. Winifred V. Quinn is the Director of Legislation and Campaign Operations at AARP's Center to Champion Nursing in America.

Dr. Quinn advocates for progressive nursing policy changes at the state and federal level so that healthcare consumers have a highly skilled nurse when and where they need one. Policy issues that she works on relate to improved funding for nursing education and legal barriers that prevent all levels of registered nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and expertise. Her federal work includes working on nursing education provisions within the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Her state level work is to provide technical assistance to teams that are working to improve funding for nursing education or that are working to modernize scope of practice laws. Dr. Quinn also helps organize a broad coalition that champions nurses' issues and works with representatives of other consumer organizations, businesses, insurers, and provider organizations.

Dr. Quinn's role as an advocate emerged from her position as a Research Analyst at Rutgers Center for State Health Policy. There, she served on the technical assistance team that worked with all 50 states to improve systems and streamline policies to help people of all ages with disabilities live in their homes and communities. Her experience as a caregiver for each of her parents ignited her passion for helping older adults and to help ensure that they have access to quality of care in the setting of their choice.

Dr. Quinn is an alumna of Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey and Douglass College, Rutgers University. She received her master's degree in Counseling from Montclair State University and earned her Ph.D. in Health Communication from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University.

Margery Sullivan

Margery Sullivan has a long demonstrated commitment to women and girls expressed through her years of community service. She has served on the local, state and national boards of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). From 2003 to 2005 she was on the board of the AAUW's Legal Advocacy Fund which combats sex discrimination in higher education and the workplace. She is an outspoken advocate for women and girls and her advocacy has increased as she observes the role of women in the biological sciences. In the early 1990's, she was chair of the Maryland Computer Math Science Day for Seventh Grade Girls, an award winning program to introduce girls to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Presently, she is the treasurer of the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund (VGIF) which supports women and girls in developing countries.

Ms. Sullivan is currently a scientist in biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Previously, she worked at biotech companies, Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.

Marianne Tshihamba

Marianne Tshihamba is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has lived in the U.S. for most of her life. For the past 15 years, she has worked with associations, non-profit organizations and government contractors as a conference and event planner in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Prior to working conference and event planning activities, Ms. Tshihamba produced newspaper supplements to encourage trade and investment between the U.S. and foreign markets. Working with senior government and industry officials, including heads of state, ministers, and local Fortune 100 CEOs, she raised over $350,000 in advertising contracts.

As an advocate for the global struggle against HIV/AIDS, Ms. Tshihamba has organized congressional study tours to Africa with congressional staff and Governor Howard Dean. She managed a USAID-funded small grants program to provide funding for HIV/AIDS organizations in developing countries.

Ms. Tshihamba holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (Women's Studies, Comparative Literature, Film) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.