Emma Hiza is the Senior Director of Research & Development Operations for AERDF. Prior to joining AERDF she was a Senior Program Officer on the Education team at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Previously, Emma founded and led a nonprofit that launched study abroad public high schools in Oakland and Indianapolis. She has led research and evaluation work with schools and out-of-school-time programs, and worked in global health and youth development internationally with the McKinsey Social Initiative and Partners In Health. Emma began her career as a teacher in Philadelphia. She holds an MEd from Arcadia University and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She lives in Oakland with her husband and daughter.

Priscilla Everhart is the Vice President, Finance & Contracts, leading AERDF’s financial planning and analysis, accounting, grant and sub-award administration, contracting, and funder reporting, as well as building the multi-year financial infrastructure that supports the organization’s research and development programs. Before joining the team full-time, Priscilla worked with AERDF through her finance and operations consulting practice, Norwood Hart Consulting, providing senior finance leadership and leading the organization’s annual budgeting and required grant reporting.

With more than 15 years of experience leading finance and operations, Priscilla has worked across mission-driven organizations in education, edtech, and venture philanthropy, often during periods of significant transition. She has held senior finance and operations leadership roles at organizations including BRICK Education Network, Aspire Public Schools, TNTP, and Wildflower Foundation, where she built the financial and operational foundations those organizations needed to grow. Priscilla is an alumna of Harvard Business School, where she completed the General Management Program. She holds an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Kendra Lee is the Chief Operations, Strategy & People Officer, leading AERDF’s finance, contracting, IT, legal, and talent functions. She serves as the Chief of Staff to the CEO and Executive Team and drives the implementation of the organization’s strategic plan and annual goal-setting process. Prior to joining the team full-time, Kendra oversaw AERDF’s People, Experience, and Culture Team through her talent consulting practice, Jeong Consulting.

With more than 15 years of experience, Kendra has worked across large, small, U.S.-based, global, corporate, nonprofit, and public sector organizations. Her background includes leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy for The Philadelphia Inquirer; launching Comcast’s first-ever global DEI learning functions, and serving as a Diversity Business Partner for a large tech organization. Kendra began her career in education as a 7th grade English teacher in Philadelphia. She spent a decade in talent and strategy with education nonprofits, a network of charter schools, and the School District of Philadelphia, where she was the interim Chief Talent Officer. She holds a BS from Syracuse University and an MS from the University of Pennsylvania.


Matt Greenfield is Managing Partner of Rethink Education, a venture capital firm focused on educational technology. He is on the boards of CareAcademy, Ignite Reading, NoRedInk, Mainstay, Major League Hacking, and Stellic. His non-profit affiliations include the board of Southern New Hampshire University.

Matt received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English from Yale University, where he won five academic prizes and fellowships from the Mellon and Whiting Foundations and served on the editorial board of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities. He taught at Bowdoin College, where he served on the committee overseeing admissions, and the City University of New York, where he served on a college curriculum committee, helped launch an interdisciplinary learning community program for first-year students, taught in the teacher preparation program, and taught graduate classes in literature to teachers from the New York City public schools.

Kyla Haimovitz is the Deputy Chief of Research and Development for AERDF. Prior to this role, she worked with philanthropic foundations and nonprofits to design and run funding strategies around inclusive research and development in K12 education. She worked as the Director of Education Technology at Digital Promise Global, where she helped organizations integrate research on how people learn and develop into educational products and programs in more inclusive and equitable ways through training, consulting, infrastructure-building, and grant-making. She held similar roles as a Senior Learning Engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a Scientist in Residence at Character Lab, and Postdoctoral Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her BA from Reed College and PhD from Stanford University, where she conducted research on how to create motivating, equitable learning environments.

Auditi is President and CEO of AERDF (the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund). AERDF applies Advanced Inclusive R&D to find potentially transformative teaching and learning solutions that can scale, centering on the assets, strengths, and needs of learners. Auditi previously spent 12 years at College Board, where she led research for all their programs and assessment development for the SAT suite of assessments, launched the Pre-AP program, was GM of the SpringBoard program, designed AP Computer Science Principles and AP Capstone, and led the redesign of AP science, history, and world language courses.

Prior to that she held multiple product development and instructional design roles at Kaplan Test Prep and Kaplan K12 after working in educational publishing, including at Scholastic. A former high school English teacher, Auditi holds a BA in English and M.Ed in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She is currently a Venture Partner with LearnLaunch Accelerator and is Chair of the National Board of Directors for Bottom Line, a college access and success nonprofit. She lives in New York City and Colchester, Vermont.

Jenni Light is a seasoned design researcher, strategist, and educator with over 20 years of experience across commercial design, retail, children’s media, and education. She brings a human-centered approach to her work, always striving to infuse humor, joy, and lasting impact into every client collaboration and team effort. Jenni currently teaches within the School of Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she mentors the next generation of creative thinkers. When she’s not working or teaching, she’s making things, hugging animals, and spending time outside with her friends and family.

Jimmie Harris is a senior product manager focused on creating innovative and easy-to-use tools for teachers and students. His experience in Hawaii and special education shaped his understanding of the need for solutions that support diverse learners. With a Master’s in Design Impact from Stanford and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, he combines design thinking with technical know-how. Whether managing product development or conducting user research, Jimmie’s goal is to use technology to improve outcomes for all learners.

Professor Caitlin Mills, Co-Founder, Chief of Research and Impact for AugmentED, is also currently an Associate Professor at the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota. She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, then completed her postdoctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia. She spent four years in the Psychology Department at the University of New Hampshire before moving her lab to UMN. Dr. Mills’ research program has been centered on engagement, mind-wandering, and affect during complex learning and everyday life. She has published over 100 peer reviewed papers and was recently awarded the Tom Trabasso Young Investigator Award from the Society for Text and Discourse. She serves on multiple editorial boards and has co-chaired several conferences including Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics and Knowledge.

Alicia Caraballo is the Director of Development at AERDF, where she leads fundraising efforts to advance the organization’s ambitious R&D programs that improve teaching and learning outcomes across the country. In this role, she works to identify and cultivate strategic funding partnerships, secure philanthropic investments, and develop the infrastructure and workflows needed to bolster AERDF’s long-term fundraising success. Alicia’s efforts support AERDF’s work in stewarding funder relationships, diversifying revenue streams, and aligning financial resources with the organization’s mission.

A seasoned fundraising professional, Alicia has over a decade of experience securing philanthropic support for social impact organizations. Prior to joining AERDF, she was the Associate Vice President of Institutional Funding at Covenant House, where she raised critical funds for programs serving youth experiencing homelessness and human trafficking across the U.S and Latin America. Her efforts secured six- and seven-figure grants from public and private funders, as well as government funding, most recently from the U.S. Department of State.

Alicia’s fundraising career has also included roles at Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. and Selfhelp Community Services, where she worked to mobilize resources for early childhood education and senior care. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a specialization in Professional Writing from Barry University and a master’s degree in Fundraising and Grantmaking from New York University. Now based in Washington, DC, Alicia is passionate about leveraging philanthropy to strengthen communities and create lasting impact for vulnerable and marginalized populations.