Staff

Jennifer Brzoski, Senior Manager of Membership Services and Community Services

As head of State Reporting Services at Charter School Specialists, Jennifer managed a team of four State Reporting Coordinators providing services to nearly 30 schools. For more than two years at Ace Software, Jennifer Brzoski worked as the EMIS Coordinator for over 30 community schools. Jennifer is regarded in the charter school movement as one of the foremost experts in providing and managing EMIS services for community schools. Jennifer expertly assisted schools in fulfilling their State reporting requirements to The Ohio Department of Education.

Jennifer Brzoski received her Bachelor's Degree from Wittenberg University in Ohio.

Crystal Craig, Business Manager

A native of Virginia, Crystal attended Virginia Commonwealth University. She has held a variety of positions in federal government (with the Department of Defense and the Treasury Department), the private sector, and with non-profit organizations. Before joining the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Crystal worked with Easter Seals of Central and Southeast Ohio, where she served as executive assistant to the chief executive officer. Prior to that, she was an executive assistant with the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Office of Community Relations and Development.

STEPHANIE KLUPINSKI, VP, ADVOCACY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 

Stephanie is responsible for overseeing advocacy, communications and legislative/governmental affairs for OAPCS.

Stephanie will be graduating from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2010. While attending law school, Stephanie was the managing director of the Ohio State Law Journal. While in school, she has interned with the Ohio Senate Minority Caucus and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. In both 2008 and 2009, Stephanie was recognized with CALI Awards for Appellate Advocacy and Lawyers and the Media. Stephanie received a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and while at UM, worked as a graduate student instructor in the School of Education, and was the student editor of the Michigan Journal of Public Affairs.

Stephanie has extensive experience in education policy and research, including work with the New York City Law Department, the American Federation of Teachers, Policy Matters Ohio, and was a teacher with Teach for America at the Los Angeles Unified School District. She continues her relationship with TFA as a recruiter and Ohio alumni coordinator.

Stephanie has won numerous awards for journalism excellence, including the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications, Best Social Justice Reporting from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and several Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards, for work done when she served as the Associate Editor of Catalyst Ohio.

Marianne Lombardo, Director of School Performance and Accountability

Marianne’s career has centered on increasing educational access, innovation and quality. A graduate of one of the nation’s first public alternative schools, New Futures High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sociology from Wright State University and the Ohio State University respectively. While at the Ohio Board of Regents, Marianne measured results of the Jobs Student Retention Program at thirty-three community colleges in Ohio and managed workforce investment and university research grants. She taught for six years at Columbus State Community College and at the Columbus College of Art and Design. For the past twelve years, Marianne has worked to improve educational programs in the Ohio Department of Youth Services. In addition to supervising curriculum, testing, Title 1, GED programs, school operations and technology, she built postsecondary opportunities, and managed partnerships with the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Jobs for Ohio’s Grads program. Marianne worked with eTech Ohio to build the infrastructure needed to bring technology into the classrooms, and launched an information management system to collect and report education data. Marianne was a member the State Education Data Workgroup, Governor Strickland’s Transition Team, and an evaluator for Alternative Education Challenge Grants. She is a regular presenter at state EMIS conferences and at national conferences, on the topic of measuring academic gains for at-risk populations. Marianne’s volunteer work includes public speaking and advocacy work for Planned Parenthood, and serving as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Franklin County.

De Edward Robinson, Administrative Assistant

DeEdward joins the Ohio Alliance for Pubic Charter Schools from Robert Half International where he worked in several administrative and legal support capacities. Prior to Robert Half International, he was employed in the banking industry with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. DeEdward was educated in the Huntsville Public School System in Alabama and attended the University of North Alabama.

Photography, reading and commercial air travel are among DeEdward’s varied interests.

William J. Sims, President and CEO

Bill’s career has spanned the fields of education, non-profit organizations and the private sector. Before joining the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools in early 2007, he served as vice president of school management for K12 Inc., a Virginia-based curriculum and school management company with associated charter schools located across the United States. He began his tenure at K12 Inc. as founding head and superintendent of the Ohio Virtual Academy, a statewide virtual charter school based in Toledo. In all, he spent 14 years as a teacher, history department chair, admissions director, school principal and head of school in both public and private education. Bill has also served as executive director of the Cisneros Foundation (New York City), executive director and president of the Denver Council on Foreign Relations, founder of the Denver Institute of International Studies, and founder of the publication World News Digest. In addition, he has been vice president of administration and customer relations at Onesoft Corporation, a Virginia-based e-commerce company, and senior program officer at The Brookings Institution’s Center for Public Policy Education in Washington, D. C. Bill received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado and earned a master’s degree in education and international relations from the University of Denver. During the Nixon-Kissinger era of “ping-pong diplomacy” and détente with China during the 1970s, Bill led the very first groups of American students (more than 100 private and public school students from Denver) into the People’s Republic of China.