Mahpari Sotoudeh, Board Co-Chair, has served as a Senior Program Officer at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on the Middle East/North Africa team. In her capacity at NDI, Mahpari has supported civic education programming and youth-focused projects in Morocco, Algeria, and the West Bank. Prior to joining NDI, Mahpari worked at a non-profit that provides online civic education resources to Iranian activists and at the U.S. Department of State, Middle East Institute, and Project on Middle East Democracy. In her spare time, Mahpari teaches ESL to adults in the Washington D.C. area and leads a weekly civics class for aspiring U.S. citizens.

Eric Harris, Board Co-Chair, is an accomplished communications expert with nearly 20 years of experience in high-level media relations, public affairs, impact storytelling, and campaign strategy. He has served as a senior communications strategist and policy advisor for members of Congress, key congressional committees, political and nonprofit leaders. His work has been featured in CBS News, NBC News, MSNBC, Fox News, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, and other top media outlets. He has also led numerous professional development workshops for staff members in the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Democratic Communicators Network. Prior to his time in the U.S. Congress, Eric worked as a media and public affairs strategist for corporate clients, nonprofit organizations, political campaigns, and cause-oriented initiatives. He is an NBC News THINK contributor, a graduate of UCLA, and a native of Calabasas, CA.

Ngozi Lawal, Board Secretary, is the Principal of Early Actions, working to ensure every child reaches their full potential in school and life. Previously, Ngozi was the Project Director for the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Prenatal to 3 Initiative, aimed at increasing the number of children on track for kindergarten in EC-LINC communities. Prior to joining CSSP, Ngozi supported the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Education at the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human in implementing a national policy agenda to help states and communities help babies, toddlers and preschoolers get ready for school. She oversaw the federal State Advisory Councils and played a key role in the policy development and implementation of the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge and Preschool Development Grants. Ngozi also managed the child care portfolio at the American Public Human Services Association, working alongside state child care administrators to develop policy proposals to improve implementation of the Child Care and Development Fund. She partnered with state child welfare directors to reduce the disproportionality of children of color in the child welfare system and improve the educational and social outcomes for youth who age out of foster care without permanent home placements. Ngozi began her career at Zero to Three where she tracked state and federal policies and initiatives on early childhood mental health. Ngozi has a Master of Arts Degree in Child Development from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Boston College.

Amanda Guarino, Board Treasurer, is the Managing Director for the First Five Years Fund (FFYF), and has over a decade of experience and policy expertise in early childhood education and management. Guarino joined FFYF after nearly twelve years with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where she played a crucial role in the Administration for Children & Families’ management of programs that support early childhood education and development. Beginning in 2010, Guarino served as Management and Program Analyst within the Office of Child Care at the Administration for Children & Families. In this role she provided strategic direction, leadership, and consultation regarding the coordination and delivery of Technical Assistance (TA) activities. This coordination included implementation of process quality improvement, budget monitoring considerations, Child Care/Head Start collaboration activities, and effective communication across federal programs and TA projects. Guarino also managed several TA projects including the State Capacity Building Center, the next iteration of the State Systems Specialist Network. In this role she worked tirelessly to ensure the delivery of TA is systematic, of high quality, responsive to grantee needs, and outcome driven. Guarino holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the College of the Holy Cross and earned a Masters of Arts Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Administration from Columbia University in the city of New York. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and lives on Capitol Hill.

Joanne Carter is the Executive Director of RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund (REF) and has been a part of RESULTS in a variety of capacities for over 20 years. Joanne became legislative director of RESULTS/REF in 1992 and associate executive director in 2007.  As legislative director of RESULTS/REF, Joanne worked with key administration and congressional allies, partner organizations, and technical agencies orchestrating U.S. and international campaigns to tackle major diseases of poverty (particularly tuberculosis and major child killers), increase access to education, expand economic opportunity for the poorest, and reform World Bank and International Monetary Fund policies.  An international expert and spokesperson on global poverty issues, Joanne regularly organizes media briefings on breaking legislative and technical news and works closely with the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and other international organizations.  She is also a founding board member of Global Action for Children.

Laura Giangiuli is the Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, where she is responsible for managing all aspects of Human Resources as well as payroll administration and corporate security for CALIBRE. In this role, Laura is also a member of the Corporate Leadership Team and advises the Board of Directors and Corporate Officers on matters concerning: Risk Management, Legal Issues, Federal & State Compliance, M&A, Compensation & Benefits, Employee Relations and Company Culture as well as Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Employee Development and Executive Coaching, Conflict Resolution, Cost Control, and Training. Laura has over 20 years of experience in human capital management, with proven success developing programs to achieve corporate goals. She also has experience creating and managing HR programs and policies for a dispersed workforce to include international employees in and out of war zones. Laura holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM - Senior Certified Professional (SHRM – SCP) and a Strategic HR Business Partner (sHRBP) certifications. Laura holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Marymount University. Laura is currently enrolled at Cornell University in the Executive Masters Human Resources Program (EMHRM).

Arnav Joshi is a Strategic Finance Associate at United Health Group (UHG) focused on developing financial reporting processes and improving operational efficiency. In this role, Arnav has worked with organizational leadership to establish business forecasting best practices in order to create effective long-range plans. He previously worked at UHG as a Corporate Development Analyst where he assessed strategic acquisition transactions in the healthcare services space. Outside of the office, Arnav has experience teaching ESL courses as well as engaging with education-focused nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C. area.