Staff

Lindsey Blackburn, Director, Curriculum and Assessment

As Director of Curriculum and Assessment for the Ohio Alliance’s Center for Charter School Quality. Lindsey Blackburn plans and delivers teacher professional development in curriculum mapping, assessment design, and data analysis.  Through professional development, she brings particular expertise in the cultural development of the school-wide, data-teams approach to effective teaching.

Lindsey is a California native, having earned several degrees from the University of California, Davis including Bachelor’s in International Relations and Spanish, Teaching Credentials in social studies and bilingual education, and a Master’s degree in Education.  She also has an administrative specialist license in Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development from Ashland University.

Jacob Christy, Database, Publications and Administrative Coordinator 

Jacob is native to the Greater Columbus area. A graduate of Westerville South High School and Columbus State Community College, he is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in English with a focus on Creative Writing. Prior to joining OAPCS, he worked as a database editor at Chemical Abstract Services. OAPCS is his first experience in the education industry. Jacob oversees management of the OAPCS website, other communications and OAPCS database, as well as, coordinating office publications. He also manages the President and CEO’s day-to-day schedule.

Crystal Craig, VP, Finance and Administration 

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.

Bob Green, Coordinator, Information Technology

Bob earned his Associate’s degree in Computer Networking from James A. Rhodes State College in June 2007. Subsequently, he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management from Bluffton University in December 2010. Bob is currently enrolled at Bowling Green State University working towards a Master’s degree in Classroom Technology.

Bob joins OAPCS from West Central Learning Academy, an online charter school in Lima, Ohio where he was the Technology Coordinator responsible for end user support for parents, staff, students and teachers. Additionally, he oversaw the increase in the use of the federal ERATE program. His goal of investing in new technologies, while reducing overall spending at West Central Learning Academy, led to the implementation of many Google Apps for Education.

By way of Bob’s educational and work experiences thus far, he has truly developed his business sense. His ability to work with multiple stakeholders, in a variety of professional situations, makes him a valuable asset to Ohio’s public charter schools.

 STEPHANIE KLUPINSKI, VP, Legal and legislative affairs 

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

Stephanie graduated cum laude from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2010. While attending law school, Stephanie was a managing director of the Ohio State Law Journal, and her law review article on student speech in the digital age was recently published in that journal. Her work experience during law school included internships with the New York City Law Department, the appeals section at the Ohio Attorney General, and the American Federation of Teachers’ legal department in Washington, D.C.

Prior to law school, Stephanie was associate editor at Catalyst Ohio, an education policy magazine. In this role, she won numerous awards for journalism excellence, including the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications, the Best Social Justice Reporting award from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and several Ohio Excellence in Journalism Award.

Stephanie began her career in education reform as a Teach For America corps member. She taught English and journalism at Locke High School in Los Angeles, which has since been converted to a charter school.

Stephanie received a masters’ degree in public policy from the University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Marianne Lombardo, VP, Research 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.

Cecilia Shanahan, Senior Director of Membership and strategic partnerships

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.

Jesse Truett, Senior Director, Performance Management Program

Jesse received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Otterbein University and his Masters Degree in Education Policy and Leadership from Ohio State University.

As a former principal at Newark High School and Grandview Heights High School, Jesse is an experienced and proven academic and administrative leader who has demonstrated a significant commitment to both student performance and solid operational and financial management.

Jesse will lead in building the Alliance’s new performance management initiatives, made possible by a generous grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

Ashley Wilson, Fiscal Associate

Ashley is responsible for providing financial services to the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ team. Before joining OAPCS, Ashley worked as an executive assistant for a small business owner, where she gained experience in event planning, operating different accounting software and handled extensive clerical duties. Prior to being an executive assistant, she was a financial services advisor with J. P. Morgan Chase and held a range of positions within the banking industry.

Ashley is a native of Virginia, but was raised in Ohio. She attended the University of Cincinnati and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in human resource management, with a minor in accounting, at Franklin University.