April 19, 2023

Dear Members and Friends of the Education Law Association,

We are writing to inform you of the significant changes we’ve made this year to the staff of the Education Law Association. We’re grateful to Tom Hutton, J.D., who has completed his term as our Interim Executive Director. We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new part-time Executive Director, Nathan C. Walker, Ed.D., who serves as Publisher of the ELA Publishing House with Edwin J. Greenlee, Ph.D., J.D. We also welcome our new Event and Project Manager, Tiffany Brackens, and additional seasonal support staff through our association-management contract with 1791 Delegates.

Although we have more human resources through the management firm, we’ve decreased our annual personnel expenses.

We’ve taken great care to balance the managerial needs of the organization without increasing membership dues. In this context, we have much to celebrate.

Staff Transitions

First, we express our gratitude to Tom Hutton for seeing the association through a formative organizational transition for the last four years, a term we extended due to the character strengths he brought when leading us during the pandemic. He was instrumental in guiding the association through the ambiguities of moving from our Ohio offices to a virtual organization during a global health crisis. Behind the scenes, he is known for being a kind, creative, and supportive presence. He combined his expert-level knowledge of education law with his deep care for members and guests. As you have witnessed at the annual meetings, he is a charming and hospitable host and a good colleague. Please join us at our annual conference in Reno-Tahoe, October 25-28, 2023, when we plan to honor his service and wish him well with his continued work as Executive Director of the California Charter Authorizing Professionals (CCAP). Please join us in celebrating Tom’s service.

The beloved Kimberly Waite-Cooper is transitioning from serving as our project support specialist to provide Tom Hutton with additional support with CCAP. Meanwhile, Kim continues to flourish as she moves closer to completing her doctorate in education at Regent University. Kim is best known for her diligence, loyalty, efficiency, and kind and supportive disposition. We are grateful for her service during this interim period.

We are also grateful to Charlotte Bingham for completing her year-long graduate internship with ELA as part of her Ph.D. program at Purdue University. She substantially contributed to the planning and execution of last year’s conference and supported various initiatives throughout the year, drawing upon her interests in law and higher education.

We are grateful for Tom, Kim, and Charlotte’s service and are pleased to know they intend to be active members of the association.

Organizational Transformations

We are particularly grateful to the previous board and committee members who worked tirelessly to create a strategic plan and see us through these organizational transitions. They were instrumental in articulating a vision for the future and taking the first step in its implementation by recruiting our new staff.

After extensively exploring various staffing configurations, the 2022 Board unanimously contracted with 1791 Delegates, a nonprofit public charity, to serve as our association management agency. In Fall 2022, they provided administrative and technology services and pro bono support. On January 1, 2023, we officially moved ELA’s legal domicile to their headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we expanded 1791 Delegates work to include financial administration, publishing, and membership development.

As President of 1791 Delegates, long-time ELA member Nathan C. Walker, Ed.D., (nate.walker@educationlaw.org) has been our managing director during this transition and led his team in building our new social learning community at EducationLaw.org. The Board unanimously invited him to assume the position of part-time Executive Director. Nate brings two decades of executive experience leading membership organizations and developing education technology and legal education programs.

Since January 1, he has served as Publisher with Edwin J. Greenlee, Ph.D., J.D. Ed Greenlee brings three decades of experience as Associate Director for Public Services and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Recently, the Board and Periodicals Committee unanimously approved Nate’s and Ed’s proposal to rebrand the Ed Law Update to The Chronicle of Education Law, which will debut this fall.

We are also pleased to report that our search committee unanimously recommended Tiffany Brackens to serve as our new Event and Project Manager. As an experienced event manager passionate about creating exceptional events, Tiffany brings nearly ten years of experience managing corporate, private, and social events. She will administer our leadership calendar, document management system, and ELA’s contracts with editors and authors.

In addition, we are thrilled to introduce you to our seasonal support staff through 1791 Delegates. Brittany R. King is our e-learning specialist who will help our members build professional development and continuing legal education programs on EducationLaw.org. Our bookkeeper, Brenda Graycareck, is a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor. Chetan Patel is an accomplished software engineer who provides backend web development services for EducationLaw.org. Developers at Aiwos have supported 1791 Delegates in building the new Proposal Portal for submitting award nominations and proposals for books, courses, events, and periodicals. And you may already know pre-law student Beatrice Barjon, delegate Earl Chavez, medical student Pavithra Kathirvel, law student Jahnvi Patel, and pre-law student Ayoub Saidi who have been calling, emailing, and sending postcards as part of the spring membership drive. We’re grateful for their service.

Calls to Action

As you can see, the Education Law Association is experiencing a renaissance thanks to our hardworking board members, committee leaders, and staff.

In this spirit, we invite you to join or renew your membership and invite others to create a free account at our new social learning community at EducationLaw.org.

And make sure to register for the 69th Annual Conference in Reno-Tahoe from October 25-2028.

If you need assistance, start a live chat at EducationLaw.org, email support@educationlaw.org, or call (833) ELA-1954.

Thanks for your support during these formative and entrepreneurial times. We are honored to be in community with you.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Sughrue, Ph.D.
President, Education Law Association
Professor, Florida Gulf Coast University

Kevin Brady, Ph.D.
President-Elect, Education Law Association
Professor, University of Arkansas

Elisabeth M. Krimbill, Ed.D.
Vice President, Education Law Association
Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

Julie F. Mead, Ph.D.
Immediate Past President, Education Law Association
Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Andrew L. Armagost, Ph.D.
Treasurer, Education Law Association
Director of School Business Analytics
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials

Traci Ballard, J.D., Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Associate Director, Professional Development and Leadership Academy
University of Oklahoma

Regina Biggs, Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Associate Professor and Academic Program Director
George Mason University, Education Leadership Program

Sarah Flournoy, J.D., Ed.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Attorney, Bracket & Ellis, PC

Maria M. Lewis, J.D., Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Assistant Professor of Education Leadership
Penn State University, Education Policy Studies

Ilana Linder, J.D., M.S.Ed.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Attorney, Fraternal Law Partners
Ph.D. student, Indiana University Bloomington

Raquel Muñiz, J.D., Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Assistant Professor, Boston College Schools of Law and Education

Tiffany Puckett, J.D., Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University

Dustin Robinson, Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Assistant Principal, Hillsborough County Public Schools

Jeffrey C. Sun, J.D., Ph.D.
Board Member, Education Law Association
Professor of Higher Education & Law, Distinguished University Scholar,
Director of the SKILLS Collaborative, University of Louisville

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