Monica Seeley
Executive Director & Founder
Monica has 27 years of experience in education with a background in Special Education and working with at-risk students in the alternative setting. Currently, she is the Graduation Specialist, College and Career Coordinator and the Peer Facilitation Coordinator at Heritage High School in Rockdale County. She has her certification in Special Education and School Counseling. Monica is also the author of “The Reading War”, a children’s book inspired by the challenges and triumphs of reading with her own children.
Education background:
- National Dropout Prevention Specialist Certification Program, Clemson, SC
- EDS, School Counseling, Argosy University, Sarasota, Florida
- MS. Ed, Behavioral and Emotional Handicaps, City College University, New York, NY
- BA, Liberal Arts/Concentration in Social Science and Education, New Rochelle, NY
Dr. Robert A. Griffin
President
Dr. Robert A. Griffin is an assistant professor in the Department of Literacy and Special Education at the University of West Georgia, where he teaches graduate-level courses in literacy, TESOL, and diversity/inclusive education. Before moving into higher education full time, he served as a secondary English and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher for 13 years in rural south and urban north Georgia public schools. Dr. Griffin’s primary research interests involve exploring reading motivation and achievement for bi/multilingual students and “at-promise” student groups and challenging deficit-oriented paradigms among some educators related to the skills and talents of diverse learners. Dr. Griffin serves on editorial review boards for several journals in the fields of TESOL and literacy, including GATESOL in Action, the Georgia Journal of Literacy, and the Texas Journal of Literacy Education, and has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. He also serves as the editor of Focus, the quarterly newsletter of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA). For leisure, Dr. Griffin enjoys reading, traveling, visiting family, and spending time with his spouse, Mandi, and their two children, Miriam and Sarah Ruth.
April Fowler
Secretary
April Fowler is a health care management professional with sixteen years of experience, and over twenty-five years working in the public and non-profit sector. For the last sixteen years, April has worked for one of the largest public health care systems in the country. At NYC Health & Hospitals (NYC H+H) April has held several positions in Finance at Metropolitan Hospital Center; one being Associate Director of outpatient billing. In 2013, April transferred to MetroPlus Health Plan; the health insurance company owned by NYC H+H. April is the Associate Director for Provider Relations where she develops provider relationships with hospitals, physicians, and ancillary providers which serve as contractual networks of care for the half-million members served.
April earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from Barnard M. Baruch College in 1991, and later returned to Baruch College where she earned a Master in Public Administration in 2009.
April enjoys exercising and staying active to maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit. April loves walking, and enjoys using her Fitbit to track her steps in her work week hustle walking challenges. April lives in New York City with her daughter.
Yvonne Stroud
Board Member
Since teaching and learning are not a one size fits all, this quote by Ignacia Estrada represents my belief that “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”
Yvonne Stroud is a veteran teacher who began her career in public education in 1990 in the City Schools of Decatur, in Decatur, Georgia where she was the 2008 District Teacher of the Year. Currently, she is a middle school special education math teacher in Dekalb County who is proficient in Lesson Design, Differentiated Instruction, and Standards-Based Instruction.
Yvonne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Grinnell College and a Master of Education of the Mildly Handicapped with certification in Learning Disabilities from Georgia State University. She holds an Educational Leadership Add-On Certificate from Georgia College and State University.
Outside her classroom, Yvonne spends her time volunteering in the community with her Church, Wellroot Family Services as a tutor, and has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care. She has a passion for working with children with special needs, in foster care, and children experiencing homelessness. She also enjoys walking, watching sports on television, and playing games on her tablet.