National Advisory Council
Meet our 2011-12 Advisory Council
Justin Allamano
Justin is an experienced land use and real estate litigation attorney, practicing in San Francisco, California. In his seven years of practice, Justin has litigated a number of environmental and land use issues including cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act and cases involving the San Francisco Planning Code. In addition, Justin has gained strong general knowledge in all areas of law. A passionate outdoor enthusiast, Justin hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the border of the United States and Mexico to Canada in 2008. Justin also swims in the San Francisco Bay nearly every day. Justin holds a J.D. from the University of California, Davis and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego.
Cara Brennan
Cara is a seasoned Human Resources executive with over a decade of experience in the communications, advertising and technology industries. She began her career at Knight Ridder and has since worked with prominent companies such as Young & Rubicam and Guthy-Renker, Inc. Cara is a true generalist who directs all aspects of the HR function within businesses, from performance management and recruiting to legal compliance, compensation and benefits. She has successfully managed large HR groups as well as founded and developed HR functions within smaller firms and consulted with technology start ups ContextOptional.com and Granicus.com. Cara is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources through the Society for Human Resources Management and holds a master's degree in Organization Development from the University of San Francisco. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from the the University of Kentucky and maintains a connection to academia through her teaching at the University of California, Berkeley Extension. Cara is an active supporter of the non-profit animal rescue organization Muttville and is also an advisor to World Savvy. She enjoys all aspects of supporting the talent that drives organizational success.
Virginia Broberg
Virginia has been a marketing professional in the Twin Cities for the last 20 years. She has been involved in various community service and civic organizations which currently include board member of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches and President of GIVING WoMN, a women’s philanthropy in the Twin Cities as well as a high school varsity tennis coach. She is also the past president of the Junior League of Minneapolis, board member of St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development, and The Minnesota Opera.
John Cairns
Prior to founding John Cairns Law, P.A., in February 2008. His law practice is focused on charter schools and tax-exempt organizations.He has been published in Harvard Business Review and Education Week, and has spoken at various conferences on topics of public education and school reform.During his career, his business and community work, particularly in public education reform, have been in synch. Some of these roles include former (and youngest) President and Member of the Minneapolis City Council (1969-1974), former Executive Director (1979-1984) of Minnesota Business Partnership (MBP) whose members were the CEOs of Minnesota’s largest companies, Co-Principal (1991-1995) of a research and design team funded ($15MM) by the New American Schools Development Corporation to prove that charter schools were a viable method of improving public education student outcomes, and Board Member (2005-present) and chair (2009-10) of the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT), the world’s leading nonprofit organization devoted to restoring torture victims to health and preventing torture by governments and their agents. CVT was instrumental in drafting President Barack Obama’s Executive Order #2: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations. He has traveled extensively on behalf of humanitarian and educational matters in West Africa, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Central America. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, John received his B.A. from Carleton College (1963) and his law degree from the Duke University School of Law (1966).
Robert Carey
Robert is a senior consultant with Loeb Consulting Group, LLC specializing in IT project management, business analysis, organizational management, teamwork, and leadership development. As an IT executive with over 25 years experience working with multinational businesses operating across a variety of industries across the world, Bob demonstrates expertise in leading and building technology teams focused on creating and implementing value-added IT solutions, products and services. From 1992 to 2008 Bob was employed by the international law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom & Affiliates LLP in New York City. As Assistant Director, Network Systems, he provided direction and leadership for many of the Firm’s IT functional areas: applications development, telecommunications, network management, data center operations, data architecture, project management, and business analysis functions. In addition to working with Loeb Consulting Group, LLC, Bob performs pro bono work and serves on the advisory board of World Savvy, a global education nonprofit serving youth and educators nationwide to educate and engage youth in community and world affairs, and to prepare them to learn, work, and live as responsible global citizens in the 21st century. Bob is an active member of the International Institute of Business Analysts (IIBA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI). He also holds a Certificate in Global Affairs from New York University in New York City. Bob received his undergraduate degree from Manhattan College in New York City.
William Gaudelli
William Gaudelli is associate professor of social studies and education and the Coordinator of the Program in Social Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research areas include global citizenship education, media as curriculum, and teacher education/development. Gaudelli received a doctorate in social studies education from Rutgers University in 2000 and a Bachelors degree in political science from Rutgers College. He is currently engaged in research projects related to how students and teachers employ visual media to make-meaning of global issues, case studies of global citizenship education and the reading of ethnology museums as pedagogical space among teacher candidates. He has published a variety of pieces in scholarly journals, including International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Teachers College Record, Curriculum Inquiry, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, The Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, Teaching Education, Theory and Research in Social Education, CITE along with two books, World Class: Teaching and learning in global times (Erlbaum Associates, 2003) and Social Inequality in the Global Culture (Kluwer, 2008, co-edited). Gaudelli is involved with a variety of international projects, including collaboration with the Global Education Leadership Foundation in India and received a US-DOE FIPSE grant for an international exchange project. Gaudelli is a frequent presenter at professional development meetings and an invited speaker for a variety of national and international conferences. Gaudelli was elected to the South Orange-Maplewood, NJ Board of Education in 2011 for a three year term. He recently served on the executive board of Theory and Research in Social Education and currently serves as an executive board member for the John Dewey Society and the College and University Faculty Association of NCSS.
Kristine Hargreaves
Kristine is a Principal in RSP Architects Federal Design Studio. For almost thirty years, Kristine has provided design, asset management, and facility consulting services to federal government clients. She has traveled the world on behalf of the US Air Force, Army and other agencies, becoming an authority on construction standards for facilities requiring heightened security and resistance to terrorist threats. She has co-authored water and wastewater infrastructure and DoD security standards, facilitated security planning and design training courses, prepared mission-specific design standards, and guided federal customers to develop more secure, efficient, cost effective, and sustainable facilities, initially as an employee for the US Army Corps of Engineers, then as a consulting architect. Throughout her career, Ms. Hargreaves has combined her commitment to sustainable design and planning with her expertise in security applications. Ms. Hargreaves is registered architect in five states, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional, and currently serves as the Building Interiors Task Group Chair for ASTM E54.05, Committee on Homeland Security Applications, Building & Infrastructure Protection Technical Subcommittee.
Nancy Humphreys
Nancy is a graduate of Chatham University in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and attended the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, where she was a graduate teaching assistant in constitutional law for two years. She worked with JP Morgan for 18 years last as the Vice President managing the Euro Currency Desk. She joined Chase Manhattan Bank in 1982 where she headed up the domestic trading desk and was the Global Liquidity Coordinator. In 1991 Nancy joined Citibank as the Managing Director and Treasurer of the North American Corporate Bank, retiring in 2000. She has lived in Manhattan for 45 years, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Salisbury Bank and Trust Company, Salisbury Connecticut; and, on the board of the Salisbury Visiting Nurse Association. She is also the president of the 222 Riverside Drive Condo Board where she and her husband, Neil, and their 2 children have lived since 1991.
Alice D. Mortenson
Alice is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a degree in history. She is M. A. Mortenson Company's director of community relations, president of the Mortenson Family Foundation, and a director of M. A. Mortenson Company since 1998. In addition to her role as director of M. A. Mortenson Company, Alice served on the corporate boards of Investors Savings Bank and Reliastar Bank.Alice is also a board member of the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches and serves on the Board of Visitors for the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2005 Alice established a chair in her home department at the University. The Alice D. Mortenson/Petrovich Chair in Russian History honors Michael B. Petrovich, an esteemed faculty member. Alice has served on the boards of many other corporate, civic, and community service organizations as well as two terms on the Hennepin County Bar Association Board of Professional Responsibility and two terms on the Minnesota Supreme Court Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.
Michael Quinn Patton
Michael is an independent organizational development and evaluation consultant. He was on the social sciences faculty of the University of Minnesota for 18 years, including five years as Director of the Minnesota Center for Social Research. He is former President of the American Evaluation Association and author of Utilization-Focused Evaluation, 4th ed., and Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, 3rd ed. He co-authored Getting to Maybe: How the World Is Changed, a book that applies complexity theory and systems thinking to innovation and developmental evaluation. His latest book, "Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use" serves as the foundation for World Savvy's new program evaluation model. Read more about Michael's work.
Kyle Redford
Kyle Redford received her BA from University of Colorado in Political Science and her MA in American History from Northwestern University. She is currently a fifth-grade teacher at Marin Country Day School. Kyle has been an educator for twenty-five years. In addition to teaching every grade from K through 9, she served as a founding board member of the Sundance Mountain School, and currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Kyle has created service-learning programs and global education curriculum for several independent schools.
Sharon Shelerud
Sharon is a 30 year veteran Social Studies teacher in the Burnsville Eagan-Savage School District in Minnesota. She teaches AP and regular Human Geography to ninth graders. Sharon is also very involved in the Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education (MAGE), whose mission it is to work with other teachers to improve geographic education around the state. She is the chair of MAGE's Assessment Development Committee, which has developed assessments and curriculum for the High School Human Geography class that is based on the Minnesota State Standards. She has presented ,multiple times at state and national conferences. Some of her lessons have been published by the Minnesota Department of Education and in an international educational journal -" Geographische Rundschau". Sharon is also a Reader/Table Leader for the Human Geography AP Exam. Sharon holds an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota.
Ruth Usem
Ruth Usem of Minneapolis is a philanthropist and civic leader. She serves on the boards of directors of several local and national organizations, including Ready for "K", WomenWinning, Save America's Treasurers, and People for the American Way. She also served on the Minneapolis Central Library Campaign Committee and on the Advisory Council of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She was a producer for the documentary "Mondale", the story of vice president Walter Mondale's service to our nation.
Marla Ucelli-Kashyap
Marla Ucelli-Kashyap is Director of District Redesign and Leadership for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University - a national policy-research and reform support organization that focuses on improving conditions and outcomes in U.S. urban school communities. She oversees the Institute’s knowledge building, technical assistance, and tool development efforts in support of “smart districts” –school districts and communities redesigning themselves to get results and equity for all students.Marla has also been an independent consultant in education policy, a political press secretary, and a reporter. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of New York University and holds an M.P.A. from Rutgers. Among her professional service activities, Marla is chair of the board of Editorial Projects in Education, Inc. (publisher of Education Week), and is a trustee of Washington, D.C. based Center on Education Policy. She was also a founding co-chair of Grantmakers for Education, a professional development and service organization for private and corporate funders.
