Our Board of Directors

Heather Frattone, President

Associate Dean, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

BIO:

Heather Frattone is the Associate Dean for Career Planning and Placement at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  Prior to returning to Penn Law, Heather served as Executive Director of Policy and Planning for the School District of Philadelphia, where she worked closely with Chief Executive Officer Paul Vallas to plan and direct policy development for School District programs and initiatives.   While at the District, Heather was also charged with leading a team responsible for revising the District’s disciplinary process and developing and implementing alternative programs for students who were at risk of not reaching high school graduation. Immediately following law school, Heather worked in the litigation department at Dechert as well as the government relations and litigation departments at Kleinbard Bell & Brecker.   As a law student, Heather interned with the Honorable Marjorie Rendell, served as a clinical student in the Public Defenders Association, and was a Louderback Legal Writing Instructor.  Prior to Penn Law, she worked as an intern in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs under President Clinton and at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. Heather received her B.S. in Economics from Wharton cum laude in 1994 and her Penn Law degree cum laude in 1998. 

Lisa Johnson Nutter, Secretary

President, Philadelphia Academies, 230 Broad Street, Suite 1300, Philadelphia, PA 19102

BIO:

Lisa Johnson Nutter, since 2005, has served as the President of the Philadelphia Academies Inc., a nonprofit organization that expands life and economic options for Philadelphia public school students through career-focused programming that prepares young people for employment and post-secondary education. Mrs. Nutter also serves on the Board of Directors of CIMA (the Center for International Media Action) a nonprofit organization seeking to advance media access and representation and to support diverse voices and actors in media reform, media production and media accountability. Mrs. Nutter, the wife of Michael Nutter, the Mayor of Philadelphia, grew up in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Both her mother and father were teachers.

Hugh Allen, Board Member

Senior Director of Special Projects and Government Relations, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106               

BIO:

Hugh Allen is currently Senior Director of Special Projects and Government Relations at the National Constitution Center, where he serves as a core member of the Senior Management Team and as Advisor to the President and CEO of a museum with a budget of over $15 million and 1,000,000 annual visitors. Prior to joining the National Constitution Center, Hugh was Deputy Chief of Staff for the office of the Interim Chief Executive Officer of the School District of Philadelphia. While at the School District, Allen had a a key role in negotiating contract to provide free public transportation to over 55,000 students, coordinated an effort that resulted in a $50 million grant to increase mentoring opportunities while reducing drop-out rates and secured passage of legistation lowering the minimum cumpulsory school age from age 8 to 6.

Rodger Carolin, Board Member

Venture Partner, SCP Partners, 1200 Liberty Ridge Drive, Wayne, PA 19087

BIO:

Roger Carolin is currently a Venture Partner at SCP Partners and has over 20 years experience in technology related businesses. SCP is a diversified multi-stage venture capital firm with over $1 billion under management that is focused on investments in Information Technology, Life Sciences, Communications, Digital Media, and Security and Defense.  At SCP, he works to identify attractive investment opportunities and assists portfolio companies in the areas of strategy development, operating management, and intellectual property. Prior to joining SCP, Roger was co-founder and CEO of CFM Technologies, Inc. a successful semiconductor equipment company that went public in 1996 and was subsequently sold to Mattson Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTSN). Prior to CFM, Roger worked in the defense and aerospace industries in high-speed digital systems development at Honeywell and The General Electric Company. He is a director of Amkor Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR), FourthWall Media, RCD Technology and Aviom Inc.  Roger received his B.S. in electrical engineering, from Duke University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Maia Cucchiara, Ph.D., Board Member

Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Temple University, 252 Ritter Hall, 1301 Cecil B. Moore, Philadelphia, PA 19122

BIO:

Maia Cucchiara is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at Temple University.  She is also a former teacher and community organizer.   Maia received a Ph.D. in education and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. Her research examines urban education policy and its implications for disadvantaged students.  She focuses particularly on the impact of urban revitalization and redevelopment on public schools.  She is also interested in school reform in Philadelphia and its implications for equity and civic capacity.  Maia has published in the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, and the Journal of Education Policy and is completing a book manuscript on the marketing of urban public schools to the middle class.

Elliot H. Weinbaum, Ph.D., Board Member

Senior Researcher, Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) and Research Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania - Graduate School of Education, 3440 Market Street, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA 19104

BIO:

Elliot Weinbaum is a Senior Researcher at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.  His work focuses on the development of education policy and its impact on teacher and administrator practice and school improvement.  Dr. Weinbaum is the co-editor of the recently-published, The Implementation Gap: Understanding Reform in High Schools.  In other venues, he has published and spoken on a range of topics ranging including state-led efforts to improve classroom instruction, central office efforts to scale-up reform practices, and international teacher preparation programs. Elliot spent 13 years as a student in Philadelphia public schools, and received a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Pennsylvania.