Team and Partners
Meet Our Team
PENNY CHRISTIAN
Co-Trainer and PTA Advocate, National PTA
Kathleen “Penny” Christian serves as the chair of National PTA’s Family Engagement Committee. She is a parent representative on the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education and the Kentucky United We Learn Council. Penny collaborates with the Kentucky Department of Education to reform and improve assessment and accountability standards for all children in Kentucky.
SUSAN DAVIS
Research Coordinator, Johns Hopkins University
Susan Davis, M.S. works at the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University managing projects centering on the dissemination of educational research findings and promoting the use of data in education to advocate for its use in policy and practice.
DANIEL EHRENPREIS
Project Manager, National PTA
Daniel Ehrenpreis, MPH is a family and community engagement manager at National PTA where he leads the Center for Family Engagement in articulating and implementing a capacity-building strategy for PTA leaders who participate in training, webinars and grants/programs.
TIFFANY FOSTER
Co-Trainer and PTA Advocate, National PTA
Tiffany Foster currently serves on National PTA’s Board of Directors and Family Engagement Committee. She is a Durham Public Schools Parent Ambassador and holds roles as parent lead for the Durham Public Schools Title I Steering Committee and a member of the Emily Krzyzewski Center Parent Advisory Council, where she promotes positive, empowering and enriching experiences for all children and families.
RON MIRR
Co-Trainer and Advisor, RM Consulting
Ron Mirr is a private consultant based in Iowa City, Iowa. Ron has over 40 years of experience working as a mental health clinician, a school administrator, a staff developer, a grant writer and a consultant to agencies in many states and internationally. He has been a national leader in the area of family engagement for the past 30 years.
DR. AMANDA NIETZEL
Research Advisor, Johns Hopkins University
Amanda Neitzel, Ph.D., is an assistant research scientist at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Research & Reform in Education (CRRE). She has expertise on school-based health interventions, literacy, meta-analysis, data management and quantitative research design. While at the CRRE, she has worked on evaluations of school-based vision programs with an emphasis on issues of implementation.
HELEN WESTMORELAND
Project Director, National PTA
Helen Westmoreland is the director of National PTA’s Center for Family Engagement, where she leads the association’s efforts to embed more transformative approaches to family engagement across the education system and co-hosts Notes from the Backpack: A PTA Podcast.
Meet Our Partners
