Leslie Eaves
Program Director, Project-Based Learning
Leslie Eaves leads the project-based learning program at SREB, where she designs professional learning experiences for teachers to implement PBL. She joined SREB in 2016, bringing more than 16 years of experience in the public education sector. She holds both a technology education and 9-12 math license. Prior to SREB, Leslie taught high school engineering courses in North Carolina. She joined North Carolina New Schools in 2011 as a math content coach and a general instructional coach, where she implemented school-centered learning strategies and STEM practices.
Christi Edwards
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Christi Edwards works in SREB School Improvement, where she provides teacher, district and school instructional support through coaching and professional development in mathematics. She joined SREB in 2021, bringing more than 28 years of experience in public education.
Linda Floyd
Director, State and District Partnerships
Linda Floyd joined SREB’s school improvement team as director of Technology Centers That Work in 2017. With more than 35 years of experience in education, Linda most recently worked for the Kentucky Department of Education, where she provided leadership, supervision and evaluations of principals in 27 state-operated career and technology centers.
Christian Ford
Program Specialist
R. Christian Ford serves as the program specialist for the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also earned a Master of Science in bioengineering. In addition, he develops evidence-based engineering education programs that expand access to STEM. Christian’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.
Judy Frank
Director, State and District Partnerships
Judy Frank is director of state and district partnerships. She was previously program director of Making Middle Grades Work initiative, where she coordinated middle grade services across the organization and supported leadership and content coaches in school redesign. She joined SREB in 2015 as a school improvement consultant to the organization’s High Schools That Work/Making Middle Grades Work initiative, bringing more than 33 years of experience working on issues of education policy and practice in the public education sector.
Jeff Gagne
Director, Policy Analysis
Jeff Gagne joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2010. He oversees SREB’s policy analysis efforts, including policy briefs, reports, state policy support and SREB’s customized, biennial state progress reports. He brings more than 20 years of experience in education policy issues at the state, federal and regional levels. Prior to SREB, Jeff worked for a governor, a state department of education and the United States Senate. He earned his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.
Shelly Gibson
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Shelly Gibson joined SREB’s School Improvement team in the fall of 2019. As a math instructional coach, she provides coaching and professional development support for educators in grades K-12. Shelly has enjoyed more than 25 years in education as both a teacher and as a curriculum facilitator with Gaston County Schools in North Carolina.
Quinton Granville
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Quinton Granville joined SREB’s School Improvement team in 2014. As an instructional coach, he partners with teachers and educational leaders to strengthen instructional practices that are essential to empowering all students to achieve. His work in schools focuses on disciplinary literacy and strategic coaching. He is also a co-leader of SREB SMART (Science and Math Alternative Route to Teaching), a program that helps new and developing teachers thrive in the areas of instructional planning, classroom culture, student engagement and assessment and feedback.
Beth Green
Program Director, Advanced Career
Beth Green leads the Advanced Career initiative at SREB, where she is responsible for implementing AC in states, districts, and schools. She provides leadership for AC implementation, coordinates activities and staff, and organizes and implements AC professional development. Beth joined SREB in 2007 as a school improvement consultant, later facilitating AC curriculum development, and began development of a network of schools implementing AC through academy design.
Jeffrey Grove
Program Specialist, State Strategy and Policy
Jeffrey Grove joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2006 as a research associate to the state services team, where he brings decades of experience working on issues of education policy and practice in the public education sector. He has contributed to numerous editions of SREB’s Legislative Report, addressed inquiries on education policies and legislation from policymakers and their staff in SREB states, and authored reports and briefs on current education issues.
Prior to SREB, Jeffrey served as a policy research professional for the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation and the Texas House of Representatives. He holds a bachelor’s in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Michelle Harada
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Michelle Harada is an Instructional Coach in SREB’s School Improvement Division where she supports schools and teachers through coaching and professional development in mathematics. She joined SREB in 2023, bringing more than 17 years of experience in the private and public education sector.
Prior to SREB, Michelle was a middle school math and science teacher in NYC and a middle school math teacher in Georgia for 10 years before serving as a math instructional coach.
Tiffany K. Harrison
Program Director, Doctoral Scholars Program
Tiffany K. Harrison leads the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program. She was named director in 2025, after serving as program specialist for several years under the leadership of founding director Ansley Abraham.
Rebecca Holt
Research Associate
Rebecca Holt works with SREB program directors and coaches to manage data collection for school improvement initiatives. She joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2010. Rebecca has experience in program development, coordination, writing, editing, researching, reporting and database management with nonprofit agencies, including Habitat for Humanity, the Marcus Institute and Partnership Against Domestic Violence. Rebecca holds a master’s in sociology from Georgia Southern University.
Elisa Jaden
Program Specialist, Student Access and Success
Elisa Jaden leads SREB’s regional tuition reciprocity programs: the Academic Common Market and the Regional Contract Program. She also leads SREB’s HBCU-MSI Course-Sharing Consortium and serves as director for the SREB region to the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), for which she follows state and federal higher education regulations and policy related to state authorization and program approval. Elisa works with the SREB SARA Regional Steering Committee to inform and clarify policy changes made at the national level.
Veronica Johnson
Program Coordinator, Doctoral Scholars Program
Veronica Johnson provides program and communications support for the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program and Institute on Teaching and Mentoring. Veronica joined SREB in 2014 and has worked with the Learning-Centered Leadership Program and Office of the Communications as well. Prior to SREB, she was a newsroom information specialist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a freelance writer. Veronica holds a bachelor’s in mass media arts with a concentration in journalism from Clark Atlanta University.
Natalee Jones
Policy Analyst, State Strategy and Policy
Natalee Jones joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2021 as a policy analyst working on high school, higher education and the workforce. Natalee comes to SREB bringing experience in diversity and inclusion, congressional affairs, and data strategy through different fellowship and internship opportunities.
Natalee holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Brigham Young University and a master of public policy from Georgia State University.
Andrea Kiely
Program Specialist, Postsecondary
Andrea Kiely is a member of the Postsecondary team for the Southern Regional Education Board. She works as program specialist for the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program where she researches and advocates for faculty diversity in higher education. Andrea earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Alabama and her Master of Education in higher education administration from the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia.