Board Members

Joe Lucente, Founder of Fenton Avenue Charter School, MOB ExEd Corportation
E-mail: jlucente@fentoncharter.net www.fentoncharter.net	Joe Lucente is a pioneer in the charter school movement and recognized as one of the state’s leading experts in charter school finance. In 1993, Joe led the conversion of one of the first conversion charter schools in California. Once considered one of the worst elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, Fenton Avenue Charter School became a California Distinguished School and a national model of a successful conversion charter school honored by the White House, U.S. Congress and California Legislature. A fearless warrior for charter school student equity and as past-President of the California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC), Joe was a driving force in the creation of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA). Now retired from Fenton, Joe utilizes his 45 years of experience in both the private sector and public education by advising current charter school operators and serving on several boards of organizations benefiting charter school students. He is currently Chairman of the Board of CharterWorks, a new charter school service company providing quality services to Los Angeles area charter schools.
Alice M. Miller, Secretary of the Corporation and Chief Financial Officer
Email www.myschool.org	In addition to her role as Chief Financial Officer for The Miller Institute, Alice is the Director of Knowledge Management for the California Charter Schools Association, where she provides charter school leaders with information and training on all charter school issues, including finance, board governance, petition writing, curriculum and facilities. Alice was a co-founder of California's first charter school, the San Carlos Charter Learning Center and founded two other charter high schools, Aurora High School and San Carlos High School. Alice worked for the California Network of Educational Charters in various roles from 1996-2003, including serving as CANEC's Bay Area Region Coordinator. During her tenure as the administrator and CFO for Aurora High School, Alice led the successful effort against a California district’s first challenge to Prop 39 facilities. Alice's other main interest is technology, and she has been the technology coordinator for several schools and school districts.
James R. Miller, Ph.D., President of Miramontes Consulting
E-mail: jmiller@miramontes.com www.miramontes.com	Jim Miller is Principal of Miramontes Computing, a user interaction design consultancy. He has worked in the field of human-computer interaction for over 25 years, doing research and product development in such fields as new media, Internet community development, consumer Internet appliances, intelligent interfaces, and usability evaluation methods. As a consultant, he works with large and small companies to identify customer-driven system requirements, prototype effective human interfaces to those systems, guide the prototype through the development process, and iteratively test and refine the final product. Jim has also served as the program manager for Intelligent Systems at Apple's Advanced Technology Group, Director of User Experience at Gateway's Internet Appliances Division, and the manager of the Human-Computer Interaction Department at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mark L. Miller, Ph.D., President and Executive Director
Email Mark's Blog	An independent educational technology consultant, specializing in technology innovation to facilitate learning. Miller received his B.S. in Cognitive Science under Professor Don Norman at the University of California at San Diego, in 1972. Shortly thereafter, he became involved with intelligent tutoring systems being prototyped by Allan Collins, John Seely Brown and others at BBN in Cambridge, MA. His 1979 doctoral dissertation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology involved a Computer Coach to help children learn Seymour Papert's LOGO system. Miller joined the Central Research Laboratories of Texas Instruments in 1978. In 1981 he cofounded Computer Thought Corporation, a venture which developed tools for knowledge-based training of programmers in the aerospace industry. In 1988, he joined Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group, where he later served as Lab Director for Learning Technologies. At various times, the lab included such programs as: Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT); Visualization and Simulation (Cocoa, which later evolved into Stagecast Creator), Business Learning and Performance Support; and Multimedia Authoring Tools (SK8).
Don Shalvey, Ed.D., CEO and and Cofounder of Aspire Public Schools
E-mail: don.shalvey@aspirepublicschools.org www.aspirepublicschools.org	Sponsored the first charter school in California and began participation in the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative, the Hewlett-Annenberg Project and a federal Technology Challenge Grant. Cofounded Californians for Public School Excellence that led to the Charter Schools Act of 1998. He has also been a member of State Superintendent Delaine Eastin's Charter School Committee as well as an advisor to the California Network of Educational Charters. Earned a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership/Administration from the University of Southern California, Masters of Education in Counseling and Guidance from Gonzaga University, and a B.A. from LaSalle College.
Jack Sutton, Ed.D., Executive Coordinator for UCLA's Academic Preparation & Educational Partnership (APEP) programs
E-mail: jacksutton@mac.com	Jack retired from UCLA as Executive Officer for UCLA's educational outreach programs but maintains his role at UCLA at 40% time. In addition, Jack earned his B.S. and teaching credential from UCLA, has taught high school, elementary school, consulted nationally on effective instruction and clinical supervision, served as a lecturer/faculty advisor for UCLA's teacher credential program, served as Interim Executive Director of Computer Using Educators (CUE), Inc. and as Executive Director of Palisades Charter High School for 14 months. He received his masters and doctorate from the University of Southern California.

In Memory Of:

Sue Steelman-Bragato, Executive Director of the California Network of Educational Charters
Sue Bragato established CANEC in 1994 as the recognized state association for California charter schools. She started her work in the Charter School Movement as a founder of California's first charter school, the San Carlos Charter Learning Center. Through the Charter Friends National Network Ms. Bragato helped establish the formation of the charter school states associations network. As a charter school leader she was awarded the 1997 Hart Vision Award for her support of the California charter school movement. For the past seven years she has chaired the California Charter Schools Conference. She has also served as a conference planner for all three of the National Charter School Conferences, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Bragato also sits on the Board of Directors of two nonprofit organizations, BOK Ranch, and the Miller Institute for Learning with Technology, and is a 4-H leader in her community. She is a graduate of Pepperdine University where she received degrees in political science and journalism, and is a former White House and Congressional intern. She is the mother of two teenage children, Jenna and Chris Bragato.

www.canec.org/index.html

It is with the deepest regret that The Miller Institute notes the passing of Sue Bragato, on 5 January 2005, after a heroic, two-year struggle against advanced stage metastatic breast cancer. Sue was an inspiration to everyone she knew. At the request of Sue and her family, we have helped to create, and will continue to host and develop in her honor, a web site devoted to raising awareness of the need for research to cure this cruel disease, which touches so many women. The web site also serves as a repository for the stories and memories of Sue and others affected by the disease. We hope that the web site offers both comfort for loved ones and commitment to find a cure.