Broad Team

Julie Baker
Senior Finance Director
jbaker@broadfoundation.org
Julie Baker oversees all financial operations of The Broad Foundations. Baker comes to the foundations from Grant, Tani, Barash & Altman, Inc., a financial services firm serving high net worth families, where she was a tax manager. Prior to that, Baker was a manager in the personal financial planning department at KPMG. She has a bachelor‘s degree in business administration, with a minor in Japanese from San Diego State University, and a master’s degree in business taxation from the University of Southern California.

Nadya Chinoy Dabby
Director
ndabby@broadfoundation.org
Nadya Chinoy Dabby identifies and evaluates potential investment opportunities. She has a background in management consulting, primarily for nonprofit and government organizations, in the areas of health care, human services, youth development and affordable housing. Most recently, she was with the consulting practice of the Corporate Executive Board in Washington, D.C. Before that, she worked for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Local Economic and Employment Development Program. Chinoy Dabby received a bachelor’s degree in international development and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Luis de la Fuente
Associate Director for New Business Development
ldelafuente@broadfoundation.org
Luis de la Fuente works to identify, evaluate and develop new investments in organizations and in products and services that have the potential to significantly impact and improve the performance of K-12 public education. He comes to the foundation from McKinsey & Company in Florham Park, N.J., where he was an associate, consulting for corporations in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing and non-profit sectors. De la Fuente previously worked as a post-doctoral research associate at Stanford University. He has a bachelor's degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of California, San Francisco.

Karen Denne
Chief Communications Officer
kdenne@broadfoundation.org
Karen Denne oversees all marketing and communications efforts across The Broad Foundations portfolio of initiatives. Denne comes to the foundation after more than a decade in corporate communications and media relations in both the public and private sectors. She was vice president of public relations for Enron Corp., where she worked for seven years, most recently heading the company’s media relations, internal communications and acting as corporate spokeswoman. Denne previously worked as communications director for the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. She began her career as a reporter, writing for City News Service, the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. She has served as an adjunct professor of public relations at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. Denne received her bachelor’s degree in print journalism, English and international relations from the University of Southern California, where she also earned an M.P.A.

David Esselman
Associate Director
desselman@broadfoundation.org
David Esselman provides foundation support to school districts in which Broad Superintendents Academy graduates are placed. He comes to the foundation from National Community Renaissance, a nonprofit affordable housing developer based in Rancho Cucamonga, where he was vice president of external relations. Esselman previously was director of development at the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles and deputy director at the Harbor Science and Arts Charter School. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in urban planning from UCLA, where he also earned an M.B.A.

Zeeshan Hyder
Research and Evaluation Analyst
zhyder@broadfoundation.org 
Zeeshan Hyder collects and analyzes data to assess the impact and results of the foundation’s education grants. Hyder was previously with Citigroup’s global investment banking division, where he was a financial analyst for two years. Before that, he worked as a summer analyst for Deutsche Bank’s leveraged finance credit risk group. Hyder has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Pomona College.

Heidi Kato
Grants and Administration Director
hkato@broadfoundation.org
Heidi Kato manages the foundation’s core support team and oversees the grants management process. She comes to the foundation from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, where she was the office manager and assistant to the dean. Prior to that, Kato served as a project consultant for the Getty Conservation Institute and spent nearly 10 years in marketing, special events, and administrative roles at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. She has a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Dan Katzir
Senior Advisor
dkatzir@broadfoundation.org    
Dan Katzir worked with Eli Broad to develop the vision for The Broad Foundation’s education work and has been with the foundation since the education division formally launched in 1999.  Today, Katzir oversees all aspects of the foundation’s investments. One of the nation’s leading education reform experts, he has more than two decades of experience in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations, including school districts, schools, national education nonprofits and businesses. Early in his career, Katzir worked as a consultant to the international management consulting firm Bain & Company, where he developed and implemented business strategies for Fortune 500 companies. He later became chief operating officer for Teach For America, where he managed what was then an organization with a $7.5 million budget, 15 offices, 70 full-time staff and 1,200 teachers. Katzir created the organization’s first financial planning and control system and trained its national leaders in strategic planning, budgeting and personnel management. Seeing the tremendous benefit of applying best practices in management and operations from the business industry to the education industry, Katzir went on to serve as the first executive director of the UCLA School Management Program, a joint venture of UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Anderson School of Management that provides executive management training to public school educators. In four years, Katzir took the program from a start-up to a $5 million, 60-person organization with offices across the country. The program provided customized executive management programs for boards of education, senior school district management, principals and teachers in large school districts. Katzir also served as the founding regional director of Sylvan Learning Systems in Los Angeles, managing 33 reading tutorial centers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Katzir has a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Erica Lepping
Communications Director
elepping@broadfoundation.org
Erica Lepping acts as the foundation spokesperson and manages external communications. Lepping most recently served as communications director for the nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air. An attorney as well as a communications specialist, Lepping previously practiced education law and environmental law for Holland & Knight LLP. During the Clinton Administration, she worked in the White House Press Office and at the U.S. Department of Education as deputy press secretary and then press secretary for U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Lepping has a bachelor’s degree in political science and environmental studies from American University and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA’s School of Law.

Lydia Logan
Senior Director
llogan@broadfoundation.org
Lydia Logan develops and manages a portfolio of policy and advocacy grants that promote the foundation’s education reform priorities. She was previously vice president and executive director of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Logan was also vice president of programs for The Kimsey Foundation, where she worked for six years, designing and implementing the foundation’s grant-making program and supervising the arts and education grant portfolio. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gregory McGinity
Managing Director of Policy
gmcginity@broadfoundation.org   
Gregory McGinity oversees the foundation’s policy investments to improve the K-12 education operating and policy environment. His career includes extensive work at the federal and state level on education policy. Prior to joining the foundation, McGinity was the senior education policy consultant to the California State Board of Education, where he worked on the creation of California’s academic content standards and assessment system. In 2005, on leave from the foundation, McGinity served as chief of staff to the California secretary of education. McGinity previously worked for U. S. Senator Thad Cochran as a legislative assistant and for U. S. Representative Lindsey O. Graham as legislative director. McGinity advised both members on education and training issues. Prior to that, McGinity served as a legislative liaison at the U.S. Department of Education during President George H.W. Bush’s administration. McGinity received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he was a Sigoloff Fellow.
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Sharon Meron
Senior Director of Research and Evaluation
smeron@broadfoundation.org
Sharon Meron oversees the foundation’s extensive grants evaluation process. She has extensive experience in managing geographically diverse businesses and using complex data to make business decisions. Meron previously served as chief operating officer for Advanced Monitored Caregiving, a New York-based healthcare provider, and as senior vice president of finance and planning for Marco Polo Networks. Prior to that, Meron worked in corporate development and acquisitions for RSL Communications, where she headed the company’s expansion into Latin America and worked on its successful initial public offering. Meron began her career as a consultant at Putnam, Hayes and Bartlett in London, specializing in the telecom and energy sectors. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Amherst College and earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Tara Mullally
Program Assistant
tmullally@broadfoundation.org 
Tara Mullally supports the foundation’s investment team, which provides funding for school districts and charter schools. Mullally comes to The Broad Foundation from Merrill Lynch, where she worked on the evaluation, strategy and implementation of nationwide executive education training programs. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from New York University.

Isabel Oregón
Policy Analyst
ioregon@broadfoundation.org
Isabel Oregón is part of the foundation’s policy team. Oregon comes to the foundation from EdSource, where she worked as a research associate, conducting research, policy and data analysis on a variety of issues, including school finance. She has also worked as a graduate research assistant for the Texas speaker of the House of Representatives in Austin, as a research team leader for Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas, and as a policy intern for The Education Trust-West, where she researched and co-authored briefs on education topics such as teacher quality and a standard curriculum for all California high school students. Oregón also worked as a legislative intern for the House Committee on Higher Education in Austin and as a researcher at the Charles A. Dana Center. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.

Josh Peters
Program Assistant
jpeters@broadfoundation.org
Josh Peters supports the foundation's investment team. Peters began his career working for the president of production at Columbia Pictures. He then shifted to literary management at FUSE Entertainment and Mikkel Bondesen, working with the creators of such television shows as “The O.C.” and “News Radio.” Peters later went to Mark Burnett Productions, where he worked in physical production for “The Apprentice.” He has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Nancy Que
Associate Director, The Broad Prize
nque@broadfoundation.org   
Nancy Que oversees the data collection and evaluation process for The Broad Prize. Que previously worked with Green Dot Public Schools, where she prepared grant applications for new charter high schools in Los Angeles and managed the distribution and collection of annual reviews for 3,000 staff, parents and students. Que also worked for the Oakland Small Schools Foundation and developed a strategic plan for Think College Now Elementary School. She worked as a manager for Countrywide Financial Corporation’s Full Spectrum Lending Division, as a financial analyst for Countrywide Home Loans and as a consultant for FTI Consulting. Que has a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology from Pomona College and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Rachel Smookler
Director, Marketing and Communications
rsmookler@broadfoundation.org   
Rachel Smookler manages communications, marketing and branding initiatives across all Broad Foundations initiatives.  Smookler comes to the foundation from the Broad Family Office, where she worked for seven years in various capacities. She most recently served as associate manager, overseeing special projects including Arts + Culture LA, an initiative to market the cultural assets of Los Angeles, as well as other projects ranging from aircraft management to non-foundation-related philanthropy. Prior to that, Smookler served as director of administration for the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, a nonprofit organization that served as a visitor destination and a vocational training campus for the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s at-risk youth population. She has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication studies and sociology from UCLA and an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Rebecca Wolf DiBiase
Managing Director of Programs
rdibiase@broadfoundation.org    
Rebecca Wolf DiBiase manages the foundation’s investments in school districts and charter schools. Wolf DiBiase has significant experience improving the productivity and accountability of schools. She has worked as a consultant for schools, nonprofits and other public organizations on goal-setting, leadership and program evaluation. Previously, Wolf DiBiase was director of accountability for the Charter School Office of the Massachusetts Department of Education. She also worked for the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where she focused on policy reforms in K-12 education and urban entrepreneurship. Earlier in her career, Wolf DiBiase taught middle school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Spanish from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
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