CEO

Mashea Ashton is the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, having joined the organization as a partner in February 2009. Before joining NCSF, Mashea served as the Executive Director for the New York Program and Senior Advisor for Charter School Policy for New Leaders for New Schools. Mashea has also served as the Executive Director for Charter Schools for the New York City Department of Education, the National Director of Recruitment and Selection for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), and as a special education teacher in Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC.

She serves on the boards of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the National Association of Public Charters Schools and the William and Mary Alumni Association. Mashea has a M.Ed in Special Education with emphasis on learning disabilities and emotional disturbance and a Bachelor of Art in Sociology and Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary.

Vice President for Advocacy and Policy

Janellen Duffy joined the Newark Charter School Fund as the Vice President for Advocacy and Policy in April 2010.  Prior to joining the Fund, Janellen was the Director of Policy for Governor Jon Corzine, for whom she also served as education policy advisor.  In those roles, Janellen focused on school funding, school facilities, early childhood education, and several aspects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Janellen has worked at the national level on a broader set of poverty alleviation issues for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Janellen holds an Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University and Bachelor of Arts in English and Economics from Bucknell University.

Vice President of Finance and Operations

Kimberly Baxter McLain, Vice President of Finance and Operations, joined the Newark Charter School Fund in July 2010.

Previously, Kimberly was a Managing Director with Teach For America, where she led the team responsible for headcount planning and salary budgeting and forecasting.  Prior to transitioning to the nonprofit sector and education reform movement, Kimberly worked in the corporate sector as an Investment Banker with Credit Suisse and an auditor with KPMG.

Kimberly holds a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from the University of South Carolina.  Kimberly and her husband, Quincy, have two daughters, Gabrielle and Madison.