WLA was founded by a group of technologists, education experts, community leaders, parents, and executives.
Duane Rollins - Duane is a designer, educator, and non-profit leader trying to do a little more good around the nation’s capital. He is Co-Founder of Washington Leadership Academy and STEMLY and currently he serves as the National Director of Product and Impact at SEED SPOT, a globally ranked incubator for early-stage, impact-driven entrepreneurs. Prior to SEED SPOT, he worked as a UX and Instructional Designer at 18F, a digital consultancy within the GSA and Threespot, a digital agency that works with forward-thinking clients to create positive social change. He also has a heart for education having taught or developed curriculum for all ages through organizations like Jumpstart for Young Children, General Assembly, and Georgetown University. He holds degrees in engineering and design from Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech and looks forward to settling in the District with his soon to be wife Makenzie.
Joey Webb - Joey is a co-founder and Chief Academic Officer at WLA. He was the Founding Principal responsible for the early designs and implementation of the academic and cultural model at WLA, one of 10 XQ Schools in America. In the school's founding years, WLA outperformed all open enrollment high schools academically and achieved a 5-star designation, one of only 3 open enrollment high schools in the city to be awarded that status. Prior to Washington Leadership Academy Joey was was a leader at Maureen Joy Charter School in Durham, NC. Joey also taught at MJCS, in D.C., and was a 2009 Teach for America Corps Member. He graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in Neuroscience and with a Masters in School Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill. Joey is a soon-to-be father and proud military spouse to his wife, Dr. Alli Webb, a Physician in the U.S. Army.
Miles Taylor - Miles Taylor is one of the original co-founders of WLA and runs a strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC. He previously worked at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a department including nearly 250,000 employees and a $60 billion annual budget. Before DHS, he was the National Security Advisor on the House Homeland Security Committee and also served in various capacities as part of the House Appropriations Committee. Miles holds his MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar and his BA in International Security Studies from Indiana University as a Truman Scholar and Herman B Wells Scholar.
Natalie Gould - Natalie is a co-founder and employee #2 of Washington Leadership Academy, co-authoring its unanimously approved charter and its winning XQ application for $10M. She serves as WLA's Director of Operations, overseeing its compliance, development, data, HR, facility, finance, and technology functions. Previously, she worked for Democracy Prep Public Schools managing special projects for its founder. Natalie has held roles at Teach for America, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, and The Brookings Institution. She is a StartingBloc Fellowship winner, a board member of Esperanza Education Fund, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with a concentration in Urban Education Policy.
Phil Stephen - Phillip Stephen is a Co-Founder of STEMLY. Having spend over 15 years working in the tech industry he teamed up with friends and brothers Duane and Devon Rollins to found STEMLY in 2014. STEMLY’s focus is on helping under represented minority groups in the stem fields. One of STEMLY’s first projects was working with the Washington Leadership team to develop and write the tech curriculum for students from grade 9 thru 12. When he isn’t writing automation code or building HA systems infrastructure Phillip likes to dabble in real estate investing and early stage angel investing.
Seth Andrew - @SethAndrew is Co-Founder of Washington Leadership Academy and founder of Democracy Prep Public Schools, Democracy Builders, and REV. He served in the Barack Obama White House as Senior Advisor in the Executive Office of the President where he led civic and education technology. As Global Director of Bridge International Academies, he helped grow a network of innovative partnership schools in Liberia serving more than 20,000 students. As a Senior Advisor at Johns Hopkins University, Seth supports school entrepreneurship and turnaround efforts. Seth started his career as a special education and English teacher in South Korea and Massachusetts and holds education degrees from Brown and Harvard. He is married to his college sweetheart, Emmy Award winning ABC News Correspondent @LanaZak, and they're trying to keep up with three kids under five.
Stacy Kane - Stacy Kane is Co-Founder & Executive Director of Washington Leadership Academy, one of ten high schools in the country to win the XQ Super Schools Prize. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, recruiting the nation’s top tech and entrepreneurial talent on behalf of President Barack Obama's Administration. She is a graduate of Emory University Law School and is a licensed attorney in the State of Maryland. Stacy earned a Master’s of Public Policy, with a focus on Education Policy, and joint Bachelor’s Degrees in Human and Organizational Development and Sociology from Vanderbilt University.