NSCC Staff

Amy Berg
Development Director
aberg@schoolclimate.org

Amy Berg is the Development Director at the National School Climate Center (NSCC). With fifteen years of experience in multiple facets of the non-profit sector - including fundraising, research, writing and strategic planning - Amy is dedicated to creating a future where all youth are valued and given every opportunity to thrive. Before joining NSCC, Amy founded Social Justice Partners, a consulting service that helped non-profit clients with grant writing and fund development, data collection and evaluation, and organizational development. Before becoming a consultant, she served as the Research Director for the Coalition for Community Schools and as the Development Director for the Community Schools Collaboration. Amy’s areas of interest include youth development, educational leadership, community engagement, health disparities, college access, and community-based learning. She also has experience in communications, branding and message development, media relations, policy development and program evaluation. When Amy is not at NSCC, she is hard at work on her first novel, Scot and Zelda Solve a Murder.

Dan Bellizio
Chief Administrative Officer, and Policy/legal Director
dbellizio@schoolclimate.org

Daniel is the Chief Administrative Officer and director of NSCC’s Policy efforts. He is also the founding partner of Bellizio & Igel, PLLC, a boutique law firm, primarily servicing individuals and businesses in the fashion, art and entertainment industries. He previously worked in a number of legal situations, including serving as general counsel for the Oved Apparel Group, handling all corporate matters for the various operating companies under the Oved umbrella. He has specialized in corporate and intellectual property matters.

Max Binder
Research Fellow
mbinder@schoolclimate.org

Max is a Fellow at NSCC. Max was born on the road, and grew up traveling and performing with the Big Apple Circus. He graduated from Harvard in 2010 and spent the following two and a half years working in Europe, mostly in commercial tech and software. Having returned to the States at the start of 2013, he is following long-held passions in youth empowerment by collaborating with the NSCC as well as DoSomething.org, working on anti-bullying and anti-discrimination campaigns while also streamlining existing user interface setups. He grateful for the chance to learn from the NSCC team, and hopes to someday channel the experience into being a better community-builder.

Philip Brown
Senior Consultant
pbrown@schoolclimate.org

Philip Brown, PhD, is a Senior consultant at NSCC. He is also a Fellow of the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University where he founded and directed the Center for Social and Character Development. He has been principal investigator on several U.S. Department of Education grants, including research studies on evidence-based practices. Phil has served in student support services related management positions in the New Jersey Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Health for 25 years, as a school board director, founder and president of the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional and Character Development and is a member of the National School Climate Council. With colleagues from Fordham and Marshall Universities he is co-editor of the Handbook of Prosocial Education (2012).

Molly Cahen
Research Fellow
mcahen@schoolclimate.org

Molly Cahen is a fellow with NSCC. She received her BA in Psychology from Vassar College in 2010. Since graduating, Molly has worked for Kids Orbit, a non-profit afterschool program serving nine public schools in Brooklyn. As the Literacy Program Coordinator at Kids Orbit and an Assistant Director for NC at Mountain Lake Summer Camp, Molly has observed the need for safe and supportive educational environments inside and outside the traditional school setting. Molly looks forward to assisting with research and a variety of school climate projects at NSCC before returning to school to study Education and Child Development.

Richard Cardillo
Education Director
rcardillo@schoolclimate.org

Richard Cardillo is the Education Director of the NSCC. Rich has over two decades of experience as a classroom teacher, rural community organizer, public spokesperson, founder and administrator for social emotional learning/character education programs, senior member of community-based organizations, fundraiser, college teacher in Perú and developer of community service learning programs. He is a native of New York, fluent in both Spanish and American Sign Language, and brings an entrepreneurial spirit and vision to his work. He is the past New York Regional Director of Peace Games, Director of Client Services at God’s Love We Deliver in New York and has been a classroom teacher in elementary, middle and high school. Richard received his Masters Degree from Columbia University.

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.
Co-founder and President of NSCC
jonathancohen@schoolclimate.org

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. is the co-founder and president of the National School Climate Center(NSCC), formerly known as the Center for Social and Emotional Education(CSEE). He is also Adjunct Professor in Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University; Adjunct Professor in Education at the School of Professional Studies, City University of New York and a practicing clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst.

Jonathan has worked in and with K-12 schools for over thirty years as a teacher, program developer, school psychologist, consultant, psycho-educational diagnostician and mental health provider. After working as a middle school teacher at the Marianne Frostig Center for Educational Therapy in Los Angeles, he received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the City University of New York, New York, New York and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychology (1979-1980) at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center as well as at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, N.Y. He completed his adult psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Training Institute of the New York Freudian Society and received child analytic training at the Psychoanalytic Institute, New York University Medical Center. He is a Diplomat in Clinical Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (June, 1988).

Jonathan founded and directs the Teachers College Press Social Emotional Learning series, which is published in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social Emotional Learning. He has authored over 60 articles, chapters and books including Educating Minds and Hearts: Social Emotional Learning and the Passage into Adolescence (Teachers College Press and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999); (with B. Cohler) (1999) The Psychoanalytic Study of Lives over Time: Clinical and Research Perspectives on Children Who Return to Treatment as Adults (co-edited with Bert Cohler; Academic Press; 1999) and, Caring Classrooms/Intelligent Schools: Social Emotional Education of young Children (Teachers College Press; 2001). Both of his Teachers College Press books were awarded the "Best Academic Book" by the American Library Associations Choice in 1999 and 2001 respectively.

He is a co-author (with John Devine) of the recently published volume Making your School Safe: Strategies to Protect Children and Promote Learning (Teachers College Press, 2007).

Dr. Cohen has consulted to scores of schools, districts and State Departments of Education interested in furthering social, emotional, ethical and academic education and positive school climate in America, Switzerland, Israel, and Scandinavia. He often lectures to groups of educators, parents and/or mental health professionals here and abroad. He speaks to educational and parent groups about a range of topics and has presented keynotes at scores of national conferences, State and Federal educational meetings, schools and district professional development forums.

He is the father of two children and has been married for 26 years.

Katharine Diehl
Intern
kdiehl@schoolclimate.org

Katharine Diehl is an intern at NSCC. She is a senior at St. Francis College (Brooklyn), graduating in spring 2013. She is a psychology major who's currently writing her honors thesis on the construction of Edwardian boyhood in the novel Peter Pan. Katharine has presented at the Northeast Regional Honors Conference on the socialization process in Japanese preschools and most recently was awarded a scholarship to attend the 2012 New York State Summer Writers Institute, where she wrote and read poetry all day long. In the future, she plans to attend graduate school in the field of educational psychology, to conduct original research on the NYC homeschooling community, and to publish several volumes of immortal verse. She is very excited to join the NSCC team.

Akwaeke Emezi
Digital Content Manager, School Climate Resource Center (SCRC)
aemezi@schoolclimate.org

Akwaeke Emezi is NSCC's Digital Content Manager, School Climate Resrouce Center. Akwaeke received her Masters of Public Administration from the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University in 2012. She has a strong background in digital communications and social media. Akwaeke has over six years of experience in creating and editing digital content, web content management, online marketing and branding, and working with social media. She is involved in online advocacy and interactive spaces centered around issues of mental health, sexual orientation, and gender identity/expression, particularly through an immigrant lens. Originally from Nigeria, Akwaeke is also a writer and visual artist, and currently resides in Brooklyn.

Darlene Faster
Chief Operating Officer, Communications Director
dfaster@schoolclimate.org

She is a seasoned public relations and communications professional, with more than 10 years of experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Darlene leads NSCC’s Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI) work with schools, districts, and states nationwide, and directly trains school personnel on interpreting their data to create sustained, actionable improvement plans. In 2009, she co-created and launched a new bully prevention awareness effort at NSCC called BullyBust (www.bullybust.org), which provides free concrete supports to help students and adults become upstanders (rather than bystanders) to bullying. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, focusing on Educational Policy. Her particular research and policy interests include understanding and improving the social and emotional development of students with Learning Disabilities as well as implementing successful transitional supports for students from high school to postsecondary life. Ms. Faster has done preliminary research in urban schools in Chicago and New York, and worked with the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) before joining NSCC. She received her B.A. in English from Hofstra University and her Masters Degree from CUNY, Queens College.

Jack Heidgerd
Director of Finance
jheidgerd@schoolclimate.org

Jack Heidgerd joined NSCC in August 2009 as Director of Finance and also currently serves as interim Chief Financial Officer at WNYC Radio. Jack is a graduate of the New York City public school system and received BBA and MBA degrees from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. After college, Jack spent 25 years working in financial management in the Gannett Company, the largest newspaper publisher in the USA, last servicing as Vice President of Finance at The Journal News in White Plains, NY. In addition to significant accomplishments as a financial leader in Gannett, Jack has served in various financial leadership roles in non-profit organizations including Lutheran Social Services, The Food Bank for Westchester, Koinonia and the Westchester Housing Fund. He lives in Bedford Hills, NY with is wife Ann Marie and two sons.

Megan Ice
Research Associate
mice@schoolclimate.org

Megan Ice is a Research Associate at NSCC. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard Graduate School of Education where she earned her Bachelor's in Psychology and Master's in Education in Prevention Science and Practice, respectively. Throughout her studies, she focused on adolescence, social and emotional development, and prevention programming. She has worked in a variety of academic settings, such as a residential school, public school, and out of school time program and most recently held the position of Middle School Program Coordinator for the GO Project, an academic and social enrichment program for under-served, under-performing youth in Lower Manhattan.

Marjie Knudsen
Twitter Manager

Marjie Knudsen is the Twitter Correspondant for NSCC and Bullybust. She is a Child Advocate and Author. Her goal is to shine a light on the positive actions that youth can take to increase the feeling of well-being and resiliency in their lives. Towards that goal, she enjoys researching and sharing information for parents, teachers, counselors and leaders that work with youth. She has a B.A. degree in Communication from Iowa State University. Her past work has been in advertising and media production.

Daisy Lopez
Marketing and School Support Manager
dlopez@schoolclimate.org

Daisy Lopez is the Marketing and School Support Manager at NSCC. She is a graduate of Syracuse University where she earned her Bachelor's in Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Shortly after graduating, she joined a full service digital agency as a Media Planner/Buyer where she managed online branding and acquisition campaigns for various B2B, Consumer and Entertainment accounts. Passionate about education and youth development, she focused her interests in 2008 by joining the Young Leaders Board of Reach Out and Read NYC, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting early literacy counseling and support to families and pediatric centers. Her experience with Reach out and Read NYC solidified her interests and she soon transitioned to the nonprofit sector full-time. Experienced in digital advertising, marketing and community outreach, her most recent roles include the Believe High Schools Network Charter Management Organization (CMO) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the Taproot Foundation as a pro bono Marketing Manager. Her current position at NSCC is devoted to supporting schools/districts assess their school climate environments and promoting ways school communities can merge social-emotional and academic learning.

Shoji Masuzawa
Senior Information Technology Consultant
smasuzawa@schoolclimate.org

Shoji has been in the education community for more than 30 years as a teacher, director of a computer center, and software developer. Educated in Japan, he moved to the US to study philosophy and found a career in technology. Shoji directed the computer center at Riverdale Country School for nearly 10 years and decided to start his consulting company targeting schools and non-profit organizations in 1998. He joined NSCC after having consulted NSCC in IT for a number of years. He specializes in database development and now extends his expertise to management of technology projects.

Terry Pickeral
Senior Advisor

Terry Pickeral is the co-chair of the National School Climate Council, a national consortium advocating for policies and practices in support of quality, equitable and engaging learning environments. He is also a senior consultant to NSCC. He is also the president of Cascade Educational Consultants and former Executive Director of the National Center for Learning and Citizenship (NCLC) at the Education Commission of the States (ECS) and provides leadership in: youth engagement, school climate, civic development education policy; state and district leadership to sustain quality citizenship education service-learning, and education reform that focuses on student and community engagement.

Pickeral works with international, national, state and local organizations to advance a youth engagement, school climate and civic mission of school agenda focusing on policies, practices and collaborations. He co-created the 100 District Leader Network for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, engaging district superintendents and school board members in integrating and sustaining quality civic education. He represents CEC in international and national collaborations and forums; conducts workshops for policymakers, education leaders and practitioners; facilitates strategic planning sessions for organizations and collaborations; and assists organizations to integrate and sustain service-learning, citizenship education and quality school climates. He authors and co-authors books, chapters and articles on the civic mission of schools, school climate, the academic alignment of service-learning, school and community collaborations, K-12 and higher education collaborations and service-learning and civic education policy. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii and his graduate degree from the University of British Columbia (Canada). He serves on the following boards: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning (CIRCLE); Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (CMS); Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL); Organization of American States Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices and the Service Learning Panamerican Network. He is also the president of Cascade Educational Consultants.

Jeff Ramdass
Research Fellow
jramdass@schoolclimate.org

Jeff Ramdass is a recent graduate of St. Francis College (Brooklyn). He received his B.A. in Psychology and plans to pursue a PhD in Social Psychology in the fall of 2013. He went to elementary and high school in Queens, NY, and has seen both the good and bad parts of the education system. His recent experiences with Semester at Sea, interning for Organizing for America, and coaching his high school’s speech and debate team have shaped him into the person he is today.

Jina Sung
Research Fellow
jsung@schoolclimate.org

Jina Sung is a research fellow at NSCC. She received B.A in Journalism from EWHA woman’s university, South Korea, MA in Gifted Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Currently she is working on her dissertation for her doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College. Jina, as a teacher, worked with preschoolers and elementary students for more than five years, and she has been writing columns about social and emotional education for Education Innovators, a research institute in South Korea. She is dedicated to promoting children’s social-emotional well-being in schools and helping orphans and economically disadvantaged children through education.

Anne-Marie Stehn
Office and Fiscal Manager
astehn@schoolclimate.org

Anne-Marie comes to NSCC with more than ten years of experience in nonprofit administration, most recently as the Finance and HR Director for the National Institute for Reproductive Health. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Texas and an advanced certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University. In addition to her work in the nonprofit sector, she has toured the country with various rock bands, worked on a game reserve in South Africa, handled big cats on film sets, and performed keeper work and scientific research at animal sanctuaries and national zoos. There, she took an active role in educating the public about wildlife conservation, believing today’s youth to be the key to species’ future survival.

She is an avid medievalist, and when not managing Quickbooks, she likes to collect swords and shoot her English longbow. She is currently working on a Master’s Degree in Medieval Studies at Fordham University.

Amrit Thapa
Research Director

Amrit Thapa, Ph.D., is the research director at NSCC. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Economics from Sri Sathya Sai University, India, and a Ph.D. in Economics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Amrit has worked as a research assistant at the Schott Foundation for Public Education and was a teaching fellow for the Program in Economic Policy Management (PEPM). At Teachers College and Columbia University (PEPM) he was a Teaching Assistant for courses including Microeonomics, Macroeconomics, International Trade, Public Economics and Economics of Education. Amrit also taught Economics at Little Angles College of Management (Nepal) and Queens College as adjunct lecturer. Amrit is also a representative to the United Nations for The Institute of Global Education (IGE), an NGO that has consultative status with the Economic & Social Council of the United Nations.

Tamara Wolf
Intern
twolf@schoolclimate.org

Tamara Wolf is an undergraduate intern with NSCC. She is currently studying a BA in Psychology with a Diploma in Education at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. In her spare time she volunteers with the Trish MS Foundation, a nonprofit working toward a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Upon her return to University, Tamara will be running a Peer Assisted Learning program for international students learning English at the University. Tamara developed the program as part of a resource proposal for one of her psychology classes, which the University later accepted. Tamara is looking forward to working with and learning from all the staff at NSCC and is excited to explore NYC.