Kevin Byrne
Portfolio Director, US Education

Kevin Byrne oversees efforts to improve large urban school districts through performance management; to strengthen school leadership; to expand quality school options; and to encourage determined low-income students to engage in higher learning. Kevin also spearheaded the foundation’s Dell Scholars Program, a college access, retention and graduation program focused on disadvantaged students.

Prior to joining the foundation in February 2004 from his position as director of program services and development with the Horatio Alger Association, he worked with the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies. Kevin has a bachelor’s in business administration in finance from Mississippi State University and a master’s in business studies in strategy as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. He is currently president of the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA).

Kevin Byrne
Portfolio Director, US Education

Kevin Byrne oversees efforts to improve large urban school districts through performance management; to strengthen school leadership; to expand quality school options; and to encourage determined low-income students to engage in higher learning. Kevin also spearheaded the foundation’s Dell Scholars Program, a college access, retention and graduation program focused on disadvantaged students.

Prior to joining the foundation in February 2004 from his position as director of program services and development with the Horatio Alger Association, he worked with the Center for International Security and Strategic Studies. Kevin has a bachelor’s in business administration in finance from Mississippi State University and a master’s in business studies in strategy as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. He is currently president of the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA).

Cat Alexander
Program Officer, US Education

Cat’s focus is on expanding quality school options. Her goals are to help high-quality, financially sustainable charter schools achieve scale, and to support public school districts in adopting a “portfolio” approach that offers parents the ability to choose the right high-quality, public school option for their students.

Before joining the foundation in 2010, Cat served as chief operating officer for Rocketship Education. She has also worked as a consultant for the charter schools sector, focused on charter school growth funds, charter school replication, operational performance metrics, business infrastructure and human capital development. Cat holds a master’s in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Nichole Aston
Program Officer, Central Texas

Nichole manages a portfolio of Central Texas grants that improve the lives of children in our home community. These grants provide programs and services for vulnerable Central Texas children including abused and neglected children in the foster care system. Nichole's portfolio also includes grants to Central Texas health clinics that improve access and quality care for uninsured children.

Nichole joined the Foundation in 2003 after six years with Dell Inc. During that time, she was a proposals manager in the small and medium business sales group, and a marketing communications coordinator in the software and peripherals group. Prior to Dell, she worked in marketing at Trimble Navigation. Nichole has bachelor’s in business administration in marketing from Texas A&M University.

Virginia Ballato
Team Lead, Central Texas Community

Virginia, responsible for Central Texas Community programs, manages efforts to improve children’s ability to engage and perform effectively at school; to increase access to quality healthcare services for children and their families; to ensure the safety and well being of abused or neglected children; and to provide gifts to organizations or projects that have the power to transform the Austin community.

Prior to joining the foundation in January 2008 from her position as director of product marketing with the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, she worked as a Spanish teacher at Lanier High School in Austin, Texas. Virginia has a bachelor’s in Spanish and linguistics from the University of Virginia and a master of business administration in global business from Saint Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Cheryl Niehaus
Program Officer, US Education

Cheryl leads the foundation’s efforts to drive student achievement and teacher satisfaction in Austin, Charlotte and New Orleans. She also manages the foundation’s innovation portfolio.

Cheryl joined the foundation in 2008 from her position as senior product manager, partnerships with Harcourt Education (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). In addition to working as a corporate trainer and an information architect, she spent five years teaching a range of high school courses including U.S. history and advanced placement macroeconomics. Cheryl has a bachelor’s degree in public policy studies, a master of arts in teaching from Duke University and a master of business administration from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Cheryl is currently a second grade classroom reading coach with Austin Partners in Education.

Todd Penner
Program Officer, US Education

Todd oversees efforts to improve New York City, Houston and other Texas children's academic outcomes through performance management, expanded quality school options and improved college preparation.

Prior to joining the foundation in May 2008 from his position as director of worldwide e-support with Dell Inc., he worked with Exxon Chemical Company and Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Todd has a bachelor’s in business administration in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's of business administration in finance from the University of Michigan. Todd is currently the Treasurer at Girlstart, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that empowers girls in science, technology, engineering and math.

Micah Sagebiel
Program Officer, US Education

Micah manages a portfolio of investments in the U.S. education practice. His grantees include national education leadership organizations, charter management organizations and urban school districts.

Micah began his career as a public school teacher in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He previously managed the Texas science, technology, engineering, and mathematics initiative for the Texas High School Project at the Texas Education Agency. Micah earned a bachelor of arts in international relations from Colgate University. He holds a master of public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s in business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. At Dartmouth, he was a Maynard entrepreneurship intern at the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship and the graduate research fellow at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy.

Joe Siedlecki
Program and Policy Officer, US Education

Joe oversees all program activities in Chicago, Baltimore and D.C., leads the U.S. education team’s performance management initiative, and is the point person for the foundation’s federal policy activities.

Prior to joining the foundation in 2007, Joe worked in the Education, Income Maintenance, and Labor Division of the White House Office of Management and Budget. He has also worked as researcher and consultant, specializing in human capital issues. Joe earned a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a master of public policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Oscar Sweeten-Lopez
Team Lead, Dell Scholars Program

As the Dell Scholars Program leader, Oscar oversees the foundation’s comprehensive college persistence services to improve the four-year college graduation rates of high-risk, low-income students.

Prior to joining the foundation in 2005, Oscar was director of student retention and workforce development for the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement. Other past experience includes work with the Oregon Human Development Corporation and with AmeriCorps. Oscar has a bachelor’s in political science and Spanish from the University of Oregon and is a leadership fellow at the Institute of Nonprofit Management at Portland State University.

Jami O’Toole
Program Officer, US Education

Jami oversees the foundations grant portfolio in Denver and coordinates the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) project and other state-related data initiatives.

Prior to joining the foundation, she was a principal at the Boston Consulting Group where she led an effort to create a statewide education advocacy organization and define a statewide education quality scorecard. Jami has a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a master’s in business administration from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ninfa Murillo
Retention Officer, Dell Scholars Program

Ninfa focuses on developing and implementing services that provide Dell Scholars with the guidance and support needed to complete their college degree.

Ninfa came to the foundation with experience in student retention work at the youth and college level in various capacities at high schools, nonprofit organizations and higher education. Prior positions included program manager at the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement and the director of multicultural programs at Linfield College-Portland Campus. Ninfa has a bachelor's in business administration from Oregon State University and a master's in public administration from Portland State University.