Carol S. Fixman, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Education Fund. Under her direction, the Ed Fund is actively engaged in issues of school reform, teacher quality, college access and community engagement in support of public education.

Prior to her appointment at the Ed Fund, Dr. Fixman was Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Philadelphia University, where she provided leadership for more than 40 undergraduate and graduate programs in business, design, architecture, engineering, science and health.

She has held positions directing international programs at Temple University and at the AACSB, the main professional and accrediting association for collegiate schools of business. She has also served as Director of the Philadelphia Education Fund's College Access Program and the Philadelphia Scholars, a citywide initiative to improve access to and success in postsecondary education for Philadelphia public school students.

Dr. Fixman received her Ph.D. and M.A. in German literature from Brown University, and her B.A. in Russian literature from Indiana University (Bloomington).





Allie Mulvihill is Senior Program Director at the Fund. Ms. Mulvihill has led the Fund's Instructional Resign strand of work since 1999 and has been staff to the Middle Grades Matter initiative since its inception in the fall of 2003. Ms. Mulvihill is working with several Ed Fund projects including Student Teacher Pipeline to the Future, Keeping Students on Track through Graduation, The Math/Science Coalition, the Greater Philadelphia Business Forum for Education, and the city's Out of School Youth initiative.

Prior to coming to the Fund Ms. Mulvihill was Senior Assistant to the Associate Superintendent of Schools in the School District of Philadelphia, supervising twenty-two Equity Support Coordinators, and administrating the Title I/Schoolwide Project and the Comprehensive Support Process programs. Ms Mulvihill has taught Social Studies and English in K-8, middle and high school settings. She served as Administrator at Tilden Middle School Alternative School and was an appointed assistant principal in the District. She holds a M.A. in secondary counseling as well as elementary/secondary principal certificates.

Ms. Mulvihill was a founding member of the Philadelphia Writing Project, a Supervisor in the District's Priority One and Communications Network Programs and co-authored Affective Strategies for Classroom Management. Ms. Mulvihill believes that, given the appropriate supports, all children can learn at proficient levels. She has committed her professional life to public school education in urban settings.



Thomasennia Amos is the Director of the College Access Program. She is the former Director of the GEAR UP Initiative (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) at the Philadelphia Education Fund. Since joining the Ed Fund in October 1999, Mrs. Amos increased the full time staff for GEAR UP from four direct service coordinators to four Managing Coordinators two Lead Coordinators and 19 direct services coordinators. Under her direction 12 retired teachers were hired to serve a cohort of 120 teachers in enhancing the instructional and classroom management capabilities of teachers with 2/3 years seniority.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund, Mrs. Amos served as an instructional supervisor in the Philadelphia School District. Over the several years of her career she has worked as a professional developer, supporting new teachers and introducing and coaching instructional best practices to school communities. She served under several superintendents in a central office capacity.

Mrs. Amos is a dedicated educator who has supported students and teachers in every region of the Philadelphia School District. Upon request she has served as an Adjunct Faculty member at Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Arcadia University, Drexel University and Chestnut Hill College. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and Arcadia University. Mrs. Amos and is also certified as a Principal, and has a strong personal commitment to improving education for Special Education students.





Paul Adorno is the Program Coordinator of the Reduced Class Size/Balanced Literacy Program at the Philadelphia Education Fund. Since joining the Ed Fund in November 1999, Mr. Adorno has coordinated the training of more than 1,600 Literacy Intern Teachers and their Partner Teachers.

Mr. Adorno is also credited with creating the PAIR [Principals Activity Involved in Renewal] Program, and working with the Principals Technology Exchange and IBM's CPI (Continuous Practice Improvement) and Learning Village Programs when he served as the Ed Fund's Coordinator of Educational Technology.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund, Mr. Adorno served as the Teaching Learning Network Coordinator for the Audenried Cluster of The School District of Philadelphia.

A 35-year veteran of the School District of Philadelphia, Mr. Adorno is a graduate of Georgetown University (A.B. American Literature and Chinese) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.S. in Education). From 1964-66 he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi where he taught at Mtendere Secondary School. Mr. Adorno has taught as an adjunct faculty member at the University of the Arts since 1974. He also serves on the Board of The Mid-Atlantic Coalition of Essential Schools.



Jenifer Trachtman is Director of Development and Marketing for the Philadelphia Education Fund where she oversees a development and marketing strategy aimed at increasing and diversifying the flow of supporting grants and gifts. Jenifer brings to the Ed Fund over 15 years of fundraising experience including campaign planning, major gift solicitations, alumni relations, annual appeals, special events and development communications.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund, Jenifer was the Director of Development for the Library Company of Philadelphia. She also held a 14-year tenure as Director of Development at Tyler School of Art of Temple University. While at Tyler, she used her management skills to guide the school through strategic and campaign planning processes while maintaining a portfolio of over one hundred donors and prospects. She helped Tyler to raise nearly $1 million in endowment income and increased annual giving by 800%.



Brian Armstead is the Director of Civic Engagement at the Philadelphia Education Fund where he promotes the strengthening and expansion of cross-constituency alliances in order to impact education policy in Philadelphia and the surrounding region.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund, Mr. Armstead was the Education Coordinator for Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) where he helped develop and coordinate advocacy efforts to improve public education in Philadelphia. He has extensive experience engaging various communities on a broad array of issues including, education, neighborhood (physical, economic and social) planning, and strategies to address or prevent intergroup conflict.

Mr. Armstead received his B.S. in Marketing from Penn State University, and dual Masters degrees in Social Work (MSW) and City Planning (MCP) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Liza Herzog is the Senior Research Associate at the Philadelphia Education Fund. Since joining the Ed Fund in July 2003, Dr. Herzog, in partnership with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, has co-directed research and authored reports on comprehensive school reform, the professional development of teachers, and dropout prevention.

She works with a regional team of researchers, practitioners, and social service agencies on the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study (PELS), which follows more than 2,000 8th graders in Philadelphia public schools through to three years past on-time graduation.

Before joining the Ed Fund, Dr. Herzog was a Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania, where she conducted qualitative research in higher education. Prior to her work in education, she was a practicing attorney for four years.

Dr. Herzog holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Temple University, and a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nikele D. Jackson, CPA, is the Finance Director of the Philadelphia Education Fund. Ms. Jackson is responsible for all financial management and fiscal operations of the Ed Fund, including grant and contract management and compliance.

Prior to her appointment at the Ed Fund, Ms. Jackson was an Audit Manager for a regional certified public accounting firm in the Philadelphia Area. As an Audit Manager, Ms. Jackson supervised and managed audit engagements for various not-for-profit and governmental organizations within the Philadelphia and Tri-state areas.

Ms. Jackson is a certified public accountant licensed in the State of Pennsylvania and received her B.A. in Accounting from Temple University.

Diana Campbell is the Director of Philadelphia Teacher Residency (PTR), a program of the Philadelphia Education in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the School District of Philadelphia.  As Director, Ms. Campbell is responsible for convening and collaborating with partner institutions in order to build the organization infrastructure of PTR; creating evaluation tools; participating in fundraising efforts; overseeing recruitment and admission processes; and ensuring quality of program implementation.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund in June of 2008, Ms. Campbell worked with the Math Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia – a National Science Foundation project and partnership of 13 colleges and 46 school districts. Ms. Campbell lead the team charged to enhance the quality quantity and diversity of the math and science teacher workforce. Before her work in secondary education, she was a program coordinator for various higher education based initiatives that facilitated the transition of women and minorities into engineering programs and Mathematics Ph.D. programs.

Ms. Campbell holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics from the Rutgers University, New Brunswick and a B.S. in Mathematics from the Spelman College.

Varissa McMickens is Director of ArtsRising, a collaborative initiative between the Ed Fund, Fleisher Art Memorial and Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). As Director, Ms. McMickens will utilize her experience in arts and education to help further develop ArtsRising to improve and expand access to arts education for children in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

Prior to her appointment as Director of ArtsRising, Ms. McMickens served as Executive Director for the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, a collective voice of approximately 80 arts and cultural members. Ms. McMickens has also held positions with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts,  as Regional Coordinator of its local DC area professional development program and then as  Assistant Director of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. Ms. McMickens has also held positions that focus on developing and managing public school and early childhood educational programs. She also worked in the for profit sector, directing community affairs and news for three local radio stations, and helping to launch a national African American history magazine. 

Ms. McMickens also served as co-chair of the Professional Development, Summer Institute for Teaching Artists, and Arts Education Initiative (funded by the Ford Foundation and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities), which were committees of the DC Arts & Humanities Education Collaborative.  She served as primary liaison to the Wolf Trap Institute's 15 Regional Replication Sites across the nation, and was responsible for the establishment of 5 new regional sites.

Ms. McMickens holds a B.S. in Speech Communication from Syracuse University

Richard Moses is Director of Citi Postsecondary Success Program. Mr. Moses brings to the Ed Fund and to the Citi Postsecondary Success Program many years of experience in building strategic partnerships with multiple levels of non-profit educational organizations and corporations has had extensive experience with school communities, including students, teachers, families, administrators and external stakeholders.

Prior to joining the Ed Fund, Mr. Moses served as program director and then vice president at the Philadelphia Academies, Inc. and previously served as teacher, dean and director of alumni relations at Friends schools in Philadelphia and New York. Mr. Moses was also president of Steppingstones Scholars, Inc, a non-profit that prepares students for admission and long-term success in college preparatory schools and programs. His corporate experience includes positions with NYSTROM-Division of Herff Jones, Inc., PNC, Xerox and Mellon Bank.

Mr. Moses holds a M.Ed. in Urban Education from Temple University and a B.B.A. in Accounting from Temple University.

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