CEO

Christiana brings years of leadership experience at Success Academy Charter Schools, where she served as a school leader at both the middle and high school levels, as well as a leader in the central offices. She has managed large cross-functional teams for technology, data, and strategic projects spanning the standardization of software selection, financial modeling, and developing an enterprise risk framework and KPIs. Working in Strategic Projects for the Office of the CEO, Christiana led the redesign of the network-wide parent communication strategy and the implementation of Zoom for 20,000 students and 3,000 staff for Success Academy’s remote instruction in the Fall of 2020.

Prior to her work at Success Academy, Christiana completed the analyst program at Vista Equity Partners. During this time, Christiana worked with portfolio companies to develop and implement financial best practices and growth strategies.

Christiana holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

DIRECTOR, DATA SERVICES

Prior to joining Simplicity Education, Devon worked at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City, where she served as a College Access and Persistence Counselor, as well as an Associate to the High School Management Office. In these roles, Devon helped develop scalable processes for the high school, such as creating college advising support structures, optimizing student record management, and automating the transcript process. Devon was also an AmeriCorps fellow at Match Middle School in Jamaica Plain, MA, where she taught math and assisted the operations team.

Devon holds a master’s degree in Higher Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Williams College.

ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Melissa began her teaching career as a 2015 Teach for America Corps Member in New York City at Success Academy Charter Schools’ Harlem North Central middle school. There she taught fourth grade science and seventh grade ELA. After her time at Success, Melissa taught at The Equity Project Charter School in Washington Heights, where she worked with students in fifth through eighth Grade and taught Math, ELA, Science and Social Studies. While at The Equity Project, Melissa also worked on the school leadership team as the 5th Grade Level Lead. In this role, Melissa managed a team of teachers, acted as the liaison between her team and senior leadership, as well as developed and implemented grade level logistics and systems for both academic and operational needs. In addition to managing a team, Melissa supported and trained new teachers as both a Teacher Mentor for new Corps Members at TFA’s Summer Institute and new hires at The Equity Project Charter School. Outside of the classroom, Melissa was--and still is--an avid traveler, foodie, and crocheter.

Melissa holds a master's degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, a master's in teaching as a Middle School Generalist: Grades 5-9 from RELAY, and an advanced certificate in teaching for Students with Disabilities: Grades 1-6 from CCNY. Melissa earned a dual bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Philosophy from Molloy College.

ASSOCIATE

Rebecca joined Simplicity Education in 2022 as an Associate. Prior to starting at Simplicity, she worked for four years at Codman Academy Charter Public School in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. At Codman Academy, she served as the Data Manager and Student Recruitment & Enrollment Lead. Through her work, she doubled the number of recruitment events the school held, analyzed student achievement data, created dashboards to drive instructional and operational change, and spearheaded the school’s transition to a new gradebook. She is also a Young Professionals Board Member for Friends of the Children-Boston.

Rebecca holds a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from UC San Diego.

CONSULTANT

Having worked in the world of education in a number of different roles, Kristina brings a diversity of skills to Simplicity. She began her career at the Casablanca American School in Morocco, where she taught English literature and social studies to high schoolers. During this time, she also started the high school’s learning support department, which involved creating a comprehensive database of all student information and running divisional meetings geared towards analyzing the data. Kristina then worked at Success Academy Charter Schools as a School Management Associate, where she managed the report cards/progress reports and re-enrollment processes. After Success, Kristina worked as an Administrative Assistant and Project Manager at Brooklyn Friends.

Kristina holds a master’s degree in social and cultural anthropology from KU Leuven, a bachelor’s degree in history and human rights from Columbia University and a Florida state teaching certification in grades 6-12 Social Studies. She is in the process of earning her Ph.D. in anthropology at KU Leuven.