East Ed Associates

Elizabeth Denevi, PhD, Director

elizabeth@teachingwhilewhite.org

Elizabeth works with schools nationally to increase equity, promote diversity pedagogy, and implement strategic processes for growth and development. She also serves as an assistant professor at Lewis & Clark College in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling and is the co-founder of Teaching While White. Previously, she served as the director of studies and professional development at a pre-K thru grade 12 school and was responsible for the stewardship and integration of the curriculum across all grade levels and subject areas. She also served as a co-leader of the school’s accreditation team. At Georgetown Day School (DC) she served as the co-director of diversity and a senior administrator for 10 years. Elizabeth also worked at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School (VA) to create a comprehensive professional development program. She has taught English and history at a number of schools including Castilleja School (CA), San Francisco University High School (CA), and Vail Mountain School (CO). Elizabeth has published and presented extensively on diversity and academic excellence, social justice, and equity issues, including the book Learning and Teaching While White: Antiracist Strategies for School Communities. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of London, Institute of Education, a master’s degree from Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. She also holds an OR Principal Administrative License and lives on the Ancestral and Traditional lands of the Chinook.

Jenna Chandler-Ward, Assistant Director

jenna@teachingwhilewhite.org

Jenna has been an educator in non-profits, schools and colleges for 18 years, including working as the Director of Education for the Center for Cultural Exchange, and doing violence prevention work with Family Crisis Services (ME). She is the co-founder and co-director of Teaching While White, a podcast and blog series dedicated to promoting antiracist teaching practices. Most recently, Jenna has been a middle school English and drama teacher for the last ten years. Jenna is also a founder and co-director of the Multicultural Teaching Institute, which produces workshops and a conference for teachers on issues of equity and inclusion. Jenna is currently a part-time teacher and also a diversity consultant based in Cambridge, MA. She holds a M.Ed. from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree from Marlboro College.

Lori Cohen, Associate

lori.c.cohen@gmail.com

Lori Cohen has worked in education (both public and independent schools) for over 20 years, serving as a teacher, instructional coach, school leader, and professional development facilitator. She taught middle school English language arts and social science, high school English, humanities, and religion/philosophy courses and worked to create curriculum that was student centered and equity focused. Lori also has been a professional development leader who has facilitated workshops ranging from new teacher development, to growth and evaluation, to curriculum development and scope/sequence work. While at her previous school, Lori developed a Teaching Fellows program for new teachers, in-house professional development tailored to the needs of the staff, built the school's instructional coaching program, and served as the Dean of Faculty where she oversaw the overhaul of growth and evaluation. She brings a broad range of skillsets to her consulting work, from culturally responsive classroom practices to systems thinking, leadership, and school oversight—all through the lenses of equity and inclusion. 

Wendy Kelly, Marketing and Digital Communications

wendy@wlkdesign.com

Wendy Kelly has been with East Ed since the early days as a marketing and communications contributor. A journalism graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, her early career focused on writing and photography. She then received an associate degree in advertising design and held the assistant art director position at Nations Business magazine and art director roles at Hanley Wood publishing for Custom Home, Building Products, and Kitchen & Bath magazines. Wendy created WLK Design Group and provided marketing and creative design services for clients such as Marriot, Pew Charitable Trust, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the International Reporting Project, Landon IP, and of course, East Ed! She most recently has held positions in healthcare marketing.

Brendan O'Toole, MSN, Data Analyst

brendan@easted.org

Brendan has held a variety of positions in healthcare, education administration, teaching, and information technology over the past 30 years. They worked as Registrar at Latin School of Chicago for over a decade and taught in the English, History, and Social Studies departments. They also served on the school’s Diversity Council and worked across the institution to marry decision-making to data, especially in the representation and achievement of students of color and students receiving financial aid.

Brendan has extensive experience designing and building database systems as well as analysis and visualization of data. They were the Lead Systems Architect for the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University in New York City and held IT positions at Kingswood-Oxford School and Wesleyan University.

They hold a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and a Master of Science in Nursing from Rush University. They are currently pursuing a doctorate in psychiatric nursing practice.