National Leadership Team

Mr. Michael Ronan has provided management and consulting services to charter schools and school districts nationwide since 1997. He has been directly involved with the management of 50 charter schools including 25 start-up schools. He brings to the team a great deal of experience in urban charter school planning and development. His areas of expertise include curriculum, school leadership, finance and operations.

Mr. Ronan began his career as a middle school history teacher and later served as a Director of Curriculum and Instruction and School Superintendent. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and holds a Master’s degree in School Administration from that school, as well as a Master’s degree in Program Planning and Evaluation from the State University of New York at Albany.

Mr. Robert Stearns is the Vice President of Finance.  Mr. Stearns has served as a regional controller and a financial analyst for an education management firm.  He has also been an audit and tax manager.  He has overseen budgets, forecasts, monthly and year-end closings, and performed annual audits of several charter schools around the country.   Mr. Stearns has acted in a fiduciary capacity with appropriations in excess of $50 million.  Mr. Stearns has a Master’s degree in Taxation from Bryant University where he also attained a B.S. in Business Administration, major Accounting.

Ms. Peggyanne Ecclesine is the Vice President for School Development. Ms. Ecclesine’s previous roles at Lighthouse Academies include the Chief Academic Officer and Director of Talent Development and Curriculum for K-8.  She has been actively involved with the charter school movement nationally since 1996.  She was a founding team member at two charter schools in Massachusetts. She was a classroom teacher, literacy coach and Regional Education Director for a charter management organization prior to joining Lighthouse Academies in 2003. Ms. Ecclesine graduated from Providence College and received a Masters of Arts from Teachers College at Columbia University

Ms. Priscilla Forsyth is the Vice President for the East Coast Region. Ms. Forsyth served as a the Regional Director, and prior to that, as a member of the Bronx Lighthouse Charter School’s Board of Trustees.  Ms. Forsyth worked as an attorney with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.  Priscilla graduated from Cornell Law School and Syracuse University.   She is a Teach For America alumna (LA ’98), taught in Compton for five years, and worked for Teach For America as a School Director at the LA Summer Institute.

Dr. Phillis Nichols-Anderson is the Vice President for the Southern Region. Dr. Nichols-Anderson began her career as a classroom teacher in Arkansas, where she taught secondary English, journalism, and communications for over a decade. She also served as a middle and high school administrator in the Little Rock School District, District of Columbia Public Schools, in Washington, D.C., Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland and in the Pulaski County Special School District.  She has also taught as an adjunct professor at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR. As an Educational Consultant, Dr. Nichols-Anderson is a trainer presenter for school administrators, teachers, counselors, students, and parents. She is a certified trainer for EdTrust’s Standards In Practice, a educational think tank in Washington, D.C. Dr. Nichols-Anderson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, a Master of Education and Doctorate of Education degrees in Education Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During her tenure as a teacher, she received numerous awards and honors including being named Journalism Teacher of the Year and being selected for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Ms. Pies started her career in education teaching sixth grade in Indiana. She also has experience teaching at the post-secondary level as well. She has worked for the Indiana Department of Education for seven years. Her work at the Department has given her extensive knowledge with federal and state law including Title I, school improvement and school turnaround programs. She received her undergraduate degree from Purdue University and her Master’s of Arts in Teaching at Marian University. Ms. Pies will receive her K-12 administrative license at the end of this year through Marian University’s Academy for Teaching and Learning Leadership.

Ms. Plauche served as Principal at Bronzeville Lighthouse (BZLCS) in Chicago for two years.  Prior to that, she served as the Dean of School Culture at BZLCS overseeing the culture and implementing the Response to Intervention (RTI) and Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) and as the Director of Special Education as well as Title 1 Reading Specialist and Assessment Coordinator. Prior to joining BZLCS, Ms. Plauche was the Literacy Director at GiGi’sPlayhouse, where she recruited and trained educators, tutors, volunteers and parents of children with Down Syndrome for the literacy program. She was an elementary Special Education teacher for two years. Ms. Plauche holds a BA in Elementary Education as well as a Special Education Certification from Southeastern Louisiana University.

Mr. Chuck Salter is the Vice President for Northwest Indiana. Previously, Mr. Salter served as the Regional Director in this region.  He has been working in education and non-profits for thirteen years.   He taught middle school reading and language arts, coached teachers, served as union president, worked as a school leader, and directed non-profits.  He was the Founder and Executive Director of Teach For America’s Las Vegas region for three years. He served as the Executive Director of Bay Area All-Stars, a non-profit that provides after-school programs at 26 school sites, reaching 2,650 children. He is a 1997 TFA Bay Area alumnus. Mr. Salter earned his Juris Doctor and Certificate of Nonprofit Management from Indiana University and his B.A. from Susquehanna University. 

Ms. Kimberlee Sia is the Chief Academic Officer.  Ms. Sia most recently served as the Vice President for the Indiana region. Prior to that, she served as Director of Professional Development for the Lighthouse Education Team, and before that, the Principal of West Gary Lighthouse Charter School from its opening in August 2006 until February of 2008.  Ms. Sia began her teaching career as a Teach For America corps member in Newark, New Jersey where she taught 6th and 7th grade math for two years. She then taught for six years in Goleta, California, working with students in grades 1-6. Additionally, she worked on curriculum adoption as well as mathematics and literacy professional development at the district level.  Ms. Sia has a B.A. in History and German from Northwestern University and a M.A. in Educational Leadership and Organizations from University of California, Santa Barbara. 

Mr. Patrick Kangethe is the Chief Information Officer. He has worked as a systems engineer and administrator for numerous companies, and served as the Information Technology Manager at Creative Playthings.   Mr. Kangethe earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Worcester State College and a M.S. in Information Technology from Clark University.

Ms. Tess Mitchner Asinjo is Director of Recruitment. Ms. Mitchner Asinjo was the founding Principal at East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School where she served as the leader for three years.  She came to Lighthouse Academies from Teach for America, as the Program Director in Chicago, IL.  At TFA, she trained and supported over 200 public school teachers, while developing programs and workshops.  Ms. Mitchner Asinjo also has experience teaching at charter schools in Illinois and California.  Ms. Mitchner Asinjo received her Masters of Education in Educational Leadership at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and her BA from Mount Holyoke College in MA.  She received her Elementary Multiple Subject Credential with Cross-Cultural Language Acquisition Development Emphasis from San Francisco State University and attended the School for International Training in South Africa.  

Ms. Cheryl Bates is the Director of Operations, National Office.  Ms. Bates has more than fifteen years of experience in office management.  In her previous organization, she ran multiple offices with approximately twelve associates reporting to her.  As the National Office Manager, Ms. Bates services the schools by supporting the office managers, managing the logistics for the network professional development summit, and arranging travel for school personnel.   Ms. Bates holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Assumption College.