National Leadership Team

Mr. Michael Ronan is the President and Founder of Lighthouse Academies, Inc.  He 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 Senior 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.

Dr. Nichols.Anderson is Senior Vice President responsible for the Southern and Eastern Regions.  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. Mitchner Asinjo is Senior Vice President of the Research, Design and Strategy Team responsible for talent acquisition and management, leader development and data systems. She joined Lighthouse Academies in 2006 and previously served as the Director of Recruitment.  In this position, the recruitment team met and exceeded all national talent goals three consecutive years and increased applications by 258%.  She was the Founding Principal at East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School, where she served as principal for three years.  During this time, the school increased enrollment from 110 to 300 students, increased the ISTEP passing rate by 31%,  and was recognized by the Indiana DOE for third highest growth in mathematics of all schools in the state with 59.5% growth.  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 started her teaching career in East Palo Alto, CA and is a Teach For America ’98 Bay Area alumna. Ms. Mitchner Asinjo earned her Masters of Education in Educational Leadership at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, and her BA from Mount Holyoke College in MA.

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. LaTarte started her career as an elementary special education teacher in New York City. She served as a Program Director and Managing Director of Program with Teach for America in NYC. Ms. LaTarte completed the Broad Residency at the NYC Department of Education where she was the Director of Instructional and Data Tools. Most recently, she worked at the NYC DOE as the Executive Director of Assessment and served as the Founding President on the Metropolitan Lighthouse Charter School Board. Ms. LaTarte earned her BA in Human Development and Social Relations from Kalamazoo College and her MS in Teaching from Pace University.

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.

Ms. Lenisha Broadway is the Vice President, Arkansas.  She served as the Regional Director of the Southern Region for two years.  Ms. Broadway served as the principal at Ridgeroad Middle Charter School in North Little Rock, AR, for five years, and as the Assistant Principal for the four years prior.  Prior to that, Ms. Broadway taught special education for four years.  She is also a field facilitator for the FISH! Program of best practices in social and emotional learning, character education, classroom management and human behavior.  Ms. Broadway earned her B.S.E. in Special Education and M.S.E. in Education from the University of Central Arkansas.