Rocketship Washington DC Board of Directors

Jolene brings a wealth of experience in policy and philanthropic leadership to the Rocketship board. After receiving her MBA, she worked for Corning Glass Works in strategic planning and later transitioned to the Federal Government where she gained valuable policy experience working for an independent commission charged with making recommendations to Congress about Medicare.

Jolene and her husband established the Stanley and Jolene Sloter Family Foundation to focus their philanthropy on education, specifically the need for better education opportunities in underserved communities. She is applying her policy experience to analyzing this issue and identifying concepts and organizations that improve the quality of education in low-income communities in DC so they can invest their philanthropic contributions in organizations that produce measurable results.

Jolene also serves on the board of the Teach for America DC Region, and is a member of the Trustee Council for Communities in Schools of Northern Virginia, as well as the Investment Committee for Education Forward DC. A longtime supporter of Rocketship Public Schools, she coordinated the groundbreaking for Rocketship’s first school in DC, which opened in August 2016, and has been instrumental in building the RocketshipDC board of directors and finding new sources of support.

Jolene supports Rocketship’s work because she believes traditional public schools have not adequately served low-income students of color for generations. Rocketship's three pillars--Personalized Learning, Talent Development, and Parent Power--provide the foundation for building schools that will provide a quality education for these communities.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology/Medical Technology from Lycoming College and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Zakiya Sackor began her career as an educator with a personal mission of leveling the playing field for children who have historically been marginalized by our system. Zakiya has over two decades of experience as an educator, non-profit leader and an executive coach.

Prior to joining Rocketship,  Zakiya served as the Executive Director of Kindred Communities whose mission is to facilitate brave spaces for community members to build the mindsets, skills, and energy needed to disrupt systemic oppression and create just, liberated schools.  Zakiya served as Managing Director with Leading Educators where she partnered at the system-level across Chicago and the greater Grand Rapids region to build teacher capacity in an effort to ensure equitable instruction across classrooms.  She also played a pivotal role in launching the inaugural cohort of the Aspen Young Leaders Fellowship (AYLF) at the Aspen Institute. She has also worked as a School Partnerships Coach with the Flamboyan Foundation, a school leader and teacher throughout D.C. and Maryland.

She has earned a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University.  She holds a master’s degree in administration from Trinity College, master’s degree in teaching from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree in survey methodology from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Tuskegee University.

Zakiya lives in Maryland with three amazing humans who share her DNA! She loves to travel, bask in the sun and explore the complexities of human life.

Lauren M. Marcus is a senior associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Tiber Hudson LLC, where her practice is focused on public finance for affordable housing transactions. She represents institutional lenders, bond underwriters, developers, and municipal issuers in a wide range of tax-exempt and taxable housing financings around the country, including public offerings of bonds credit-enhanced by FHA, USDA, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Lauren advises her clients on the structuring and federal income tax aspects of tax-exempt debt transactions, regularly engages with national credit rating agencies, and prepares cashflow projections and a variety of calculations required under the tax-exempt bond rules. Lauren is frequently a featured speaker at industry conferences and roundtables including, NH&RA, the American Bar Association and the Eastern Lenders Association.

Prior to joining the firm, Lauren was a Legal Fellow and Attorney Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel at the District of Columbia Housing Authority. While at the Housing Authority, Lauren focused on policy and transactional matters, including the drafting and implementation of the Housing Authority’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program.

Lauren graduated from the University of Maryland in 2013, where she received a B.A. in Communications. She earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School in 2016, where she was a student law clerk for the Honorable Laura Cordero of the D.C. Superior Court and a student attorney and advocate in the GW Law Domestic Violence Clinic. Lauren is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association, the National Bar Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Byron Johnson, a proud founding parent of Rocketship Infinity Community Prep, is an art teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School (TMA), a college preparatory public charter high school in Washington, DC. Since first coming to TMA from 2006-2009 and returning in 2014, Johnson has also served that school community as Dean of Students, Peer Court teacher, Business and Banking Instructor, Yearbook instructor, and a sponsor for multiple afterschool clubs. For the 5 years preceding that move he lived in Niger, West Africa where he taught several courses including English Language Arts, history, art, English as a Second Language, and physical education/health to middle and high school students at the American International School of Niamey. Johnson also lived and worked in Monrovia, Liberia near the conclusion of their civil war; he taught at the University of Liberia, and had consultancies with the Christian Children’s Fund and the Armed Forces of Liberia that focused on art as a vehicle to promote peace and economic recovery. Johnson began his career in 2001 in his hometown of Washington, D.C. at Friendship Collegiate Academy, one of the city’s first public charter high schools. Throughout his career he's worked to develop well rounded students who have an appreciation for academic rigor, creative pursuits and good mental health. Johnson studied in Mallorca, Spain where he earned a master’s degree in education with a specialization in secondary education in an international school setting from The College of New Jersey in 2015 and holds a Master in Business Administration from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University where he graduated magna cum laude in 2000.

Nana Apenem Hanson-Hall is an applied researcher with more than a decade of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating development and public health interventions around the world. She is a Senior Specialist for Research on Violence Against Women and Children at International Justice Mission and is passionate about health equity, holistic well-being, and amplifying the voices and actions of the most vulnerable.

She also volunteers with the Sasha Bruce Youth Network and serves during various events with Grace Meridian Hill Church. She's previously volunteered in youth tutoring and mentoring programs in DC, New York, Maryland, and Louisiana.

As a firm believer in equity as a key ingredient for well-being, she seeks to support the partnerships between educational institutions and families that edify children of all backgrounds. She has seen the positive impacts of the Rocketship model on her children over the last five years and chose to serve on the board to help strengthen both Rocketship's impact and the broader educational system in DC.

Nana holds a Bachelors's in Psychology from Georgetown University, a Master's in Public Health and International Development from Tulane University, and a Doctorate in Public Health Education from Loma Linda University.

Kamuzu Saunders is an Executive Director at JPMorgan Private Bank and served 16 years as the U.S Equity Client Portfolio Manager. In his role as Executive Director, he takes a holistic approach to providing individuals and their families guidance across their full financial picture – including wealth planning, investments, banking and credit. Kamuzu is a native Washingtonian with a strong interest in supporting the advancement of educational opportunities in underserved communities. He earned a BS in Finance and an MBA from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Rena is the former principal of DC Scholars Stanton Elementary, Washington’s first elementary school turnaround charter and district partnership school. She joined the school’s leadership team in 2011 as the Chief of Staff, managing the school family engagement strategy, school culture team, and operations. Ms. Johnson left a legacy of successfully working with families of students and rallying teams around aligned initiatives. Through her leadership and training, teachers conducted more than 450 visits to homes of students and their families in one school year. In 2015, after working closely with her staff, Ms. Johnson wrote a grant to create The Boys Institute at Stanton to foster the talent and genius of her black and brown boys. The Boys Institute received one of the highest financial awards and continues to receive praise across the DC region. DC Scholars Stanton experienced steady academic growth on the DC CAS and PARCC Assessments during her tenure, including 10% point gains in math in the second year of PARCC—outpacing most charters and district elementary schools in the city’s ‘forgotten’ ward, Ward 8. Ms. Johnson is currently the Senior Director for School Launch and Incubation at CityBridge Education, committed to incubating, launching, and transforming schools to deliver on talent and the potential inherent in our children, specifically the most disinherited by poverty and race. Ms. Johnson began her education career as an elementary school teacher in Atlanta, GA as a Teacher For America (TFA) corps member before joining the TFA DC Regional Team, where she managed placement strategy and new corps member transition. From TFA, Ms. Johnson became a resident principal with New Leaders for New Schools where she led the implementation of the Achievement Network data driven instructional model and founded a New Teacher program for all 1st year teachers. Ms. Johnson holds a BA from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in Education, Policy, and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Melissa currently works at School Leader Lab (SLL), an organization that support schools and their networks in sustaining and growing high-quality schools through one of their most important assets: leaders.  At SLL, Ms. Martin leads the coaching model and provides support on program design. Ms. Martin came to SLL from Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College where she coached aspiring principals and current principals from the district, charter and independent school sectors.  Prior to Lynch, Ms. Martin served as the Director of School Partnerships at Flamboyan Foundation in DC. She is an experienced principal, having led both Scott Montgomery Elementary and Walker Jones Education Campus in DCPS as a New Leader for New Schools. She is a DC native and graduate of DCPS’s Wilson High School, Bowdoin College, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (EdM), and Trinity College, where she earned an MSA in Educational Administration.

Matt is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and founder of Aaron Financial in partnership with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. Matt provides comprehensive financial planning to a diverse set of clients including a number of services not limited to cash flow and debt management and insurance, investment, and tax planning. Matt began his financial practice during his junior year of college and was quickly identified as a leader within the Northwestern Mutual network. He now serves as the Growth and Development Director for the Washington, DC office. In this capacity, his role is to identify, develop, and nurture the next generation of financial planners. In addition to balancing his practice and his leadership role at Northwestern Mutual, Matt commits a great deal of time to delivering motivational talks to inner city youth. Hailing from a similar background in Irvington, New Jersey, Matt has a vested interest in helping children with limited resources understand how to create opportunities for themselves through entrepreneurship.

Matt holds a BBA from Howard University and has earned both a certificate in financial planning from Georgetown University and the prestigious CFP ® designation.

Justin Bakewell is an Executive Director and Banker with the J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Washington, D.C. In this role, Mr. Bakewell and his team provide individuals, families, public and private foundations, and endowments in the region with comprehensive wealth management strategies, ongoing guidance, and customized plans to address their balance sheet needs.

Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Bakewell served as a Client Advisor at Brown Advisory where he led a number of client relationships and had a leadership role on the firm’s business development team. Prior to this, he was a Client Advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management. Mr. Bakewell serves on the Board of Advisors and as Chairman of the Finance Committee for Teach for America (D.C.) and on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer for Rocketship Education (D.C.). He also spent eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps serving in a variety of roles.

Mr. Bakewell earned his MBA from George Washington University School of Business, where he also sits on the Board of Advisors. He has a graduate certificate in tax from the Kogod School of Business at American University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland at College Park.