Steven Pickrell
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Steven Pickrell joined the Southern Regional Education Board as a mathematics instructional coach in 2024, operating within the Office of School Improvement. In this role, he collaborates closely with educators and school administrators to formulate effective strategies aimed at enhancing student achievement.
Prior to joining SREB, Pickrell spent 19 years teaching secondary mathematics in West Virginia and South Carolina. In 2019, he contributed to South Carolina’s state Algebra 1 End-of-Course Exam Program committee.
Sheniqua Pierce
Analyst II
Sheniqua Pierce joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2023 as an analyst on the teacher workforce team in the Office of Postsecondary Education. She collects and analyzes federal, state and local data about the teacher pipeline and current P-12 educators, and brings nearly a decade of experience as an educator in public schools across Atlanta.
Janita Poe
News Manager
Janita Poe joined the Southern Region Education Board in 2023 as news manager. A veteran journalist who was raised in Atlanta, Janita has worked as a staff reporter and bureau chief for six news organizations, including the Chicago Tribune, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and AL.com in Montgomery, Alabama. Janita earned a bachelor’s in mass communication from Florida State University, a master’s in journalism from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D.
Lee Posey
Vice President, State Strategy and Policy
Lee Posey is vice president for state strategy and policy. She joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2017 as director of legislative services. Prior to joining SREB, she worked for the National Conference of State Legislatures for 17 years. Her experience at NCSL included serving as federal affairs counsel with the NCSL standing committee on education. In that role, Lee represented state legislatures before the U.S. Congress and the president’s administration and conducted NCSL lobbying on federal education legislation. At NCSL, she also assisted with information requests on all aspects of education, from preschool to higher education, and staffed NCSL’s Study Group on International Comparisons in Education.
Before her time at NCSL, Lee worked for the Georgia Senate Research Office, staffing the Senate education and higher education committees and interim study committees on education issues, and for the Georgia Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget in the Educational Development Division.
Lee holds a master’s degree in political science from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Davidson College.
Stephen L. Pruitt
President
Stephen Pruitt took office as the sixth president of the Southern Regional Education Board in July 2018.
He started his education career as a high school chemistry teacher in Fayette County, Georgia. During his career, Pruitt has amassed education policy, assessment and instructional background at the local, state and national levels.
Samantha Rife
Senior Accountant
Samantha Rife is the Senior Accountant for the Southern Regional Education Board. She joined SREB in 2005 as a Junior Accountant, bringing more than 17 years of experience in accounting, including 15 years in the nonprofit sector. While at SREB, Samantha has helped to improve payment turnaround, financial statement preparation, and corporate American Express reconciliation.
Samantha holds a bachelor’s of science in business accounting from the University of Phoenix.
Zach Riffell
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Zach Riffell joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2013 as a project manager for Advanced Career, where he brings more than 10 years of experience in secondary education and training for careers. While at SREB, Zach has led curriculum development and promoted the Advanced Career program across the country – securing business, government and postsecondary partners for the program. Prior to SREB, he was the head of a construction academy at a high school in Florida.
Debbie Robertson
Senior School Improvement Leadership Coach
Debbie Robertson joined SREB in 2016 as a mathematics instruction coach, providing professional development and coaching support to teachers and district leaders. Prior to SREB, Debbie served 13 years as a middle school math teacher in Florida and two years as a district math and science instructional coach supporting nine schools.
Daniel Rock
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Daniel Rock joined the School Improvement team at SREB in 2013. As an instructional coach, he supports teachers, leaders and schools across the country as they work to improve learning outcomes for students at all levels. His work in schools focuses on literacy, building coaching models and sustaining continuous improvement teams. From 2014 to 2018, Daniel helped coordinate a grant that trained thousands of teachers across 13 states in designing quality literacy-based assignments.
Jon Schmidt-Davis
Program Director, Learning-Centered Leadership Program
Jon Schmidt-Davis, program director of the Learning-Centered Leadership Program, provides overall direction for the work of the LCLP and coordinates leadership training and professional development to meet the needs of state and district clients. Jon has investigated and written on school leadership topics, including turnaround leadership, succession planning for school-level leaders, state and district supports for school leaders, and state policies supporting effective school leadership.
Harriette Scott
Vice President, Postsecondary Education
Harriette Scott leads the postsecondary education team at SREB, where she supports, advocates, connects and collaborates with states to ensure postsecondary access and credential completion. She joined the team in 2024 and brings more than 20 years of postsecondary teaching and administrative experience from the SREB region states of Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia. She also served in public and private institutions in Missouri and Massachusetts.
Tim Shaughnessy
Program Director, Career Pathways
Tim Shaughnessy joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2015. He brings years of experience as a past community college leader, state legislator and healthcare executive. In his role at SREB, Tim works with the school improvement team to develop and strengthen career and technical education pathway programs of study. He also helps identify the critical success factors necessary for states’ successful implementation of effective, efficient and sustainable pathway models.
Ashley Shaw
Communications Specialist, School Improvement
Ashley Shaw joined SREB in 2023 as communication specialist for the Office of School Improvement. She brings more than 10 years of marketing, editing and communications experience from a range of industries including employment law, fundraising and education. She teaches higher education classes in composition and digital publishing, including early college (dual enrolled) classes for high school students across the state of Georgia.
Susan Simpson
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Susan Simpson joined SREB as an instructional coach in the office of School Improvement in 2017, bringing more than 28 years of experience working on issues of practice in the public education sector. In this role, Susan partners with districts and schools to design, implement and study research-based continuous improvement initiatives that align with district priorities and needs. In this role, she provides teachers and leaders with coaching support that empowers them to improve their school and classroom practices for maximum impact on student learning and success.
Gail Snider
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Gail Snider is a school improvement instructional coach. She joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2011 when Arkansas piloted the Literacy and Mathematics Design Collaboratives statewide. She has a master’s in education with a teacher-leader focus from the University of Arkansas at Monticello. After teaching math in middle and high school for 15 years, Gail worked as a math specialist for the Arkansas Department of Education.
Bob Stokes
Director, State and District Partnerships
Bob Stokes joined SREB in 2012, bringing many years of experience in the work world, the military and the field of education. Prior to coming to SREB, he spent time in Kentucky and Tennessee as an academic, CTE and special education teacher as well as 10 years as a principal. In all of these roles, he saw the value of asking students about their career goals and helping them develop a clear vision for a successful future.
James Stone
Director, National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
James (Jim) R. Stone III joined the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education at the Southern Regional Education Board in 2014 as director. In this capacity, he has worked with project-based learning, Teaching to Lead, and other career and technical education initiatives. Prior to SREB, Jim held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Minnesota and most recently as a distinguished scholar at the University of Louisville.
Marty Sugerik
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Marty Sugerik joined SREB’s school improvement team in 2011, bringing more than 15 years of experience in the public education sector. As an instructional coach for state and district partnerships, he facilitates training, differentiated coaching and high-quality professional development for teachers, support personnel and school and district leaders.