A resource hub supporting the stewardship of our nation’s public school facilities.

Jeff Vincent, PhD has studied and written about public school facility policy issues for 20 years. In 2004, he co-founded the Center for Cities + Schools (CC+S) within the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley. CC+S is an interdisciplinary, action-research center, working to advance policies and practices that create opportunity-rich environments, both in and out of schools, where young people of all backgrounds can thrive. Jeff directs CC+S’s Equitable School Facilities Initiative and is a leading national voice on school facility infrastructure policy, finance, and equity issues. He holds a Doctorate in City and Regional Planning from Berkeley.

Charisma Acey, PhD conducts research on local and regional environmental sustainability with a focus on poverty reduction, urban governance, environmental justice, food justice, and access to basic services. She uses both quantitative and qualitative, community-based research approaches. Her research projects, teaching, and service-learning courses all address barriers to sustainable development, such as human-environment interactions at multiple scales, poverty and participation in local governance and development, and the financing and sustainability of publicly-provided services and utilities. She holds a Doctorate in Urban Planning from Berkeley.

Naomi Cytron served for 17 years as regional manager and research associate with the Community Development Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where she worked with a range of non-profit, public, and private sector partners to advance systems-level solutions for challenges facing low-income communities and communities of color across the Fed’s 12th District. Her portfolio of research and community engagement strategies focused on comprehensive neighborhood reinvestment, gentrification and displacement risks, early childhood education, climate resilience, and data infrastructure. She holds a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Mary Filardo is a leading national authority and advocate for improving the equity, efficiency and quality of public school buildings and grounds. For 30 years, she has conducted research, developed technology tools, provided technical support, and facilitated collaborative networks to empower local community stakeholders, school district leaders, and state officials to realize the goal of providing modern school facilities for all children. She has published extensively on public school facility policy and spending, and she founded the [Re]Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition. Mary has worked with local and state leaders on effective long-range facilities master planning, facilities data management, and improved oversight and accountability for capital programs. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, and was a 1979 Truman Scholar from the District of Columbia.

Sean O’Donnell has over 20 years of research and communications experience in the K-12 school facilities field, working within the nonprofit, government, and commercial sectors. He has extensive school facilities research and data experience at the local, state and federal levels, with special expertise in cleaning, analyzing, and communicating large school facilities datasets. Sean holds Master’s degrees in Nonprofit Management from the New School University for Social Research and in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.

Michelle Shirk is a Policy Research Analyst at the 21st Century School Fund. With over a decade of experience teaching in high-poverty schools in Detroit, MI, and Brooklyn, NY, Michelle has witnessed firsthand the profound impact that facility conditions have on both educational outcomes and teacher retention. Her experiences have galvanized her commitment to improving teaching working conditions while ensuring that all students learn in inspiring, safe, healthy environments. She holds an MS in Education Policy from Johns Hopkins University, an MA in Elementary Education from Relay GSE, and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Shelton Lee is a seasoned software engineer with over 35 years of experience in software development, serving a wide range of clients in the nonprofit, government, and commercial sectors. He has extensive expertise working with large government agencies such as INS, DOJ, NOAA, DHS, and the SEC. For more than 25 years, Shelton has specialized in managing and analyzing large school facilities datasets. As the CEO of Bintech Systems LLC, he leads a company that provides comprehensive full-stack development services and freelance coding across various platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile applications.

Kathleen Moore was a founding member of the National Council on School Facilities and is its past president. She directed the School Facilities and Transportation Services Division of the California Department of Education for 11 years, served on the California School Finance Authority, and chaired the Coalition for Adequate School Housing. Since 2015, Kathleen has consulted with local and county-level educational agencies throughout the state on facilities planning, finance, and program management. Previously, she served for 15 years as Director of Planning and Development for the Elk Grove (CA) Unified School District, securing over $300 million in state funding to construct 27 new schools and modernize 22 campuses. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Brandon Payne is the Executive Director of the National Council on School Facilities. Previously, he served on the leadership team of the Alabama State Department of Education. He has over 25 years of service to public education as a teacher, school and district administrator, superintendent, and consultant. Dr. Payne completed his undergraduate program at Athens State University with a B.S. in Mathematics Education and his graduate programs with the University of Alabama with a doctorate in Education Administration and Instructional Technology. Additionally, Dr. Payne is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and an Appraisal Team Member of CMMI for Services both of which focus on continuous improvement of organizational structure and processes.

Brandon Stratford, PhD has more than 20 years of experience as an educator and clinical social worker in school and community settings, both in the US and in Latin America, and has developed expertise in conducting formative and summative program evaluations in these fields. He has executed technical assistance projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Education, working to increase the capacity of state and local education leaders to ensure that schools are safe and supportive learning places and workspaces. His research focuses on understanding the pathways through which schools contribute to child well-being. He holds a Doctorate in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.