Arete is fortunate to have a diverse and talented roster of staff and consultants to bring to our projects.
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Dr. James Meier, President of Arete and currently Chairman of the Board of the American Jewish World Service, has over 30 years experience in education, policy, and evaluation. Prior to founding Arete in 1991, he served as First Deputy Director for the New York City school system's then $7 billion budget. In the 1970s he directed the multi-faceted East Harlem Block Schools. He was on the staff of New York State's Fleischmann Commission on education, served as Deputy Director of the Governor's Commission on Higher Education in Connecticut, and was Executive Director of a New York City Commission on redistricting community school districts. He began his career in the Peace Corps running the "Science Teachers Workshop" in India, leading to an overhaul of the entire science curriculum in Andhra Pradesh and helping to lay the foundation for the high tech boom concentrated in that state. Dr. Meier has graduate degrees in Urban Planning and Educational Administration at Columbia University, and a B.A. from Williams College.
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Elizabeth Crownfield has been an Arete Associate since 1999. She is an award-winning teacher with diverse experience in education and analysis covering 20 years. Among other things, she has done reference work at The New York Public Library and taught musicology at NYU. She has a B.A. from Smith College, an M.A. from New York University, and an M.S. in Library Science from Pratt Institute. |
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Tao Zhou, Arete's newest Associate, has a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs as well as an M.S. in Information Management from Peking University. |
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Hernan Guerrero is particularly interested in the relationship between geography and urban social concerns, and serves as Arete's mapping expert. He has a B.A. from Clark University and a Masters degree in urban planning from Pratt Institute. He is fluent in Spanish and French. He has worked with Arete on zoning projects, utilization analyses, various other mapping projects and New York City Housing Authority elections. |
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Mannix Gordon, expert in geographic information systems (GIS) and technologies, has worked with Arete on school redistricting projects. He has a B.A. in Architecture and M.A. in City Regional Planning from Pratt Institute, and has served as Director of Information Technology and Senior GIS Planner at the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development.
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| Mary Callahan, who worked for two years as an elementary school librarian in Pelham, New York, will receive her master's degree in library science from Queens College this May. She is a former nonfiction book editor and has also been a staff publications writer and editor for Boston College and Smith College. She is working with Arete on Library Connections. | |
| Mindy Schanback, who is pursuing an MLS degree at Queens College, also writes, assesses material for a children's production company, and reviews books for middle-grade readers and young adults. She is the author of Princess from Another Planet and other books for children and young adults. She works with Arete on Library Connections. | |