OUR TEAM
UNLOCKING LITERACY, TRANSFORMING FUTURES
The team at Literacy Academy Collective (LAC) brings together a dynamic group of professionals from diverse backgrounds, each contributing unique expertise to the mission of transforming literacy instruction. With experiences spanning education, nonprofit leadership, advocacy, and research, our team is united by a shared passion for literacy access and equity. From veteran educators and specialists in dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities to community organizers and advocates for systemic change, LAC's collaborative approach ensures that every student's needs are met with a wealth of knowledge, creativity, and dedication. Together, we work to break the cycle of illiteracy and build brighter futures for struggling readers.
Director of Instructional Programs
Ilia Edwards
Ilia, a bi-lingual 30-year Bronx educator, was our Model Classroom Pilot Lead and now serves as Director of Instructional Programs at LAC. In this role, Ilia leads LAC’s professional development and coaching, curriculum mapping, and documentation. She brings 19 years of teaching experience, including positions in bilingual, multi-age, and ESOL collaborative teaching classrooms. Ilia’s classrooms served as lab sites for the teaching of math and science in conjunction with the New York City Math Project and the Workshop Center for Science Inquiry. She has also been a member of the Prospect Center and published a review of her water study with 2nd and 3rd-grade students. Ilia has served as an elementary math instructor at Lehman College and facilitator of descriptive review groups at the Prospect Center. She has presented math workshops at regional curriculum conferences and orchestrated school-based and district-wide professional development for elementary math teachers in the White Plains Public Schools. Ilia holds a B.A. in Sociology from Hamilton College, an M.S. in Elementary Education from The City College of the City University of New York, and an Advanced Certificate in Bilingual Education along with a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership (Lehman College, CUNY).
Director of Community & Family Engagement
Naomi Peña
Naomi is our Director of Community & Family Engagement. Naomi became involved in educational advocacy work when her oldest child was diagnosed with Dyslexia 17 years ago and given an IEP. She quickly had to learn how to navigate the special education bureaucracy in NYC and experienced first-hand the overwhelming complexity of the system. Through support from organizations, she learned the special education law and lent herself as a support for other special education parents in her community. In 2015 she joined the Community Education Council for School District 1, where she served as President for five of her eight years. As President of the CEC, and as a proud product of NYCHA, she helped develop and implement NYC’s first district-wide Diversity in Admissions system, and the first Family Resource Center in District 1. She has a professional background in legal, marketing, operations, and finance.
Executive Director
Ruth Genn
Ruth is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Literacy Academy Collective and brings over 20 years of leadership and innovation in the NYC education sector. Ruth founded the New York office of Bottom Line and served as its Executive Director for eight years. During her tenure, Bottom Line NY grew from an inaugural class of 125 students to a thriving program helping over 3,000 students annually to earn their college degrees, establishing itself as a leader in the college access and success space. Previously, Ruth worked at New Visions for Public Schools where she launched and directed New Visions’ first Data and College Readiness departments. Before joining New Visions in 2005, Ruth worked in the Bloomberg Administration on the integration of after-school services across several New York City agencies. Ruth has served on the advisory board of several NYC nonprofits and education coalitions. She began her career as a New York City public school teacher through Teach for America. Ruth holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley; and a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.
Special Projects Manager
Kalyani Day
Kalyani is the Special Projects Manager at LAC, providing hands-on support to the Leadership Team through project management, operational support, grants and donor management, and communications. She works to ensure the smooth coordination of cross-departmental initiatives, both internally and externally within the organization. Prior to joining LAC, Kalyani has worked in various capacities, including teaching and research, and in different areas of the education sector, such as ed-tech, early childhood education, and special education. She did education consulting at the Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia Law School. She also served as a Vice-Principal of a private K-10 school in Hyderabad, India, where she taught middle-school English. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Delhi, a Master’s degree in Education from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and a Master of Public Policy, specializing in Education Policy and Quantitative Methods from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.
Director of External Affairs & Strategy
Emily Hellstrom
Emily leads External Affairs and Strategy for LAC. Emily is a community activist and parent of a child with dyslexia. She is the former Vice President of the CEC for District 2 founding the Students with Disabilities Committee which she convened monthly with parents from across the district. She served as PTA president, on the School Leadership Team, and was a pioneer family of a new and incubated D2 school - Peck Slip PS343. As Co-Chair of 75 Morton Community Alliance, Emily organized multiple community focus groups and envisioning sessions. She has a background in non-profit fundraising serving as the former development director of start-up non-profit Shine Global and finance chair of several state-wide and national political campaigns. She was a working actress in New York City from 1994 to 2004. In 1998 she co-founded the Project 400 Theater Company, co-creating and acting in, among other works, The Donkey Show - a hit off-Broadway musical running for 8 years in NYC.
LAC Program Supervisor, D1
Shoshana Cohen-Fraade
Shoshana manages LAC’s programming, school partnerships, and instruction in District 1 in Manhattan. She has worked in New York public education for over 21 years, as a teacher, curriculum developer, classroom coach, and university professor. Shoshana began her career as a middle school English teacher and literacy coach, bringing standards-based ELA instruction and formative data analysis to her school. She then served as an Associate Professor and Director of New York Programs at Relay Graduate School of Education, where she led a team of professors and developed and taught curriculum focused on supporting all learners and classroom data collection and analysis. Shoshana holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in Secondary English Education from Lehman College, an Ed.M. in Public School Building Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. She has conducted original research and published on the topic of mental health in education.
LAC Program Supervisor, CBLA
Jayde Barton
Jayde leads LAC’s expansion into Brooklyn by managing LAC’s pilot program at PS 191 Paul Robeson along with the launch of Central Brooklyn Literacy Academy. Jayde began her career as a program coordinator for an out of school non profit organization in Atlanta. From there, she relocated to Chicago and joined Teach for America as a middle ELA special education teacher. Jayde was her school’s founding 7th and 8th grade self-contained and pull-out teacher creating the school’s first modified grade-level content for students. In the summer of 2020, Jayde moved to Brooklyn and became an ELA curriculum fellow with Achievement First writing 6th grade ELA curriculum for schools across the entire network. She then moved into being an Assistant Principal of Special Services at Ascend Charter Schools. Jayde holds a B.A. in Political Science from Furman University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education.
LAC Program Supervisor, SBLA
Pamela Abramson
Pamela manages LAC’s instruction and teacher training at South Bronx Literacy Academy. In this role, she is responsible for guiding and refining the school’s instructional practices. Pamela has over 25 years of experience in New York City’s public education system. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a Master’s in Elementary Education from New York University. Pamela supports teachers and improves student outcomes through evidence-based professional development. She is dedicated to aligning instruction to Common Core Standards and designing culturally responsive literacy lessons. She has presented at national conferences and has led several successful grant-funded projects. A recognized expert on early literacy, Pamela has worked with Newark’s Office of Special Education to train and support K-12 teachers, and served as the Associate Director of Early Reading programs at Teaching Matters.
OUR FOUNDERS
DEDICATION. EXPERTISE. PASSION.
Dedicated professionals with a mission to create the first DOE public school for children with dyslexia, language-based learning disabilities, and other struggling readers. As parents with children affected by these issues, we bring together the professional and the personal, with expertise in school start-up, data tools and metrics, special education instruction, developmental psychology, non-profit start-up and management, family & community engagement, and partnership development.
Akeela Azcuy
Ilia Edwards
Freya Sakamoto
Ruth Genn
Jeannine Kiely
Emily Hellstrom
Naomi Peña