Dave Phillips is a Senior Project Director at WestEd. He has many years of experience developing processes, creating cross-organizational partnerships, and organizing teams to provide effective technical assistance to state agencies. He has previously held leadership roles in U.S. Department of Education–funded regional and national data, research, and technical assistance centers. Before joining WestEd in 2010, Phillips served in a state educational agency as the special education data manager. His master’s in Public Administration is from George Mason University.

Jenifer Harr-Robins, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in special education research and evaluation, with a focus on special education finance. Formerly a Principal Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Dr. Harr-Robins brings her extensive knowledge and insights as the Deputy Director of CIFR. 

As a CIFR Co-Director from 2014 to 2020, she played a pivotal role in ensuring the quality assurance of CIFR’s initiatives and guided external evaluation activities. Dr. Harr-Robins has a track record of supporting states in enhancing their special education funding systems, with notable contributions to states such as California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. 

She served as Associate Director of the Center for Special Education Finance (CSEF) and its national Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP) and has co-authored two book chapters on special education finance. Her broader special education research portfolio includes an Institute of Education Sciences study of school accountability systems, evaluations of special education programs, and in-depth examinations of special education service delivery. 

Lizann Salazar is a Program Coordinator II at WestEd with more than 10 years at the agency. She has significant experience working on federally funded projects with a variety of partner organizations, personnel, and subject matter experts. As CIFR’s Project Coordinator, she manages timelines, project plans, logistics, events, production schedules, and day-to-day operations. Before joining WestEd, she worked in classrooms providing homework support, assessment administration, and weekly planning.

Mari Mathews is a Program Associate on the Special Education Policy and Practice Team at WestEd. As Co-Lead of CIFR’s Part B technical assistance, she helps states build their IDEA fiscal knowledge and capacity through one-on-one support, communities of practice, and national webinars and events. She provides technical assistance on collecting and reporting special education data and on funding and policy to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities.

Allison Davey is a Senior Program Associate at WestEd with more than 20 years of experience in special education at the state and district levels. She has significant expertise in collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using IDEA fiscal data; in project planning and management; and in aligning resources to support statewide initiatives. As Co-Lead of CIFR’s Part C technical assistance, she helps states build their IDEA fiscal knowledge and capacity through one-on-one support, communities of practice, and national webinars and events. Before joining WestEd, Davey was Senior Director of Strategic Supports in the Division of Special Populations at the Tennessee Department of Education. She has a master’s in Special Education from The University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Peter Orne, MJ, is the Co-Lead of CIFR’s Technology & Communications Team and a Web Content Writer for WestEd. He has 15 years of experience promoting federally funded research and TA initiatives to national audiences of state and local education professionals. He is a former communications director for the Learning and Teaching Division at Education Development Center, Inc., and he was the Dissemination Director for the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands. He has brought his expertise to projects such as the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) and the National Science Foundation’s Research + Practice Collaboratory. Orne designs and carries out wide-scale dissemination strategies using a data-driven, continuous-improvement approach across a range of digital publication and storytelling platforms. He has a master’s in journalism from the University of California Berkeley.

Sanjay Pardanani is a Project Manager and Digital Media Producer in WestEd’s Communications Department. He has served as CIFR’s Technology & Communications Team Co-Lead since the center began in 2014, managing its internal technology tools and platforms, website, and digital media production. Before joining WestEd, Pardanani worked with English learners and special education students.

Courtney Clingan, MS, is a Managing Consultant for The Improve Group and has been a key member of CIFR’s evaluation team since the center began in 2014, focusing on real-time analysis and reporting to support the continued improvement of CIFR’s targeted technical assistance.

Clingan draws evaluation experience from projects spanning multiple disciplines. She has partnered with WestEd and the Minnesota Department of Education on a statewide evaluation of the Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services program, which aims to avoid inappropriate referrals to special education programs in Minnesota schools. She has extensive experience overseeing evaluation design, data collection, analysis, and development of practical findings. Clingan has a master’s in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy from the University of Minnesota.