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.

Pakethia Harris, PhD, is a Senior Technical Assistance Consultant at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). She has expertise in K–12 special education curriculum and policy and school finance and more than 10 years of experience in special education. As CIFR’s Part B TA Co-Lead, Dr. Harris provides technical assistance and professional development to states on fiscal policies and procedures and on collecting, reporting, analyzing, and using high-quality IDEA fiscal data. Harris also supports CIFR’s product development and provides TA to states through the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the IDEA Data Center (IDC).

Before joining AIR, Dr. Harris was a graduate fellow at the University of South Florida researching the reciprocal relationship between education policy and the multiple dimensions of education finance and economics. Dr. Harris has taught at the university level and was an instructional coach developing and providing professional development workshops to teachers and administrators on curriculum and instruction and behavioral interventions.

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.

Danielle Crain, Senior Study Director at Westat, has more than 15 years of experience providing technical assistance to support policy development and systems improvement and to address equity issues. Crain leads CIFR’s IDEA Part B tools and product development and provides targeted and intensive technical assistance to states to improve their IDEA fiscal data collection, reporting, analysis, and use. Crain is Liaison Lead for the National Comprehensive Center, where she co-leads the National Comprehensive Evidence-Based Interventions (EBI) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Community of Practice and manages the CCNetwork liaison team’s communication with the 19 Regional Comprehensive Centers. She has a certificate in Education Finance.

Leslie Fox, PhD, is Director of Early Childhood Intervention, Mental Health & Inclusion at WestEd, responsible for project development and oversight of cross-sector early childhood policies and practices intended to improve learning, health, and developmental outcomes for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Dr. Fox joined WestEd from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) where she provided monitoring and technical assistance to state agencies implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Dr. Fox has over 20 years of experience as an early intervention specialist working in B–8 IDEA programs.

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.

Beth Cole, EdD, is an Early Childhood Special Education Funding & Accountability Program Associate at WestEd. She is a CIFR technical assistance liaison and leads CIFR’s IDEA Part C tools and product development. Dr. Cole has worked in Part C since 1996, beginning at a local program in Colorado after her son was diagnosed with autism at age 2–1/2. Before joining WestEd in 2021, she worked at local Part C programs and at Colorado’s lead agency where she served as Fiscal Accountability Manager and Provider Relations Manager and oversaw the development and rollout of Colorado’s Telehealth training and trainings for providers on billing private insurance and Medicaid. Dr. Cole received her EdD in early childhood leadership and equity from the University of Colorado Denver in 2019.

Peter Orne, MJ, is an editorial and communications consultant with 15 years of experience promoting federally funded research and technical assistance initiatives to national audiences of state and local education professionals. He has served as Co-Lead of CIFR’s Technology & Communications Team since 2017. He is a former Director of Communications for the Learning and Teaching Division at Education Development Center, Inc., and was the Dissemination Director for the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands for nearly a decade. 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.