Our People
Our team loves what we do. We make a difference in the world by helping every individual reach their full potential.
Jillian Coppley, Ed.D.
President and CEO
Dr. Coppley currently serves as President and CEO of Mayerson Academy. Under her leadership, the Academy has developed strengths-based programs and services for organizations, schools, and neighborhoods that maximize engagement, learning and performance and ultimately transform cultures. The Academy’s work has been featured in EdWeek, Live Happy, and US News and World Report and Dr. Coppley has been invited to share the Academy’s work around the globe, including presentations in China, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and Hong Kong. Prior to her current role, Jillian held leadership positions in philanthropy, public television, and K-16 education. At KnoweldgeWorks, a national education foundation, she led the development of a highly regarded future trends publication, consulted with hundreds of organizations to construct future-oriented visions and strategies for education, developed state collaborations to transform education, and created a robust, teacher-to-teacher learning community. In her former roles, Jillian led teams to create widely distributed multimedia products and services, and received national recognition for the design of an organizational learning system. She is an award-winning educator, passionate about the potential of learning to create an increasingly positive future.
Lynn Ochs
Chief Program Officer
Lynn Ochs, Chief Program Officer, is a widely acknowledged leader in the field of education technology, having won numerous awards throughout her career. Most recently she served as the Vice President of Learning Architecture Services, helping design professional learning and support services, marketing, and sales strategy for an innovative digital learning company. Through this experience and her many leadership roles in school districts and regional service centers, Lynn has designed and delivered professional development to thousands of educators across the country. Beginning her career as a classroom teacher, Lynn is passionate about developing and facilitating the delivery of innovative solutions that impact educators and deliver positive results for students. In her role as Chief Program Officer, Lynn will oversee the strategic direction and alignment of TLC and Strong program models and provide leadership coaching to program leaders.
ochs.lynn@mayersonacademy.org
Amber Brown
Sr. Director, HR & Operations
is the Senior Director of Human Resources & Operations at Mayerson Academy. She holds a B.S. in Marketing (Xavier University) and an M.A. in Philanthropic Studies (IUPUI). A native of Cincinnati, Amber has spent nearly 20 years working on various community efforts to improve academic outcomes for local children and youth. A self-proclaimed education equity advocate, Amber holds a lifelong interest in maximizing community impact while also strengthening organizations from the inside out. Powered by her top strengths (spirituality, hope, and honesty), Amber hopes to bring a unique and innovative approach to building positive workplace cultures and systems that work well for all team members. Amber has extensive experience in the areas of K-12 grantmaking, strategic planning and facilitation, relationship management, change leadership, and team development.
When Amber is not “working to improve the community”, as her eldest daughter would describe it, she enjoys spending lively moments at home with her family.
Milynn Hoffman
Director Finance
Milynn Hoffman, CPA serves as Mayerson Academy’s Director of Finance and Human Resources. She is an accomplished professional with over 20 years of experience in demanding leadership assignments in accounting services. She has served clients both in the public and private sectors in numerous industries ranging from sports training to real estate development to non-profit organizations. Milynn has significant experience in auditing, general accounting services, tax preparation, budgeting and payroll. She enjoys creating the infrastructure and processes to streamline and enhance financial, accounting and operational systems. As a strong leader she has successfully built relationships, established interaction among diverse communities and created a high level of trust with those whom she interacts.
hoffman.milynn@mayersonacademy.org
Carolyn Hefner
Director Development
Carolyn’s passion for lifelong learning, inclusivity and equitable opportunities for all led her to joining Mayerson Academy as Development Director in June 2021. Carolyn brings with her experience in fundraising and relationship-building, engaging multiple sectors of the community along the way, including over six years spent at Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC), departing as Senior Director of Philanthropy & Campaign Director. During her time at CMC, Carolyn managed CMC’s $85 million comprehensive campaign, providing strategic leadership and direction during her tenure. Carolyn enjoys building relationships with supporters and community partners to thoughtfully help them connect-the-dots to find where their passions fit with organizational needs and opportunities.
When not working, Carolyn enjoys spending time with her husband Cody, her stepkids, and their dogs. Carolyn is a lifelong Cincinnatian, and as of 2020, a Northern Kentucky resident. On the weekends, if not having fun at home, Carolyn and family are most likely to be spotted exploring different offerings in Covington or downtown Cincinnati.
hefner.carolyn@mayersonacademy.org
Philip Cunningham
Director, Strong Consulting
As Director of Strong Consulting, Philip leads the strategic direction and program operations for Strong Cincinnati. He provides coaching and supervision for the Strong Team. While working with Mayerson Academy’s Strong Cincinnati Institute, which engages cohorts of local organizations in using strengths-based practices to transform workplace cultures and unleash the potential of people in order to increase performance, he’s shown himself to be a talented facilitator, consultant, strategist, and relationship builder. In addition, Philip also provides consultation on topics such as organizational development, adult learning, leadership development, public and private partnerships, educational product development, design thinking and workforce development. Before joining Mayerson Academy, Philip led marketing and development efforts at McGraw Hill Education/Cengage Learning as the Market Development Team Leader and Marketing Manager. Philip earned his MBA from the University of Toledo.
cunningham.philip@mayersonacademy.org
Lori Crowe
Director, Thriving Learning Communities
Lori joined the Mayerson Academy in the Fall of 2019 as Senior Program Manager. She has been in public school education for the past 24 years. Prior to joining the Mayerson team she was a school administrator for 12 years in both the Forest Hills and West Clermont school districts. She has presented at local as well as national conferences. Lori brings her passion for helping individuals realize their strengths and use them to thrive! As Director of Thriving Learning Communities, Lori leads the strategic direction and program operations. She also leads sales and new business development for TLC. She enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 sons, reading historical fiction and practicing scales on her flute.
Marissa Rowley
Director, Digital Learning and Product Development
For over a decade, Marissa has been dedicated to educational equity, focusing on strong classroom culture both internationally and stateside. Prior to joining Mayerson Academy, Marissa’s experiences included serving as a middle school English language arts teacher and English as a foreign language teacher in Hangzhou, China, as well as coaching and mentoring beginning teachers. Through these varied experiences, Marissa discovered her passion. Strong professional development and positive classroom cultures positively impact equity for all students. Currently, she is applying lessons learned from both classroom and coaching settings to lead the organization-wide digital learning strategy leveraging Hub24 and developing opportunities to package new learning modules/offerings based on customer data and feedback.
rowley.marissa@mayersonacademy.org
Diana Viltrakis
Accounting Specialist
As the Accounting Specialist, Diana provides support to the Director of Finance managing the Accounts Payable and Receivable, contracts, and additional aspects of the financial processes. She joined the team at Mayerson Academy in February 2021 after working for 10 years in non-profit administration. As a self-proclaimed PBS junkie, Diana enjoys sharing the love of learning with her young son and husband and believes in the Mayerson value of searching for joy in all you do.
Janice Weiss
Director, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships
As Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships, Janice leads organization-wide marketing and corporate engagement strategies. She develops strategies to reach new customers with current/new product offerings based on customer data and feedback. She’s a serial entrepreneur who launched a fruit and vegetable-themed cookie company called Yucky Cookies in her third year of law school in Philadelphia. While Janice’s “sweet dreams” eventually crumbled, it allowed her to pivot from law into a marketing career that combined over fifteen years of classic consumer product management in Fortune 100 companies with nine years of employee engagement and internal branding work at Macy’s Inc. Originally from New York, Janice brought her family to Cincinnati almost twenty years ago, falling in love with everything Cincy from the moment they arrived. Driven by her signature strengths of fairness and gratitude, Janice’s personal passion is to fight for social justice and, in the words of Dr. Neal Mayerson, “help tip humanity towards its better nature.”
weiss.janice@mayersonacademy.org
David Schiopota
TLC School Facilitator
David Schiopota comes to us from Springboard Education and the Center for Arts Inspired Learning where he had experiences in implementing curriculum, working with administrators and coaching teachers. His previous experiences will serve him well in the role of TLC coach. David believes strongly in character strength building and promoting these strengths in all students and throughout the community. He believes the world becomes a better place when we encourage individuals to recognize and use their unique strengths to propel them to become the highest and best versions of themselves. We are all unique and when we join forces together great things can be accomplished. Flipping the mindset of individuals from the negative to the positive encourages individuals, families, and communities to thrive and grow.
schiopota.david@mayersonacademy.org
Kimberely A. Childress
Administrative Operations Coordinator
Before joining the Mayerson staff, Kimberely proudly retired from Cincinnati Public Schools after 33 years of service. Her tenure began in June 1979 in the Special Education department where she was a junior stenographer. Over time, Kim received many promotions. She ended her career as the executive secretary to the assistant superintendent. Other positions held during her tenure with the district included secretary to the superintendent, senior lead secretary and acting coordinator of the Customer Help Center. Embracing thoughtful leadership, a dedicated work ethic and careful attention to detail, Kimberely managed several software programs including the Development Assessment Center (DAC) and served as the webmaster for the Office of School Management and Performance. As Administrative Operations Coordinator, Kimberely provides administrative support for Human Resources, Strong Cincinnati, and Thriving Learning Communities. She also provides technical assistance for Salesforce and Hub24.
childress.kim@mayersonacademy.org
Miyah Byrd
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Miyah has worked in public education and the nonprofit field for almost 10 years partnering with The Holocaust and Humanity Center, Public Allies, Community Matters, The Welcome Project, and Santa Maria Community Services. She serves on the board of Your Store of the Queen City, a neighborhood led-and-run grocery store in a local food desert. As Marketing & Communications Specialist, Miyah implements the MA marketing strategy by leveraging MA social media outlets and facilitates Strong Cincinnati Network events.
byrd.miyah@mayersonacademy.org
Lisa Dillon
TLC School Facilitator
Starting her education career as an elementary school teacher, Lisa has been working in education since 2008. Her passion for early elementary education and educational equity led Lisa to Teach For America staff in Southwest Ohio in 2012. Fueled by her signature strengths of hope and love, Lisa believes deeply in what’s possible for all students and she tries to infuse humor along the way. When she is not working with educators, Lisa is spending her time playing with her three children, exploring her new community, and watching The Office for the 100th time.
Dillon.lisa@mayersonacademy.org
Tosha May
TLC Program Consultant
A former high school science teacher, Tosha has spent the last eleven years working with students and teachers to create strong academic content, inspiring visions for student learning and a culture in which all kids feel valued and accepted. Tosha brings her passion for professional development and teacher engagement to our Thriving Learning Communities team, working with educators and students to understand their signature strengths. When she is not working with educators, reading and learning more about educational equity or learning more about how to leverage strengths to be our best selves, Tosha will be found with her husband and young kids enjoying the great outdoors.
may.tosha@mayersonacademy.org
Karen Graves, Ph.D
TLC Senior Consultant
Karen is an experienced psychologist with more than 20 years of distinguished service to children, adolescents and their families. She is an experienced facilitator who has designed and led highly regarded professional learning experiences for parents, teachers and clinicians, and is a sought-after expert in online coaching. Karen is passionate about the potential of nonprofit organizations and has served as a consultant to develop nonprofit leaders’ capacity in strategic planning, efficiency management and team building.
graves.karen@mayersonacademy.org
Alisha Powers
TLC Program Manager
Originally from Phoenix, AZ, Alisha attended ASU for both her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. This will be her 9thyear in education. Her journey has encompassed teaching middle school all subjects, coaching and leadership development, as well as DEI and professional learning development and facilitation. Her passion is working towards educational equity and applying her strengths to build authentic and reflective practices and relationships. In her spare time, you’ll probably find her at the park with dog Rosie and partner Tim playing a board game.
powers.alisha@mayersonacademy.org
Hannah Smith, LISW-S, PMH-C
TLC Program Manager
Hannah is a mental health clinician with over ten years’ experience serving children and families in the Cincinnati area. She has provided mental health services in community and school settings, and specializes in perinatal and pediatric mental health. She is an experience trainer and consultant to school districts in the areas of trauma-informed care and strength-based interventions. She is passionate about making sure all families know their resilience is more powerful than the trauma they have experienced. For fun, she loves spending time with her family, taking photos, and baking.
Interested in joining our team?
We’re always searching for great people to work with and who could help us change the world for good. If you’re the kind of person who takes pride in helping others achieve their best, you could be a great fit for Mayerson Academy.
Thank You To Our Donors
