Our Team
With decades of experience leading and crafting effective school cultures, our leaders are ready and excited to partner with you in blazing new paths and growth opportunities for your organization.
Cheryl Hibbeln is the Founder and President of IlluminatED Collective, a group of transformative educational consultants who partner with business, nonprofit, higher education and school districts to support strategic planning and change management in service of equitable outcomes for all. Cheryl spent over twenty years in the San Diego Unified School District where as a principal she was part of the successful transformation of a large urban high school into four award winning small schools, and as an executive director where she designed efforts to align the district graduation requirements to the UC entry course requirements, expanded the dual enrollment program with the colleges, and redesigned secondary master schedule efforts. Cheryl knows what it takes to lead diverse district teams to achieve challenging systemic efforts in service of equity.
In addition, Cheryl built impactful partnerships with business/industry, philanthropic, higher education, nonprofit and cross-district leaders to design transformative experiences for students across the city of San Diego.
See Cheryl’s Full Bio and Recent Projects.
Dr. Lovely has spent 38 years serving K-12 schools in every capacity from instructional aide to teacher to principal to central office administrator to Superintendent.
During her role as Superintendent in Carlsbad, California she spearheaded several efforts to support future ready teaching and learning including the implementation of a county-wide Career Pathways grant; transformation of school libraries into Makerspaces; formation of a tuition free dual enrollment partnership with the local community college; and leveraging the state standards, funding, and accountability system to ensure underserved students achieved at higher-than-expected levels of performance.
See Suzette’s Full Bio and and Recent Projects.
Jodee Brentlinger | Associate
Jodee Brentlinger, former Superintendent of the Solana Beach School District, comes to the Collective after serving over 35 years in public education. Working across four districts, she has served as a classroom teacher, elementary assistant principal and principal; director in both the education and personnel services divisions as well as serving as an Assistant Superintendent in three different roles (Personnel Services, Administrative Services, Education Services). Ms. Brentlinger brings pre and post COVID leadership experiences to assist school administrators successfully navigate post pandemic environments.
As a systems thinker, Ms. Brentlinger brings knowledge, skill, and experience to support school, department, and district leaders to develop and implement systems and structures in order to achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, Ms. Brentlinger specializes in employee relations, negotiations, developing and monitoring budgets and expenditures, planning and executing community engagement opportunities, responding through proactive communications, and coaching new and experienced leaders. Ms. Brentlinger boasts a strong track record in building leadership and capacity from within and connecting these efforts to student success.
Carol A. Osborne | Associate
Since retiring, Dr. Plahy has been called upon to serve in interim roles to assist Superintendents as they restructure their Educational Services team and transition new leadership into the department.Dr. Plahy completed her undergraduate and Master’s Degree work at Biola University, California State University, Fullerton, and Azusa Pacific University. She received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from California State University, Fullerton.
Dr. LaFaye Platter has a passion for helping organizations function more effectively. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership, Dr. Platter’s work in the fields of education, finance, marketing, and commercial real estate has enabled her to develop a deep understanding of the political and cultural influences that affect the success of organizations.
In 2017, Dr. Platter retired as the Deputy Superintendent of Human Resource in the Hemet Unified School District in Southern California. She is a highly sought-after speaker, facilitator, and coach that guides teams to analyze problems, think strategically, and develop plans that make life better for all stakeholders.
Jayne Christakos has 25 years of experience in K-12 education in the finance and operations field. Ms. Christakos is a recently retired associate superintendent of business, facilities and operations for the San Bernardino City Unified School District, California’s 9th largest district. She is now the co-owner of VIP Leadership Services, LLC, the director of the California Association School Business Officials (CASBO’s) Business Executive Leadership (BEL) program which prepares current and future CBO’s for the rigorous demands and rewards of being a school business executive leader. Ms. Christakos received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a Concentration in Accounting from California State University, San Bernardino and a Master of Arts in Management from the University of Redlands. Ms. Christakos also earned her Chief Business Official Certification.
School Business Academy for ten years. He is also one of only two people in California to be awarded the International Association of School Business Officials highest honor, the Distinguished Eagle Award for significant contributions to K-12 Public Education.
Ana Díaz-Booz is the Lead Principal at the Kearny High Educational Complex, a public school site composed of four autonomous comprehensive high schools that are thematic in nature. Ana has worked in the San Diego Unified School District for 25 years, starting her career as a secondary bilingual math teacher in the Logan Heights area. At the beginning of her administrative career, she was part of Kearny’s successful transformation from a large urban high school into four award winning small schools. As part of reform efforts, she led a team that created what is now one of the largest dual-enrollment efforts in the county, serving roughly 600 students who benefit from the Mesa College Dual Enrollment Program.
Other shared successes include the creation of master schedules with Linked Learning grade-level cohorts, expansion of project-based, industry supported outcomes and an emphasis on data-driven decisions surrounding literacy, engagement, and access for all. Over the past decade, Kearny High Educational Complex has been highlighted as one of America’s best urban schools by the National Center for Urban School Transformation, a California Distinguished School, a Title I Academic Achievement Award winner, and a featured case study by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS). Ana holds Professional Clear Administrative and Teaching Credentials from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, an MA in School Administration, and a BA in Mathematics.
Her work includes developing a purpose-driven curriculum and training program for the Community Alliance for Youth Success (CAYS), collaborating with community colleges to establish certification pathways that give high school students a head start on their careers, and designing and leading the Youth Success Conference—a dynamic student professional development experience where students select their own breakout workshops and industry learning comes directly to them at the school site.
In addition to her program leadership, Candice specializes in website design and professional educational graphic design, creating engaging digital and visual materials that communicate complex ideas with clarity and inspire student engagement. She is known for her collaborative leadership, creative vision, and commitment to aligning schools, employers, and higher education partners to expand opportunities and empower the next generation of purpose-driven professionals.
Nate Howard | Collaborator
Nate Howard is a professional speaker, poet, educator, and social entrepreneur. In May 2013, Nate made the front page of the LA Times for sparking a movement against racial profiling after 79 LAPD officers shut down his event at USC. Realizing someone was attempting to tell his story, he founded Movement BE, a non-profit organization that helps young people discover their story.
With the motto of “Tell Your Story Before They Do,” Movement BE has directly impacted thousands of students across the country and even the world. Nate was selected on the inaugural NBCBLK28 list as one of the top 28 black leaders in the nation under 28 years old. He was later featured on the Today Show as one of the “Best and Brightest: Game Changers Making History.” Most recently Nate was honored in his hometown of San Diego as the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year.”
Nate’s belief is that we should focus our activism on education, empowering youth to create change so that the movement is proactive and sustainable. Seeing poetry as a means of self-expression, he challenges school systems to see its use as vital for the development of youth, giving them the courage to find their story to challenge the status quo. Nate has recorded his poetry on songs with artists Ty Dolla Sign, Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Cornel West.
Marlo Lario | Collaborator
Marlo specializes in helping school districts, municipalities, and organizations design and implement sustainable P-20 college and career ecosystems. Her work centers on bridging education and industry through strategic planning, cross-sector collaboration, and scalable work-based learning models.
She brings deep expertise in federal and state education funding, including managing Perkins and other state CTE grants to maximize impact and ensure resources are aligned with student outcomes, program quality, and local workforce priorities.
Under her leadership, in 2024-2025, high school students engaged in more than 19,000 work-based learning experiences, including internships, job shadows, or industry-led career experiences—fueling student engagement and postsecondary success. She has cultivated employer partnerships with companies like Honeywell, Boeing, Empire CAT, and Banner Health, and collaborates regularly with workforce development leaders including the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and ElevateEdAZ.
In addition to her work in CTE and workforce development, Marlo is a certified CliftonStrengths facilitator, offering individual and team-based strengths coaching. She supports educators, administrators, and organizations in understanding and leveraging their unique strengths to enhance collaboration, leadership, and team performance.
Veronica Ortega | Collaborator
Veronica Ortega is an Operations Specialist who brings expertise in secondary classified support and transcribing international credits. She has worked in the San Diego Unified School District for over 30 years, supporting all levels of K-12 schools and central office management. She is a consummate professional and proactive leader committed to student success and equity. Veronica’s passion is empowering classified staff by building capacity and providing paramount support to our students and families.
Veronica leads professional development for all secondary classified staff, specializing in registrar and site technician support. Her guidance ensures that sites are able to complete reporting practices that support our UC-aligned graduation standards. Some of the professional developments she spearheads include: Transcript evaluations and transcription of credits/grades from out-of-state/country; Transcription of college coursework credit; State policies & procedures pertaining to student graduation options, such as modified diplomas and partial credits; Managing and verifying early grads, alternative site grads, and graduation data; Operations of Grad Docs and diploma distribution; District policies and procedures pertaining to student records, “all” graduation, and “anything” transcripts, and Grade storing, grade changes and appeals, and graduation verifications.
Veronica’s educational qualifications and affiliations are a testament to her expertise. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and an MBA from National University. In addition, she is a respected member of the Executive Board of the Administrators Association of San Diego (AASD), the United Administrators Southern California (UASC), and the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA AFL-CIO).
Zoë Randall co-lead the STEAM initiative at San Diego Unified School District, where she cultivated a community of curious, creative changemakers. As a curriculum writer and professional learning facilitator, her experience is grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards, Design Thinking, and Project-Based Learning. Zoë earned a B.A. in Visual Arts, Media from the University of California San Diego and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from High Tech High Graduate School of Education. She’s passionate about designing equitable and joyful experiences where all learners flourish.
Deann Ragsdale | Collaborator
Deann’s background as a general education teacher, principal and principal coach informs her approach to both special education and curriculum and instruction, emphasizing integration and access to quality education for all students. She is known for her strategic leadership, creative problem-solving, and commitment to student-centered solutions.
Dr. Lori Rhodes | Collaborator
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