Our leadership Team
Educational Enterprises, Inc. (EEI), our schools and Compass Centers are led by a team of dedicated individuals all striving for student success.
National Board of Directors
-
James Rahn
Co-Chair/Secretary
James Rahn serves as president of the Kern Family Foundation (Waukesha, WI). He is responsible for providing leadership and direction to expand existing programs and establish new programs in support of the Foundation's mission to build the future through values, education, and innovation. Prior to joining the Kern Family Foundation, Jim served as a professor at Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, where he established and directed the Center for Urban Teaching. Jim spent the first seventeen years of his professional life in Lutheran education as a middle school teacher, principal and regional school coordinator. Jim is co-founder and Board co-chair of Educational Enterprises, Inc./HOPE Schools.
-
Mark Neumann
Co-Chair/Treasurer
Mark Neumann successfully owns and operates numerous real estate home building companies in Southeast Wisconsin which are known for their "green" innovations. He holds a master's degree in supervision and school leadership and has a strong entrepreneurial background focused in real estate and finance. Mark is a former United States Congressman with proven leadership skills tackling the issue of balancing the federal budget. Previously he served on the Board of Regents for Wisconsin Lutheran College for nine years and was a dedicated math teacher and coach at the high school and college level. Mark is co-founder and Board co-chair of Educational Enterprises, Inc./HOPE Schools.
National and Regional Teams
-
Andrew Neumann, Ph.D.
CEO/President of Educational Enterprises, Inc.
In his time at Educational Enterprises, Inc., Andrew has led the team to open two new schools; EAGLE College Prepatory School (a charter school in Phoenix, AZ) and HOPE Christian School: Fortis (a K4 – 8 grade school participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program). While expanding the quantity of schools and students served, the organization has also grown in quality by strengthening the areas of academic programming and delivery, school leadership, financial management, and teacher preparation while decreasing the average cost per student.
Prior to joining the team, Andrew taught at four different locations including two high schools, one college, and one university. While pursuing his Ph.D. in educational mathematics, he had the opportunity to facilitate professional development programs for numerous teachers in Colorado. He also served in leadership positions on two different school boards, both of which were new schools at the time.
Additionally, he currently serves on the board of School Choice Wisconsin, the Alliance for Choices in Education, and is a co-founding member of the Choice Schools Association.
-
Paul Kremer, Ph.D.
Regional Executive Director: Arizona
Paul's accomplishments during the founding year of EAGLE College Prep include successfully writing for a charter, obtaining approximately $680,000 in start-up funds, securing a school site, overseeing new building construction, assembling an active and committed governing board, recruiting and hiring loving and highly-qualified staff, recruiting a diversity of students, and ensuring a smooth start to a founding school. Currently, Paul oversees all financial and educational aspects of EAGLE which opened in September 2008 with less than 120 students. Three months later, the leadership team capped enrollment with 160 students enrolled and six months later had over 240 students enrolled for the following school year with waiting lists.
Prior to founding EAGLE College Prep, Paul owned and operated a small business as well as pursued higher education. While obtaining his master's degree in educational psychology, Paul also taught college courses in both education and psychology and conducted social and educational research. Paul recently earned his Ph.D. in lifespan developmental psychology studying educational issues and completed his dissertation on bullying in elementary schools.
-
Wendy Noble, Ed.D.
Regional Director of Teaching and Learning: Phoenix
-
Dr. Wendy Noble is part of the founding leadership team to take the vision of urban education to south Phoenix where the need is great and the educational options for families are minimal. After only two years of being open, EAGLE College Prep has been recognized by the state of Arizona as a highly performing school placing it in the top 20% statewide. Wendy works closely with teachers to ensure students receive excellent instruction aligned with learning benchmarks so they can achieve academic greatness and soar to their potential and beyond. She truly believes in “college prep at an early age” and wants to inspire, support, and equip her teachers to meet the educational needs of all EAGLE scholars.
Wendy is passionate about serving the greater Arizona educational community as well as the EAGLE community. She was appointed to the Arizona English Language Arts Standards committee in 2008 by the office of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. For over two years she has helped craft the new 2010 Arizona English Language Arts Standards which are fully aligned to the Common Core Standards. As a member of this committee, she has been trained by the Arizona Department of Education to train teachers throughout the state of Arizona on understanding and implementing these new standards. She is passionate about inspiring others to uphold high standards for their students and truly feels the new standards empower educators to step outside the box in their approach to teaching. As part of the Charter Starter Program at the Arizona Charter Schools Association, Wendy also mentors aspiring school leaders through a one-year commitment to each. She provides weekly support as they work through the charter application process. She truly strives to make a broader impact on education in the state of Arizona.
Wendy has a strong background in education and previously served as an elementary school principal at a highly performing school in Arizona, a middle school language arts and social studies teacher at an excelling school in Arizona, and a high school English teacher in the Chicago suburbs. Wendy has her doctorate and master's in educational administration and supervision. She is also holds superintendent, principal, and teacher certifications in the state of Arizona.
-
Rev. Jotham Johann, Esq.
Organizational and Strategic Consultant
Jotham will assist EEI/HOPE in the areas of governance and board development, strategic planning and implementation, partnership building, leadership development, and other new faith-based ventures
Jotham received his education at the Juilliard School for the Performing Arts, NYC, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY, Boston College School of Law, Chestnut Hill, MA, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. His professional experiences include law practice, and service as Executive Director of National Mission for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and National Director of Multi-Ethnic Ministries for LCMS World Mission. Jotham has served on boards of numerous non-profit entities, such as the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Wheat Ridge Ministries, and the Center for US Missions.
-
Duncan McCrann
High School Transition Team Leader and Strategic Consultant
Duncan is an educational consultant specializing in charter school growth, management and operations. He will be assisting EEI/HOPE with organizational structure and direction as well as high school model transitions moving forward.
Previously, Duncan was the President and Chief Operating Officer of KIPP Houston. At KIPP, his principle responsibility was to oversee the expansion of KIPP in the Houston area from nine to forty two schools over the span of a decade. He also served as Head of High Schools for one year supervising the KIPP Houston High School which was ranked 16th in the country by US News and World Report.
Duncan, a Harvard graduate, has extensive leadership experience in both commercial real estate development and non-profit education. During his 20-year career as a real estate developer, Duncan served as President and CEO of several investment partnerships. As a business executive, he honed his skills in strategic planning, team building, organizational alignment, and decision making.
After a successful business career, Duncan followed a calling to help struggling teens and joined the founding team of a boarding school in Connecticut. He was the principle player in the acquisition, renovation and delivery of the Hyde/Woodstock School which opened in 1996. In time, Mr. McCrann became the Headmaster of the school, adding responsibility for the school's culture, academic performance and operations to his work teaching chemistry and coaching basketball.
-
Jamie Luehring
Director of Leader Training, Principal, HOPE Christian School (Grades K5 -8)
Jamie Luehring is currently principal of HOPE Christian School in Milwaukee. He is also taking on an important role in developing the future leaders of EEI/HOPE tapping into his skilled mentoring abilities.
Prior to joining the HOPE team, Jamie served as principal and teacher at St. Paul, Riverside, CA, for five years where the school doubled in size and was the second fastest growing school in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod at that time. During this time, he served on the curriculum committee of California Lutheran High School. He also has served at Our Savior, Grafton, WI, for three years where he helped to launch a multimillion dollar building program and lead curriculum development. Jamie has completed his master's degree in educational administration.
-
Wendy Greenfield
HOPE Vice President of Development and Communications
Wendy is responsible for fundraising and external communication activities for HOPE Christian Schools. She has more than 20 years of experience developing and executing strategies to help organizations build reputation and generate revenue.
Prior to joining HOPE, Wendy was a vice president at Fleishman-Hillard, an international communications agency. For ten years, she helped organizations position their brands, develop their messages, and effectively tell their stories so that they could achieve their business objectives. Wendy provided counsel on strategic planning, issues management, media relations, employee communications and event planning.
Wendy graduated with a bachelor's degree from Wisconsin Lutheran College. She earned her master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then volunteered for one year as a teacher in Plzen, Czech Republic. Wendy serves on the board of directors for Wheat Ridge Ministries and the Christian Women's Leadership Circle.
-
Trevor Burbach
EEI National Controller
In this role, Trevor is responsible for the complete accounting cycle for all legal entities under EEI's management including HOPE, EEI Real Estate Holdings, LLC, and EAGLE College Prep. Trevor assists in creating and meeting budgets and consistently sought cost-saving measures to help reduce overall cost per student while continuing to improve the quality of services offered. In his first two years with EEI/HOPE, Trevor streamlined the audit process and achieved 100% compliance for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Additionally, Trevor has created policy and procedure designed to increase efficiency and productivity within the organization and works to secure financing for multiple building projects.
Since graduating from University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire in 2002, Trevor has developed a strong financial background working in the financial services industry as a controller for a major restaurant management company and as accountant and director of business for an H & R Block subsidiary.
-
Denni Sellnow
EEI National Director of Human Resources
While at EEI/HOPE, Denni has built a system to ensure compliance with all national, state, and local governing policies in the area of human resource across the systems of schools. She has also taken a leadership role in developing, writing and publishing the corporation's policy and procedures manual, which is implemented throughout the organization.
Prior to joining EEI/HOPE, Denni was the Human Resource Director at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Denni also brings a vast wealth of knowledge from her tenure as an assistant manager of a local grocery store in which she was responsible for the day to day operations, sales, marketing, recruiting and ordering. Denni has chaired many committees on the local and state level; one of which was President of Wisconsin College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (WISCUPA-HR). Denni earned her bachelor's degree from Alverno College, Milwaukee.
-
Linda Harder
EEI National Assistant Controller
Linda joined to EEI/HOPE team in December 2010 and has embraced the challenges of learning a new management software system, Blackbaud, with professionalism and speed. She works closely with the Controller and will take on many responsibilities and tasks as her position is developed.
Prior to joining the team, Linda worked five years in public accounting and eleven years as Divisional Controller and Cash Manager at Zilber Ltd./Homes by Towne, a national real estate developer located in downtown Milwaukee. Her experience in the preparation, analysis and consolidation of financial statements has prepared her well for her current role. Linda is a graduate of University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Leadership: Schools
-
Patrick Hurley, Principal
HOPE Christian School: Fortis (Grades K4 – 8)
Patrick Hurley is the founding principal of HOPE Fortis. While in this leadership position, he has created a culture within the school focused on Christ, College, and Character. He has created a community of students who care about their education and each other. Because of his desire to bring HOPE to more children in the city of Milwaukee he lead an expansion project at his school, building a new facility to serve children in the K4-8th grades expanding capacity from a middle school of 70 students to a K4- 8 school of 240 students.
Prior to his work at HOPE, Patrick was a classroom teacher at St. Marcus Lutheran School and played a major role in the development of St. Marcus to a “No Excuses”, college prep school. He introduced the Saturday School concept to the students as well as developed many of the mantras, chants, and sayings still witnessed in the building today. Patrick is currently working on his master’s degree in educational administration.
-
Paul Becker
School Director, HOPE Christian High School
Paul Becker is in his first year leading the High School after serving for three years as an instructor. Paul left the mathematics and business classroom to bring new behavioral and academic systems to the high school. Paul is proud of the teachers and staff at the High School as it had weathered the storms and triumphs of the current school year. Prior to working at HOPE, Paul was a third and fourth classroom teacher at St. John's Lutheran School in Newburg, WI.
-
Laura Hoogervost
Director of Instruction, HOPE Christian High School
In her role, Laura creates individualized staff development opportunities, facilitates ongoing professional development trainings, and oversees curriculum, instruction, and assessment. On a daily basis she collaborates with teachers to improve instructional quality in order to drive student achievement. Before her leadership role, she also taught Spanish I and II at the High School for two years.
Prior to her work at HOPE, Laura taught at ECO Charter School in Camden, NJ as a Teach For America corps member. There she was named "Educator of the Year", served as Grade Dean, and chaired an active Parent Teacher Organization. She has completed a graduate mentoring certificate through the Southeastern WI New Teacher Project and is currently working on her master's degree in educational leadership.
-
Ariel Elgar
Principal, EAGLE College Prep Harmony(Grades K5-3)
Ariel Elgar will be the founding principal of EAGLE College Prep Harmony. EAGLE Harmony is a new school which will open its doors in Fall 2011 estimating enrollment at 125 students. She served as a founding teacher for three years at EAGLE College Prep before taking on this new challenge. Ariel is finishing her Master of Education in Educational Administration and Supervision at Arizona State University and is passionate about urban education and working with a diverse group of students.
