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Welcome, colleagues! This website is your one-stop-shop for all things related to Breakthrough's Collaborative Standards and Organizational Health Critical Inputs. For an overview of this process and some of the background behind the development and measurement of the standards and inputs, check out this document.
Jee Deogracias
Jee Deogracias
Managing Director of Research & Technology
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Work Hours & Time Zone: 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time
Location: Alexandria, VA
Jee comes to Breakthrough’s National Office having worn many hats within the K-12 education space. Most recently, she was a Senior Research Director at Hanover Research, managing research projects and program evaluations for school districts, state departments of education, and education-related non-profits across the country. Before this, she was an Evaluation and Assessment Analyst with Alexandria City Public Schools, and an elementary band teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools. She received a Bachelor of Music in flute performance with a teaching certification at the University of Michigan, a Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in education policy at the University of Maryland.
Contact her with any questions around the Collaborative Standards Assessment, Collaborative Standards, or Pathway Plans.
Phyllis Elick
Phyllis Elick
Managing Director of Programs
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Work Hours & Time Zone: 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Phyllis has served many roles at the National office and is currently the Managing Director of Programs. Throughout her career, she has been committed to working with traditionally underrepresented students to achieve post-secondary success and empowering aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educators and advocates. Phyllis has been with Breakthrough for 14 years, seven at the National Office and seven as the High School Program Director at Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia. As a former teacher, Phyllis is passionate about creating opportunities for college-age students to lead their own classrooms and have a supported first-teaching experience. Phyllis has her undergraduate degree from Smith College and a Master’s degree in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives with her family in the Philadelphia area.
Contact her with any questions around the Collaborative Standards Resource Map.
Alex Serna
Alex Serna
Chief Operations Officer
Pronouns: He/him/él
Work Hours & Time Zone: 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time
Location: San Diego, CA
Alex is the Chief Operating Officer at the Breakthrough Collaborative. Alex previously served as Chief Program Officer at Breakthrough Collaborative. For almost eight years, Alex served as the Executive Director and before that Program Director of Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano. Alex volunteers his time on advisory boards such as the University of California, Irvine’s School of Social Ecology Field Study Program, nonprofits like the Wellness and Prevention Center, and the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund.
He believes passionately in the power of education and its potential to change lives, just like it transformed his. He lives in San Diego with his high school sweetheart and four daughters.
Contact him with any questions around the Organizational Health Self-Assessment and/or critical inputs.
Samantha (Sam) Geary
Samantha (Sam) Geary
College Access and Success Manager
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Time Zone: (Currently) Eastern Time
Location: Idaho/North Carolina
Sam is a former Breakthrough program director and teaching fellow and is passionate about the Collaborative’s dual mission of serving highly motivated, traditionally underrepresented students to achieve post-secondary success while simultaneously equipping aspiring leaders to advocate for educational equity. In her previous role as the Director of College Access and Completion for Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, for 5 years she leveraged relationship-building and robust, data-driven programming to provide college and financial aid counseling. After transitioning to an education consultant role, she has learned that counseling high school students and families through the admissions process and their college years is her strength and passion and looks forward to bringing her expertise to the national team!
Contact her with any questions around the post-secondary success standards that are currently being created and finalized.
Meredith Zackey
Meredith Zackey
Formerly Senior Director of Program Success; currently a National Office consultant
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Time Zone: Eastern Time
Location: Philadelphia, PA
My journey with Breakthrough began in 2009, when I came to work for Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia supporting their middle school program. I had served as an AmeriCorps member with City Year for two years prior, and became passionate about working to support educational equity. I went to graduate school at Georgetown University to get my Master's Degree in Public Policy, focusing on education policy, then worked for the District of Columbia Public Schools on their Principal Effectiveness Team. I was happily pulled back to Breakthrough, working briefly as a Dean of Instruction for Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia again, and then at Breakthrough Manchester as their Program Director. I have five summers of Breakthrough experience "on the ground", and have been at the National Office supporting affiliates since December 2014. I originally supported our middle school program, and in my latest role, I supported all things related to program success, including the Collaborative Standards. I'm currently consulting with the National Office to support a variety of projects, including this work. When I'm not working, I'm probably baking, reading, or spending time with my two cats, Pixie and Twix.
For each of the documents below, hover over the icon and click on the grey box with an arrow to expand.
Collaborative Standards & Critical Inputs_Aug 2024.pdfBreakthrough Collaborative Standards & Organizational Health Critical Inputs
Breakthrough Collaborative Standards & Organizational Health Critical Inputs
This document contains the standards as well as the 'critical inputs' for Organizational Health. These were last modified in August 2024.
Breakthrough Collaborative Standards Benchmarks & Glossary (Updated August '24)
Breakthrough Collaborative Standards Benchmarks & Glossary (Updated August '24)
This document contains the benchmarks for each quality indicator and shows which survey questions are tied to that indicator. It also includes a rationale for each.
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