Leadership Team

Leigh Tait, Director of Community Engagement & Experiential Learning

Leigh has been lucky enough to be a part of the GDS community since 2015, and in the Community Engagement & Experiential Learning Office since 2018. She has worked with students throughout her career to cultivate opportunities for authentic collaboration and social awareness-building, and to harness their capacities as young change-makers. She has founded and/or developed various well-loved GDS programs which utilize the DMV area as a classroom: the Middle School GDS Corps, High School Minimester, 11th Grade Internship Program, Summer Policy and Advocacy Institute, and the Cross-Divisional Buddy Program. Her philosophy on education centers around the importance of hands-on opportunities for student connection: with other young people, and with causes that matter (to the student and on a global scale). She says, "my favorite thing about GDS is the culture of authentic student activism." Leigh prides herself on her own identity as a lifelong learner, and loves that every day, she gets to teach and be taught by young people committed to growth and long-lasting social change. 

Michelle McKeever, Associate Director of Community Engagement and Experiential Learning

Michelle has been at GDS since 2018 and joined the Community Engagement & Experiential Learning Office in 2022. Outside of the CEEL Office, Michelle is a 9th grade advisor and teaches mental health & wellness as part of the Middle School Health curriculum. In addition to her Master's in Education Policy and Leadership, Michelle uses her depth of training in mindfulness and wellness to ensure that students exploring difficult issues feel supported and are taking care of themselves as they dive into activism. She loves engaging with students and is consistently inspired by the way they see the world. Michelle joined the Policy Institute team in 2021 as the Addressing Sexual Assault and Consent track lead and is excited to now support each track through her new role in the CEEL Office.

Winnie Kong, Community Engagement and Experiential Learning Coordinator

Winnie joined GDS in 2024 as the CEEL Coordinator. Winnie received a BA in Politics and East Asian Studies from New York University and was a Moth storyteller through The Moth Community Program. She joined GDS because she is deeply committed to youth advocacy and is passionate about fostering a more inclusive and equitable society. Outside of school, Winnie enjoys exploring different cultures through traveling and trying new restaurants in DC.

Julia Fisher, AI in a Human World Track Lead

Julia, a GDS alumna, joined the English Department in 2018. She has a BA from Yale University and a PhD in English from the University of Virginia, where she won a graduate teaching award. She has written for The Washington Post, The New Republic, Raritan, and other publications. Julia also advises The Augur Bit, GDS's student newspaper.

Leslie Tejada, Bodily Autonomy and Consent Track Lead

Leslie joined GDS in 2024 as a Middle School Math Teacher. Her favorite GDS moment was meeting and connecting with the math team; they eased her worries as a newcomer. In May of 2024, she graduated with a masters in Curriculum and Teaching from Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. A unit she enjoys teaching is quadratics. Leslie’s family is from the Dominican Republic, and she identifies as Afro-Latina/Black Latina. When she’s not at GDS, she enjoys reading books, playing the piano, making art, or gaming on her PC. She also enjoys traveling, watching anime or horror movies, and cooking with new recipes. Fun facts about her include: she lived in Japan for two years, and has over 20 tattoos!

Jade Hage, Church and State: One Nation Under God? Track Lead

Jade joined GDS in 2023 as a High School English teacher. Prior to GDS, she taught at a private boarding school in Princeton, New Jersey for five years. Jade received a BA in English with a minor in Education Studies from UCLA, an MA in English from Georgetown University, and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. When not at School, she loves reading fiction, spending time with friends and family, pampering her cat, and singing! As a Lebanese woman, Jade has a lot of opinions about store-bought hummus.

Kathryn Santivasci, Criminal Justice Track Lead

Kathryn joined GDS in 2024 as a Middle School Math Teacher. She received a BS in Economics from James Madison University and a Master's in Education from University of Louisville. She more recently co-presented a session on AI at the Teacher Innovator Institute through the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

Kathryn is passionate about getting students involved in social justice, she counts her parents as her inspiration. Her mother—a former Spanish teacher, now a high school guidance counselor—was one of the reasons she decided to go into education, and her dad has always been supportive of her goals and helps her with anything she needs. Since her great-grandparents immigrated from Italy, she and her dad are working together on getting their Italian citizenship. When away from GDS, Kathryn likes to read, crochet, travel, and spend time with her cat, Stella. She has been to 28 countries, read 64 books last year, and has seen Taylor Swift in concert four times!

Darius Pardner, Equity in Higher Education Track Lead

Darius joined GDS in 2021 as an Associate Director of College Counseling. Prior to GDS, he served as an admissions representative at the University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado, and most recently, Colorado College. He received a BA in Organizational and Strategic Communication followed by an MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Darius has a profound, personal understanding of the importance of finding the right college or university; after all, he met and married his college sweetheart, with whom he has a three-year-old son named Princeton. When not at GDS, Darius enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and playing golf.

Chris Oster, Politics and Powerlines: Energy Use in Society Track Lead

Chris is currently the Environmental Stewardship & Campus Commuting Manager at GDS. He joined the High School in 2019 to teach physics, science, and math. He received an AB and SM in Geophysical and Physical Sciences respectively from the University of Chicago and is currently writing his doctoral dissertation on the impacts of alternative fuel technologies on air quality and policies that could be implemented to secure a just transition for all communities. Prior to GDS, Chris studied nuclear decontamination at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and taught in the Chicago Public Schools. When not studying ways to save the planet from human-created destruction, you may find Chris riding his bike, combing his luscious beard, or working on his dissertation, obviously.

Topher Dunne, Waging Life: The Immigrant Experience Track Lead

Topher started at GDS as a substitute in 1990 while studying economics. He began teaching full-time in history and social science in 1995. He has been connected to GDS performing arts since 1993, and he has facilitated and advised the GDS adoptee affinity group since its inception in 2013. Topher received an MA in economics from American University following a BA in economics from Wesleyan University. He is a musician, who plays everything from Javanese Gamelan music to whatever the GDS jazz and creative music program picks up. He has played an integral role in the growth of the Policy Institute since the second summer the program ran. He has, and is continuing, to take the lead on the group focused on Waging Life in the DMV.