Educational Biography

Dr. Carmen Coleman serves the districts in the OVEC region as the Chief of Transformational Leading and Learning. Prior to this role, she served as Chief Academic Information Officer for Jefferson County Public Schools, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky and co-director for both the Next Generation Leadership Academy and the principal preparation program. In addition, Dr. Coleman has served as Superintendent, Director of Elementary Schools, principal and teacher in a variety of district contexts. Her work has focused on transforming the school experience from one developed to meet the needs of the Industrial Age to a system that will equip learners for success in the world today. As Superintendent, her work was featured by the Harvard Letter, PBS NewsHour, Getting Smart and District Administration. She has worked with hundreds of leaders across Kentucky to inspire a different way of thinking about the learner experience and is now working to scale the benefits of deeper learning across the region for 155,000 students.

Educational Biography

Lacey Eckels has been an educator since 2005. She began her journey as a middle school Science teacher In Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS).  In 2011 she joined the district science support team where she developed a love for coaching and professional learning at the district and national level.  During this time she collaborated on the development of the Science Standards as well as the KSA for Science.  In 2019 Lacey became the lead for K-12 Science In JCPS before joining OVEC In 2022.  Lacey consistently works toward establishing equitable access for all students to rigorous, phenomenon-driven science instruction that Is grounded In students' lives.  

Educational Biography

Rachel Albright began her teaching career in 2015, completing her student teaching in Linköping, Sweden at Katedralskolan. Upon her return to the States, she served as a middle school English Language Arts Teacher at Boyle County Middle School. She then transitioned to teaching ELA at Danville High School where she was recognized as "Rookie of the Year". Most recently, before coming to OVEC, Rachel led efforts regionally to rebound from the impacts of the pandemic as a Learning Acceleration Specialist with Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative. Rachel is passionate about empowering teachers to create equitable opportunities for all students to engage with relevant, rigorous learning.