Dr. Lucia Dettori is a member of the CAFÉCS leadership team. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing at DePaul University, where she also serves as the Associate Dean of the College of Computing and Digital Media. Through a research leave from DePaul, she also served recently as the Executive Director of the Office of Computer Science at Chicago Public Schools. Dr. Dettori holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from University of Paris XI. She has been involved in efforts to broaden participation in computing for 15 years both as a researcher and most recently as a practitioner through her position at Chicago Public Schools.
Dr. Steven McGee serves on the CAFÉCS leadership team as the research director. He is president of The Learning Partnership, an independent research organization that focuses on development and implementation of STEM interventions. Dr. McGee has two decades of expertise in fostering long-term partnerships between researchers and practitioners. As one of the first learning scientists in the nation, he studies how to support learning from an individual cognitive perspective as well as from the perspective of systems and social contexts. He has formerly served as a Northwestern University faculty member in the School of Education and Social Policy, Director of Technology and Assessment at Loyola University, and Chief R&D Officer for the NASA Classroom of the Future
Don Yanek is a member of the CAFÉCS leadership team. He is an instructional coach for the Office of Computer Science at Chicago Public Schools, a veteran high school teacher, a founder and former President of the Chicago Chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association, and has served as co-PI on National Science Foundation (NSF) computing education grants: Accelerate ECS For All, Chicago Alliance For Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS), and Taste of Computing. The goal of the Accelerate ECS For All research grant is to develop a coaching and peer mentoring protocol for computer science teachers, while the Taste of Computing Grant facilitated professional development for teachers in Chicago and Illinois. Don is a national Exploring Computer Science teacher professional development facilitator, a pilot for the AP CS Principles course, an AP CS A teacher, and an advisor for the Teacher Education in Computer Science (TECS) program at Illinois State University and the Illinois CS Task Force. He’s a National Center for Women & Information Technology Aspirations in Computing Educator Award winner and plays drums in the indie rock band The Purcells.
Dr. Ronald Greenberg is a member of the CAFÉCS leadership team. He is a Professor of Computer Science at Loyola University Chicago and serves as Undergraduate Program Director for the Department. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical engineering and Computer Science at MIT and four prior degrees at Washington University St. Louis (B.S./M.S. in Systems Science and Mathematics, B.S. in Computer Science, and A.B. in Mathematics). Dr. Greenberg has been involved for over a decade in a variety of efforts to broaden participation in computing; he and his students have engaged in many outreach efforts throughout the Chicago area.
Dr. Dale Reed is a member of the CAFÉCS leadership team. He is a Clinical Professor in Computer Science at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Northwestern University. Dr. Reed has led CS outreach programs in Chicago since 1993 and is indebted to area high school teachers for sharing teaching wisdom with him. He believes technology education is a justice issue for our time and believes that with preparation every student can succeed in learning CS. He believes learning should excite curiosity. He knows how to juggle and ride the unicycle, and someday hopes to do both at the same time.
Brenda Darden Wilkerson is President and CEO of Anitab.org. Prior to Anitab.org, Wilkerson founded the "Computer Science for All" initiative in Chicago and was Director of Computer Science Education for Chicago Public Schools. She holds a computer science degree from Northwestern University.
Dr. Andrew Rasmussen is a member of the CAFÉCS leadership team. He is the Project Developer for the Office of Computer Science at Chicago Public Schools. In this role he guides the implementation of research projects supporting computer science education within CPS, and serves as a connector between the Office of Computer Science and numerous partners internal and external to CPS. He has been involved in efforts to broaden participation in and understanding of computer science since the middle of his graduate work in chemistry at Northwestern University.
Troy Williams is the interim Director of OCS. Previously, Troy was the CTE IT pathway manager for Chicago Public Schools, and had a two-decade career in IT before that.
Carmen Edwards is the Strategic Operations Manager for the Office of Computer Science.
Erica Wheeler is the Data Strategist for the Office of Computer Science.
Other CPS staff: Kristen Beck, Faythe Brannon, Melissa Cobian, Valerie Curry, Julia Flores, Jeremy Gubman, Katrina Miller, Yolanda Mitchell, Nicholas Stoyas, Scott Summers, Abril Vela
Dr. Erin Henrick is serving as the external evaluator of CAFÉCS under National Science Foundation collaborative grants CNS-1738572/CNS-1738776/CNS-1738691/CNS-1738515. She is President of Partner to Improve, an education research and consulting group supporting improvement and systemic change in education through powerful partnerships. Dr. Henrick is a Research Practice Partnerships (RPPs) researcher, evaluator, and professional development provider. She is a presenter for the Research+Practice Collaboratory and was the lead investigator of a WTGrant Foundation study which resulted in a framework for assessing the effectiveness of RPPs. Dr. Henrick is an instructor in the Vanderbilt online Ed.D. program in Leadership and Learning in Organizations, and teaches an improvement science course and a learning in community course. For the past 12 years, Dr. Henrick was a project manager, research associate, and senior research associate at Vanderbilt University. Her primary focus was an NSF funded RPP (known as MIST) focused on improving math instruction across large urban districts. She co-authored the book Systems for Instructional Improvement-Creating Coherence from the Classroom to the District Office.