The fellows are listed below.

• Danni Kim 🎓 (California)
  Danni Kim is president of Benjamin Franklin Magnet Elementary School PTA in California and is an advocate for empowering children through social and emotional learning and development, diversity, equity, inclusion and art. She has a wealth of experience implementing relevant programming having previously chaired the culture of kindness committee.

• Ashley Miller (New Jersey)
  Ashley Miller is president of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School PTA in New Jersey. Professionally, she holds a master’s degree in social work and is an adjunct professor, teaching introduction to sociology and student success. Miller uses her social work expertise to enhance families’ understanding of mental health terminology, policies and concepts.

• Laura Mitchell (Maryland)
  Laura Mitchell is involved at every level of PTA and is the president of her grandchild’s school PTSA, and vice president of advocacy and chair of the substance use prevention committee for Montgomery County Council of PTAs. She is particularly passionate about ensuring equity in mental health and substance use prevention and treatment, trauma informed care and other issues that create barriers to student learning.

• Michelle Smith 🎓 (Texas)
  Michelle Smith is president of Northwest High School PTSA, vice president of programs for Gene Pike Middle School PTA, vice president of advocacy for Clara Love Elementary School PTA and programs chair for Northwest ISD Council of PTAs. Smith believes strongly in diverse and equitable learning for all children, focusing on the whole child. She also values providing volunteer opportunities for students and parents to model mentorship and build a strong sense of community.

The fellows are listed below.

• Caridad (Mini) Martinez 🎓
  Caridad (Mini) Martinez is the former President of Crystal Lake Elementary School PTA (a 2017-2019 National PTA School of Excellence) in Lake Mary, Florida. Mini is committed to exploring new ways to create and maintain a culture of inclusion in her PTA by ensuring that there is intentional leadership training and development around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Mini believes that DEI training is both crucial and the first step in making sure that efforts of engagement align with a school’s needs. She is passionate about providing access to resources in multiple languages, as well as a growing knowledge and capacity for PTAs to be fierce advocates for all students and families. Through the fellowship, Mini is working towards increase awareness and accessibility to DEI resources within her PTA and beyond. She is engaging local units in planning DEI programming and empowering them to continue advocating for DEI initiatives in the future.

• Katrina Long 🎓
  Katrina Long is the principal of Reese Road Leadership Academy (a 2018-2020 National PTA School of Excellence) in Columbus, Georgia and is an active member of her school’s PTA. Katrina recognizes that her school’s demographics are quickly changing while PTA leadership has not. Katrina is dedicated to developing her own skills and strategies to become a more culturally responsive educator. Through the fellowship, Katrina is identifying and addressing barriers of representation and inclusion in her site PTA. She is progressively accomplishing her goal of making her PTA’s membership and leadership reflective of her school’s population.

• Heather Zirke 🎓
  Heather Zirke is the President of Berea-Midpark Middle School PTA (a 2019-2021 National PTA School of Excellence) in Berea, Ohio and is a firm believer that more inclusive groups create better outcomes. She is passionate about including parent, teacher, and student voices in conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Throughout the fellowship Heather has been designing a yearlong, equity-focused panel series led by parents, students, educators and community members on a variety of topics. She believes that this series will particularly help students feel empowered and encouraged to share their stories and experiences. Heather’s intention is that creating these spaces will not only bring different voices to the conversation, but also cultivate a more inclusive school and PTA.

• Valentina Conetta 🎓
  Valentina Conetta has just closed out her second term as President of APPLES PTA in Stamford, Connecticut (a 2019-2021 National PTA School of Excellence) and is transitioning into her new position as treasurer. Valentina decided to take part in the fellowship to learn new ways to engage families from diverse backgrounds because in her words, “you can’t succeed in your mission until all families are engaged and represented.” Valentina is passionate about early childhood and special education, particularly in linguistically diverse communities. During her fellowship Valentina has been working on strengthening parent-teacher partnership and making way for meaningful membership and leadership in her PTA.

• Tiffany Foster
  Tiffany Foster is the current president of Durham Council of PTAs in Durham, North Carolina and a member of the National PTA Membership Committee. She is a longtime child advocate, committed to championing children and families to have positive, empowering and enriching experiences. Tiffany’s work in membership has driven her to look deeper into PTA communication strategies and diversity in leadership. She understands the importance of communication tactics and the direct correlation between who communication efforts reach and who gets involved. Throughout her fellowship Tiffany has been focused on attracting and retaining new and diverse members by organizing fireside chats, virtual panels and by building partnerships with local non-profit organizations that have helped her PTA reach and assist families facing various realities.

The fellows are listed below.

• Amy Fox (Utah) 🎓
  Amy Fox currently serves as the National Standards Specialist for Utah PTA, leveraging her two-time experience as a National PTA School of Excellence lead to help PTAs across the state engage families using National PTA’s programs and resources. She is also passionate about reaching out to school administrators, particularly in her local Alpine School District, to inspire and support them in building more meaningful partnerships with their families.

• Heather Losneck (Ohio) 🎓
  Heather Losneck has served as president of the PTA for her child’s elementary school and middle school. She has also served extensively as a leader of the Berea City School District PTA. In these roles, she has created opportunities that bring multiple perspectives to family engagement, including the creation of a PTA Advisory Board for her school’s National PTA School of Excellence program. She has also advocated with other PTA leaders to include more robust commitments to home-school communication in their school district’s Strategic Vision.

• Michelle Montemayor (Texas)
  Michelle Montemayor is president of the PTSA for her child’s high school and serves as Field Service Representative for Texas PTA, supporting districts with non-English-speaking populations. She has also worked with Northside Independent School District PTA to bring awareness and support to the National PTA School of Excellence program from the mayor of San Antonio and the district superintendent.

• Tracie Potts (Maryland)
  Tracie Potts serves as Cluster Coordinator for Montgomery County PTA Council and is also a member of the Galway Lions PTA and Banneker PTSA. As a PTA leader in the country’s 14th largest school district—which serves students from over 150 different countries—she is committed to discovering new ways that transformative family engagement can empower diverse families as their child’s first teachers and advocates.