ABOUT
EduDream is a Latina owned education research and consulting firm that partners with non-profits, foundations, and education agencies working to ensure educational equity for racially and economically diverse students.
Mission
Our mission is to disrupt systemic inequities in education by leading equity-centered research and strategy. We advance our mission by partnering with nonprofits, foundations, and education institutions on collaborative research that elevates the voices of racially and economically diverse students, families and communities, informs decision-making, and leads to systemic change.
Vision
Our vision is to rewrite the educational opportunities and learning experiences of racially and economically diverse students to realize a more just and equitable education system.
Core Values
Our core values reflect our beliefs and guide our daily work.
Equity + Justice. We are committed to furthering equity and justice for all students through CREE-informed phases of work and partnerships, centering the assets and voices of those most impacted by structures of oppression.
Results + Impact. We deliver actionable data, innovative solutions and practical tools that impact policies, teaching, and learning so that every student is supported, actively engaged, and prepared to learn to their full potential.
Hope + Opportunity. We believe in leveraging hope in our work against inequity, focusing our efforts on imagining possibilities and creating opportunities for long-term, systemic change that benefit all students.
Human-Centered Intentionality. We respect our shared and individual lived experiences, resisting dominant and oppressive ways of working by prioritizing emotional intelligence, reflective collaboration with partners, intentional relationships across communities, and mindful timelines that disrupt notions of urgency.
Collaborative Leadership. We value thought-partnership and collaboration with advocates, community members, students, and families as a leading organization in equity-centered research and strategy.
Leadership
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Monica Martinez, Co-Founder
Michelle Oliva, Co-Founder
Monica Martinez oversees EduDream’s quantitative research portfolio, leading analyses of quantitative datasets and working with partners to examining program and policy impact. Recently, she conducted a landscape analysis and research report for a non-profit focused on postsecondary attainment and pathways to college and careers for first generation and low-income students in the Chicagoland region.
Monica has over twelve years of experience working in a variety of organizations helping strengthen analytical capacity and the use of data to inform decision-making. Her cross-cutting professional experience includes working for non-profits, the City of New York, and as a district administrator. She is well-versed in research methodologies from applied research experience that includes developing evaluation designs, establishing impact metrics, developing data collection tools, and reporting for various audiences.
A daughter of immigrants, Monica experienced the power of education in transforming her future. Her high school to college transition had a profound impact and has influenced her career to date. She is passionate about improving access to educational opportunities so all children learn, grow, and achieve their dreams.
Monica earned a master's degree in public administration
from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, and undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. She is fluent in written and conversational Spanish.
Michelle Oliva oversees EduDream’s qualitative research work, helping partners and clients understand perception data and unpack the contextual factors that may explain a program or policy’s impact, strengths and challenges. She leads analysis of perception data and policy implementation, and supports data analytics.
Michelle has over a decade of experience conducting collaborative research, program evaluation, policy analysis and technical assistance at the federal, state and local levels. Her experience includes leading high-profile research and evaluation, engaging in researcher-practitioner partnerships, and providing technical assistance in research and data use. She has evaluated programs addressing teacher quality, school leadership, school turnaround, and equitable access and funding for early childhood education. Michelle has worked at some of the nation's most renowned think tanks and research institutions including the National Opinion Research Center, Learning Point Associates (REL Midwest) and the American Institutes for Research.
Michelle's passion for more equitable education experiences for all students stems from her personal experiences as a product of the Chicago Public Schools, daughter of immigrants, and first-generation college student.
Michelle earned a master’s degree in social sciences and undergraduate degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. She is fluent in written and conversational Spanish.
Managers
Elle Cumberbatch
Communications Manager
Elle Cumberbatch supports EduDream’s external communications strategy and marketing initiatives as the Communications Manager.
Elle has experience in digital communications, content creation, and editorial workflows. Prior to EduDream, she held roles in the publishing sector that focused on portfolio management and strategy implementation, as well as in the public education and non-profit sectors that centered on youth development. She is a Chicago Public Schools alumna where she experienced the power of culturally responsive teaching. This led her towards using communication as a tool to uplift and center student voices and school communities in order to make lasting and sustainable impact.
Elle earned an MEd in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she is currently completing her MS in Management. She also holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Sophia Velez
Project Manager
Briana Jarnagin
Operations Manager
Briana Jarnagin supports EduDream’s internal operations and business development as Operations Manager.
Briana holds professional experience supporting program operations; diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; and student outreach across non-profit and higher education environments. Prior to EduDream, she held roles focused on member engagement, scholarship program management, and graduate admissions at the American Library Association and Northwestern University. As a first-generation college graduate and Chicago Public Schools alumna, she is driven to work towards strategic, sustainable change to foster students' personal and academic growth, with a particular focus on creating equitable post-secondary spaces.
Briana earned an MS in Higher Education Administration and Policy from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, where her research focused on first-generation college students’ perspectives on academic library services and spaces. She also holds a BA in geography from Northeastern Illinois University, and is a 2019 alumna of the Obama Foundation Community Leadership Corps.
Sophia Velez supports EduDream’s internal operations and client-driven research initiatives as a Project Manager.
Sophia has over 9 years of experience in human-centered organizational capacity building. As a first-generation college graduate and inspired by the world of opportunity education afforded her, Sophia is dedicated to advancing educational equity and championing justice-focused
systems and policy change. Her experience spans supporting organizations within the higher education and nonprofit sectors, both at a national and international level.
Sophia earned an MA in Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration from the University of Chicago, where her scholarship focused on nonprofit management and understanding global social welfare challenges from a comparative cross-national perspective. She also holds a BA in political science with minors in ethnics studies, environmental politics, and global environmental sustainability, from Colorado State University.
Associates
Angelica Frausto
Research & Evaluation Associate
Yasmin Rodriguez-Escutia
Research & Evaluation Associate
Angelica Frausto supports EduDream’s research and evaluation services as the Research and Evaluation Associate.
Angelica has over a decade of experience conducting mixed methods research and analysis. Prior to EduDream, she conducted research in the fields of education, diversity, equity, and inclusion, child development, and culturally responsive, community-based research. She is dedicated to capturing and amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities. A first-generation college graduate and Chicago Public Schools graduate, she believes in the transformative power of education and is enthusiastic about advancing educational equity.
Angelica earned an MA in Developmental Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, where her research focused on paternal involvement in early childhood in Black and Latinx communities. She also holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Rochester.
Yasmin Rodriguez-Escutia supports EduDream’s research and education services as a Research and Evaluation Associate.
Yasmin has numerous years of experience as an evaluator and researcher. Prior to EduDream, Yasmin worked on several evaluation projects with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a project assistant and fellow for the
evaluation clinic. As a first-generation college student, Yasmin is passionate about making equitable changes in the education system and centering and uplifting the voices of BIPOC students.
Yasmin earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her research focused on Latinx women pre-service teachers’ experiences and teacher identity development. She also holds a BA in Education and Sociology from Beloit College.
Eliana Whitehouse
Research & Evaluation Associate
Eliana Whitehouse supports EduDream’s research and education services as a Research and Evaluation Associate.
Eliana is a macro social worker with experience in supporting community-based initiatives and research throughout the lifespan. Prior to EduDream, she worked in areas including child and adolescent mental health, healthy and equitable aging, voting access, and civic participation. As a young learner she attended a mix of public, private, and alternative learning institutions in the Chicago area which led to her belief that, when fostered by innovative and adaptive learning environments, children from all backgrounds can achieve their full learning potential.
Eliana earned a MSW with a focus in Policy and Political Social Work from the University of Michigan, where her community work and research focused on the interplay of social determinants of health and policy on equitable aging outcomes. She also holds a BA in Psychology and Studio Art from Lawrence University.
Consultants
Shaun Bhatia
Glenance Green
Shaun Bhatia supports EduDream projects as a quantitative research consultant, assisting in the collection, organization, and analysis of education-based data.
During the course of his research career, spanning through academia, industry, and NGO sectors, Shaun has developed an appreciation for the complex role education inequity occupies in the social ecology. Obtaining his bachelor’s in statistics and psychology and master’s in epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Shaun has used these lenses to quantitatively explore how education disparity can affect health in the community.
After time as a researcher with the Cure Violence and SAFE Children initiatives at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Shaun joined the Center for Community Research at DePaul University in Chicago as a project director. He is concurrently pursuing his doctoral degree at DePaul, where his research interests focus on the intersection between community violence prevention and school-based interventions, with an emphasis in quantitative methodology and statistics.
Glenance Green supports EduDream as an equity consultant, developing frameworks, tools and products for district and school leadership teams to deepen their racial equity work.
With over a decade of experience, Glenance is a racial equity practitioner and community organizer with a strong background in policy-relevant research, having contributed to the development and execution of over 50 mixed-methods research projects, personal and professional.
Glenance brings technical and content-specific knowledge with regard to addressing issues pertaining to equity and racial justice. Most recently, she has added a litany of relevant skills and training to her toolkit as a Racial Equity Fellow (2018-19) through Chicago United for Equity and NLC Fellow (2019-20) through the New Leaders Council. We are excited to have her on the team!
Brenna O'Brien
Dr. Brenna O'Brien supports EduDream projects as a qualitative research consultant, assisting in the organization, coding and analysis of primary data such as interviews and focus groups. Brenna is a Chicago-based researcher, writer, and communications director focused on equity and social justice.
Brenna previously was a Senior Researcher at American Institutes for Research, with over 10 years of experience in program evaluation, designing and conducting interviews and focus groups, qualitative data analysis, and report writing.
She earned her BA in Secondary Education and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, and her MS Ed and PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Kansas.
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Ellen Sherratt
Dr. Ellen Sherratt supports EduDream projects as a thought partner and writer, particularly in helping disseminate EduDream's work and insights to national audiences. Ellen is a Chicago-based advocate, researcher, and senior organizational leader, focused on teacher workforce issues.
Ellen serves as President of the Board of The Teacher Salary Project which raises awareness on the need to pay salaries that will allow us to recruit and retain excellent and diverse teachers for all students. Previously, she served as Vice-President for Policy and Research at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and Deputy Director of the Center on Great Teachers & Leaders.
She earned her bachelor degree in economics from Cornell University and her masters and doctoral degrees in education from the University of Oxford.
Tanisha Tate Woodson
Dr. Tanisha Tate Woodson supports EduDream as a culturally responsive and equitable evaluation consultant, assisting with business development and product.
Dr. Woodson is an evaluator and social scientist with more than 13 years of experience developing, implementing and managing collaborative projects on a wide range of social issues such as early childhood education, child welfare and youth development. She is passionate about helping mission-driven organizations solve problems and make data-driven decisions such as setting or reforming policy, facilitating change, addressing disparities, monitoring program goals and evaluating program performance. Dr. Woodson enjoys collaborating with clients and stakeholders to discern central lines of research inquiry and to design study elements and measurement approaches that balance the scientific rigor with field-based practicality. She also values working in partnership with clients to develop evaluation plans, methods and recommendations for program improvement. Overall, Dr. Woodson aspires to bridge the gap between science and social service by making evaluation research meaningful and accessible to social service systems and organizations.
Dr. Woodson earned her Doctorate at Case Western Reserve University in Social Welfare and her Master in Public Health Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Evan Young
Evan Young supports EduDream projects as a quantitative research consultant, assisting in the collection, organization, and analysis of education-based data.
Evan is currently the Data and Analytics Manager of MESA Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY, leveraging data to support the operations of the school, lead monitoring and evaluation initiatives, and contribute to the broader education policy landscape. Previously, he was a Lead Analyst for NewGlobe Education, designing networks of tools and dashboards across country programs to manage the day-to-day operation of schools through every level of the school management vertical, while also evaluating the effectiveness of various academic, community, and operational programs within schools.
He earned a BA from George Washington University in International Affairs and an MS from Johns Hopkins University in Data Analytics & Policy with concentrations in Statistical Analysis and Public Management.
