Jeremy Ortloff, Ph.D, PMP — Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer 

Jeremy Ortloff is co-founder of Juniper Education Consulting and Chief Operating Officer.  He is an educator with two decades of experience, teaching ESL and German at the K-12 level and serving as a teacher educator at several colleges. As a first generation college graduate, he is passionate about working on all aspects of expanding access and considering issues of access and linguistic equity in program design and instruction. Since starting JEC, he has focused on providing clients with outstanding project management, especially around compliance and accreditation work.  He also supports JEC’s work providing  professional development especially on topics related to high quality instruction, language education and serving multilingual students  both for our K-12 and higher education partners.  As an evaluator, he focuses on supporting schools and organizations that prioritize high quality instruction, including in the out-of-school time.   He has also consulted on organizational development for teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and conference preparation.   He continues to teach in teacher education and ESL as often as possible.  He has also published work examining the importance of trust in teaching multilingual students and collaboration. 

Debora Hinderliter Ortloff, Ph.D  — Co-Founder & Lead Researcher 

Debora Ortloff is co-founder of Juniper Education Consulting. She is an educator with over 20 years of experience in the classroom, spanning middle school through graduate school, both in the United States and abroad.  Since 2007 she has been working with out-of-school time programming, beginning in Indiana with her work with the Center for Urban and Multicultural Education and their collaboration with several 21st CCLC programs and extending to her work with school districts and nationally with the U.S. Department of Education and the Tactile Group supporting data collection, program improvement and technical assistance across the country. In addition, she has worked with many educational institutions and organizations to use student learning assessment to improve teaching and learning especially with underserved populations and continues to support both K-12 and Higher Education institutions for accreditation, strategic planning and program improvement.  Never too far from the classroom, Dr. Ortloff continues to teach multicultural education and research methodology–most recently developing an online program for paraprofessionals who want to work in school day, childcare and out-of-school time settings. She is widely publicized in areas of global citizenship, research methodology, and assessment.  Dr. Ortloff holds dual masters degrees in Educational Psychology and Comparative Education and a Ph.D. in Education Policy from Indiana University. 

Jacob Amidon — Mathematics and Computer Science Instructional Expert, College and Career Readiness and Applied Learning 

An educator with experience teaching both secondary and post-secondary mathematics and computer science,  Jacob Amidon brings 20 years of experience to his work in improving instruction, math experiences for students and building alternative educational opportunities in STEM – especially for students who disengage from traditional educational pathways. For the last 10 years he has been particularly involved in creating and teaching at P-tech schools, a New York State alternative pathway that creates applied learning opportunities for students and partners K-12 with community colleges to re-engage students at high risk of dropout.  In addition to this work, he has deep experience in the assessment of learning and program design and improvement.  During the COVID pandemic, he also used his years of experience delivering courses and training online to help educational programs move to remote learning with quality and high engagement  Lastly, one of his main areas of focus  has been how to use compliance activities, like accreditation or monitoring to improve program and learning outcomes.  On this topic he has delivered training, professional development and presentations in multiple states.  Mr. Amidon holds a B.S. in Mathematics from SUNY Geneseo and an M.A. in Mathematics from Binghamton University. 

Nani Nehring Bliss — Content Developer, Authentic Assessment, Purposeful innovation, and Strategic planning

Nani is a versatile content developer and strategic storyteller at JEC, bringing over three decades of experience in higher education and nonprofit sectors. Her expertise encompasses visual and textual storytelling, blending data analysis, research, and design to amplify the narratives of marginalized and underserved populations.Rooted in a profound commitment to equity, Nani specializes in reimagining educational potential through authentic assessment, purposeful innovation, and strategic planning. Her journey began in the mid-1990s as a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where she supported a cohort of 17 at-risk first-generation undergraduates, laying the groundwork for her lifelong advocacy. She continues to champion open-access institutions, collaborating to design inclusive approaches that empower, inspire, and generate real-world transformative impact.Nani's professional contributions also extend beyond academia. She regularly designs and leads workshops for diverse audiences and actively supports local non-profit environmental and social justice organizations through her writing, leadership, and design skills.A lifelong learner, Nani holds a bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University with dual majors in Philosophy and English, and a minor in Art. Her graduate work has focused on rhetoric, ethics, and research methodologies, enriching her multidisciplinary approach to content development and strategic communication.

Vanessa Dodo Seriki, Ph.D — Culturally-relevant instruction, STEM and school day collaboration 

Dr. Vanessa Dodo Seriki is a science educator with two decades of experience working to improve education and empower educators. As a graduate of an urban school and former high school science teacher in Portsmouth, VA and Baltimore, MD, Dr. Dodo Seriki understands the realities that face urban students, families, teachers and schools. As such, she has dedicated her work to empowering urban teachers, students, and families through engagement in science learning. Dr. Dodo Seriki’s research interests include the use of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Cultural Modeling in science education; the intersectionality of race, class, and gender in education (including p-12, Higher education, teacher education, informal education and science education) as seen through the lens of Critical Race Theory; and accessibility of STEM educational opportunities by Black children.  In addition to her work with public schools, Dr. Dodo Seriki has worked closely with faith-based schools, providing professional development for school day and after school educators to improve curriculum, cultural relevance and student engagement. She is widely published on the impact of culturally relevant pedagogy and science education. In addition to her work with Juniper Education Consulting, she is a professor in Education and Urban Studies at Morgan State University. 

Michelle Peters, Ed.D — Program improvement, data driven decision making, STEM, college and career readiness, evaluation 

Dr. Michelle Peters is multi-decade educator, with deep experience in STEM, program improvement, data-driven decision making and evaluation. She is well published in STEM education, education leadership and most recently was awarded a citation of excellence by Johns Hopkins University for her work on effective high impact tutoring.  Currently, Dr. Peters also serves as the senior quantitative researcher for Juniper Education Consulting where she provides quantitative analytics on GPRA data from around the country.  Dr. Peters has completed program evaluations and statistical work for a variety of organizations, such as the American Chemical Society (ACS), Chemical & Engineering News, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Collaborative for Children, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Hogg Foundation, National Science Foundation (NSF), Texas Education Agency (TEA), and The Harris Foundation.  She approaches evaluation and program improvement as an educator, helping organizations use data to improve student outcomes and design curriculum for improved professional development.  In addition to this evaluation work, as STEM educator, she supports STEM education, college and career readiness and program improvement for Upward Bounds programs in Texas and has worked with 21st CCLC programs in multiple states.  In addition she spent 5 years supporting STEM camps as part of the ExxonMobile Bernard Harris STEM camps for high school students held at 35 universities around the country.   Dr. Peters completed her master’s degree at The Missouri University of Science and Technology in Nuclear Engineering and her doctoral degree in Education at The George Washington University.  She is also a certified Math teacher and taught public school in the U.S. and on military bases abroad.  

Kellie Gauvin —  STEM, College and Career Readiness, Community based partnerships and Project-based learning 

Kellie Gauvin holds a B.S. in Animal Science and an M.A.T. in secondary education from Cornell University. She has had a passion for informal education since her early days in 4H. As the 4H Community Agriculture Educator at Cornell Cooperative extension, she designed modules to teach urban kids about Agriculture. She has been trained as a S.E.R.I.E.S (Science Education and Resources for Informal Education Settings) educator and trainer. Her teaching certification in Agriculture and in Biology has helped her to integrate practical and applied knowledge into a formal science curriculum. She has taught the In-Touch Science curriculum for refugee children for a summer camp. Kellie also designed ecology modules for National Migrant Education PASS (Portable Assisted Study Sequence), these modules were tailored for use in both classrooms and for self study. Kellie moved from secondary education to higher education more than 15 years ago. While at Finger Lakes Community College she transformed a one week summer STEM camp into 3 separate STEAM camps at campus centers. For these camps she designed curricula, taught sessions, recruited faculty and community members, acquired grant funding, and planned field trips. She has a long history of passionate education for learners of all ages and continues to find ways to fulfill that passion. She has presented at many national conferences both on STEM and on improving teaching and learning in all settings through high quality assessment of learning.  With another educator she has taught and designed a Habitat Restoration course for the Recreation Center in her hometown. Kellie continues to apply her knowledge and teaching skill to inspire students of all ages. 

Kathleen Landy, Ed.D — Assessment, Evaluation, Program Design, Culturally Responsive teaching, School-day collaboration 

Kathleen Landy is a curriculum, instruction and assessment expert with two decades of experience spanning K-12 and higher education in both the public and private school sector.  Her grounding in learning theory and considerable classroom experience—in both the K-12 and higher education sectors—inform her collaborative approach to reflective instructional and assessment practice as well as curriculum writing and revision.  In addition to her overall expertise in teaching and learning, Dr. Landy brings additional specific curriculum and instruction expertise in secondary English, faith-based education, diversity, equity and inclusion and  trauma-informed instruction. She has conducted research on principal efficacy, improving teaching and learning and frameworks for culturally responsive assessment practices. 

Dr. Landy serves on the SUNY Council of Assessment (SCoA), she is a peer evaluator for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a Core Committee member for the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network, and a former board member and Past President of the Assessment Network of New York. In addition to her work with Juniper Education Consulting, Dr. Landy is the Associate Director for Assessment & Evaluation Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation. Kathleen came to Cornell from the City University of New York, where she served as the Assistant Dean for Teaching & Learning at Queensborough Community College. She holds a BA in Psychology from SUNY Geneseo, as well as a Master of Science in Teaching and a doctorate in Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy from Fordham University.  

Evelyn Hamilton Jackson, Ph.D  — Adult education, community based organizations, school partnerships, online learning, culturally relevant pedagogy, non-traditional education pathways, curriculum development and instructional training 

Dr. Evelyn Jackson has been a dedicated educator for two decades with experience at the secondary, university, and adult education levels, both in the United States and abroad. Throughout her professional career, she has created curriculum and instructed hundreds of secondary, adult education, and college students, in-person and online. She is deeply committed and experienced in the work of community based education and adult education.  Her experience spans organizational development, program improvement, curriculum creation and instruction. 

As an instructor and site leader for Delgado Community College’s Adult Education program, Dr. Jackson helped develop and cultivate eLearn, the inaugural online adult education program in Louisiana. During her tenure, she has created online curriculum, trained instructors, and managed partnerships with adult education institutions throughout the state.

Prior to that, Dr. Jackson served in directorship positions with the Urban League of Louisiana. Initially, she was responsible for the development and leadership of the academic affairs department of Urban League College Track, a collaboration between the Urban League and College Track, a nationally renowned college preparatory after-school program. She also directed ULLA’s newly-established 21st CCLC Project Ready program, a college and career program focused on in-school and out-of-school initiatives. Dr. Jackson developed dual enrollment, workforce development, and university partnerships.  Dr. Jackson earned a doctorate in Education Policy Studies and a masters in International/Comparative Education, both from Indiana University. She received her bachelors in English and French from Dillard University.

Erica G. Swain, MLS

Erika G. Swain has extensive experience in regional accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. During her 15-year tenure with both regional agencies, she directed and developed training for both evaluators and institutions, oversaw substantive change applications and review, state authorizations, and has worked extensively with accreditation-relevant federal regulations (HEA). A sought after speaker, she has presented on topics of accreditation and compliance at HLC, MSCHE and MSACROA conferences. She has also spent some time working with North Country Community College (NY) as the college Registrar, specializing in transfer, credit-hour policies, FERPA compliance, and data and records management programs. Ms. Swain holds a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Bachelor of Arts in History form Ithaca College.

Jacqueliine Tiermini, Ed.D — Special Education, Educational Pipeline, Literacy and ELA expert

Jacqueline Tiermini is an educator with nearly 3 decades of teaching experience spanning elementary through college level.  Her passion has always been expanding access to education whether as a special education teacher, Reading teacher,  Developmental English specialist or in her work creating educational partnerships for career and college readiness.   She has designed and delivered College 101 curriculum, a college credit course aimed at first generation high school student in a wide variety of educational settings and community organizations. In addition she has brought together diverse community partners to create high school curriculum that prepares students to become paraprofessionals and enters them into a teacher education pipeline.  In addition she has worked on learning outcomes assessment, helping programs reconfigure their courses and programs to better meet the needs of students with special needs and first generation students.  In addition to her work with Juniper Education Consulting, Ms. Tiermini is currently Liason to K-12 partnerships and Professor of  at Finger Lakes Community College. She holds a Bachelors and Masters from Buffalo State College and is a Ed.D candidate at Northeastern University. 

Ryan McCabe, Ed.D Candidate — Instructional Designer and Adult Education specialist 

Ryan McCabe has been an adult educator and instructional designer for over a decade. He brings deep expertise in universal design for learning (UDL) and online learning.  With this he brings a deep commitment to reaching all learners in his course and program design.  Mr. McCabe has extensive experience in online instruction, both synchronous and asynchronous design on a wide variety of platforms.  In his career he has designed over 150 courses and programs delivered in online format. He has developed standards of practice for asynchronous, synchronous and hybrid environments to ensure high quality instruction and student engagement. He is certified in the Online Scorecard Quality Rubric (OSCQR) and a Quality Matter peer reviewer.  He has also provided extensive training to other educators, including the 64 campuses of the SUNY system on high quality instructional design for online delivery including during the COVID-19 pandemic response.  His expertise in assessing learning in the online environment has also led to several publications including for the National Institute for Student Outcomes Learning (NIOLA). Beyond his work in online learning, Mr. McCabe has deep experience in higher education, especially at community colleges, and advises on curriculum design and strategic program development regularly.  In addition to all curriculum, strategy  and instructional design work  he has taught history, physical education and computer use to adult learners since 2008. Mr. McCabe holds a B.A. in History from SUNY Potsdam and an M.S. in Adult Education from Buffalo State College.