CEO

Mashea Ashton is the CEO of the Newark Charter School Fund, having joined the organization as a partner in February 2009. Before joining NCSF, Mashea served as the Executive Director for the New York Program and Senior Advisor for Charter School Policy for New Leaders for New Schools. Mashea has also served as the Executive Director for Charter Schools for the New York City Department of Education, the National Director of Recruitment and Selection for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), and as a special education teacher in Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC.

She serves on the boards of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the National Association of Public Charters Schools and the William and Mary Alumni Association. Mashea has a M.Ed in Special Education with emphasis on learning disabilities and emotional disturbance and a Bachelor of Art in Sociology and Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary.

Chief of Staff

Prior to joining NCSF, Aileen Philbrick had a 14 year career with EdisonLearning Inc. After joining Edison in 1998, she served in various capacities and leadership roles.  She facilitated teacher training across EdisonLearning's network of schools nationwide and designed and executed training programs for school start-up personnel. As a member of Edison's Philadelphia team in 2002, Aileen was the Vice President of Operations for the regional team that launched the diverse provider model in the School District of Philadelphia. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Business Systems, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer. She led the Operations team's efforts to monitor monthly results against goals and convened teams focused on the start-up and renewal of school contracts. In addition, she led departmental budgeting and efficiency efforts.  Aileen holds a Master of Arts in English Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from The College of the Holy Cross. She and her husband, Mike, have three children.

Office Manager and Executive Assistant to the CEO

Angela joined the Newark Charter School Fund as Office Manager and the Executive Assistant to the CEO, playing a fundamental role in the Fund’s day-to-day operations. Prior to joining NCSF, Angela worked as an Administrative Manager at United Healthcare.
Prior to her transition into the non-profit sector, Angela worked in the Sales Department at Viacom and with the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley.

Angela is originally from Brooklyn, New York and holds a Bachelors Degree in Organizational Management and Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management.

VP Policy and New Schools

Prior to joining NCSF, Rana Khan was the Chief of Staff to the Executive Director of the Office of Space Planning at the NYC Department of Education, where she managed special citywide initiatives and projects as they related to space planning within both instructional and administrative sites. Before that, she was the Director of Operations for the Charter Schools Office at the Department where she was first exposed to the charter reform movement. Rana assisted both existing and new charter schools during her tenure with the Office to devise various ways for charter schools to take full advantage of the various resources of the Department, including facilities, consistent with the preservation of the charter schools’ autonomy. She also worked with non-charter schools around budgeting, human resources management and procurement. She currently serves as a founding board member of Great Oaks Charter schools in Newark, which is currently in co-located district space. Rana holds a Master of Science in Organizational Change Management from The New School and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Communication from Rutgers University.

VP Quality Schools

Lisa Keise Miller is a seasoned business professional with more than 10 years experience in education reform and private mission-driven enterprises. Throughout her career, she has honed her skills in the areas of operations, accountability and performance, strategic planning, and organizational development.
Most recently, she served as New York/New Jersey Regional Vice President for Revolution Foods, a national provider of nutritious meals for schools through the National School Lunch Program.  As Regional Vice President, Lisa was responsible for launching the market and managing a team of 60 employees and 24 school partners.

Prior to joining Revolution Foods, Lisa served as Chief Operating Officer for Victory Education Partners (formerly Victory Schools), a nationally recognized education management organization that manages charter schools, partners with public school districts, and consults with various public schools. In this role, she provided oversight of Victory’s non-instructional activities in its 15 partner schools and oversight for Victory’s new business development, marketing and communications efforts.

Lisa is a former neuroscientist and New Jersey public high school science educator.  Lisa earned a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Graduate School of Business, a Master of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s Graduate School of Biomedical Science and her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University.  Lisa spends her personal time with her husband and two little girls and serves on the board of St Joseph’s Home for women and children.

Program Associate

Akua joins Newark Charter School Fund as the Program Associate for New Schools and Policy after a year of working at Home Box Office.   In her new role she supports the VP, New Schools and Policy to help with the attainment of strategic goals, with a focus on research and due diligence work.   

Prior to her corporate work, she had a wide range of experiences working with young people and in communities.   Most notably, she worked on Mayor Karl Dean’s Child and Youth Master Plan Task Force to organize key community members and non-profit executives in creating a comprehensive plan for Nashville, Tennessee.  In addition, she served as a team leader for a community research project in Gallup, New Mexico focused on the health disparities among the local Native American youth.  Prior to these roles, she served in various mentor, analyst, instructor and intern roles in community centers in New York, Tennessee and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.  Akua holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s Degree from Vanderbilt University.

Progam Associate

Aaron Jenkins brings eight years of experience working in nonprofit administration, consulting and literary education to the Newark Charter School Fund. He currently supports NCSF’s Quality Schools initiatives in Newark. 

Prior to joining NCSF, Aaron worked as an Associate Consultant with the Bridgespan Group, specializing in education and foundation investment strategies. Among his contributions was research to an article on the growth of small nonprofits that was published in a Spring 2012 edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Nonprofit Quarterly.

Before Bridgespan, Aaron worked directly with students and educators at the Carmel Hill Fund Education Program, managing a college internship program that served five public elementary schools in Harlem, and training teachers in the use of an innovative computer-based literacy assessment program. He was also instrumental in helping Carmel Hill create a unique after-school program for Harlem’s gifted and talented students.  

Aaron received his Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from The New School in New York City. Passionate about urban issues and a prolific writer, his work has been published in a prominent west coast weekly newspaper.