Eileen B. Sigmund is the CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association
Eileen has a strong advocacy background, having served as a journalist, litigator, and lobbyist.  Her professional experience began as a print journalist for Gannett Newspapers.  After raising money for charity as part of cross-country bicycle ride from Seattle to New Jersey, Eileen went to  law school at Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.  She moved to Arizona in 1994 to join the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office where she prosecuted child homicides before moving to a civil litigation firm.  She litigated in areas of civil rights, education, and general insurance defense before federal, state, and administrative courts and is licensed to practice law in both Arizona and Virginia.  Then politics pulled Eileen into working as a lobbyist at the Arizona legislature before taking her current position as Chief Executive Officer of the Arizona Charter Schools Association in June of 2007.  In the last year, she has built and led the Association for Arizona’s charter schools to raise student achievement through quality charter schools. She nearly tripled membership; raised matching funds to manage a $1.4 million initial budget; formed an affordable health insurance trust for public schools as part of a portfolio of member services.  Eileen maintains positive momentum in all Association programs to deliver effective advocacy, innovative research, and valuable resources. eileen@azcharters.org

Rebecca Gau is the Vice President of Research and School Quality
 Rebecca Gau is the Vice President for Research and School Quality at the Arizona Charter Schools Association. Rebecca was a Senior Research Analyst at Morrison Institute for Public Policy, the “think tank” for Arizona State University for five years.  Before that she was an analyst with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), and an intern at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, specializing in charter schools and education policy.  She has had research published in journals such as The Public Interest, textbooks on education policy, and newspapers.  She is also listed in the Who’s Who of American Women.  She was a lead researcher and co-author of Beat the Odds and author of Trends in Charter Authorizing.  Both are quantitative analyses of education policy issues.  Rebecca received her Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Duke University and wrote her Master’s Thesis on charter schools in Dayton, Ohio.  It was named Outstanding Thesis of the Year.
rebecca@azcharters.org

Mark Francis, DMA is the Charter Liaison
Dr. Mark S. Francis was the founder and Executive Director of Arizona School for the Arts and was also the first President of the Arizona Charter School Association.  Under his leadership Arizona School for the Arts (ASA) was the first charter high in the USA named a National Blue Ribbon School by the US Department of Education.  ASA was the first charter school in Arizona awarded the “Spotlight on School Success” prize by the Arizona Department of Education, the highest awards for educational achievement by those respective bodies. Most recently, he spearheaded a two-year US Department of Education dissemination grant, The Professional Learning Community in Action.  He also headed a planning grant from the Walton Foundation to develop the framework for the Arizona Charter Schools Association.
mark@azcharters.org  

Marcella Gemelli, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Research and School Quality
Marcella just recently completed her doctoral studies in Sociology at Arizona State University where she conducted research on homelessness and single mothers. She often takes a qualitative approach to research focusing on environment, culture, and an in-depth understanding of people’s lives. Marcella is also an instructor in the Women and Gender Studies department at ASU. She received her M.S. in Sociology at Portland State University and her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Oregon.
marcella@azcharters.org

Kathryn Gudmunson is the Research Associate
Kathryn began her research career in the field of agriculture, working on a variety of studies involving pigs and dairy cattle.  After receiving her Bachelor’s from Washington State University, she briefly worked in veterinary medicine before moving to Arizona to attend ASU.  She completed a Master’s degree in Education, which led to an interest in educational policy.  While working part-time for the Association, Kathryn is also a science teacher at Arizona School for the Arts and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration.
kathryn@azcharters.org

Stephanie Grisham is the Communications Director
Stephanie began her career as the Public Information Officer for the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) where she handled all media inquiries and assisted executive staff with presentations and information for the Arizona legislature as well as the ASRS Board of Directors.  Stephanie also wrote and developed key publications including newsletters, annual reports and member handbooks and manuals.  After five years with the State, Stephanie joined AAA Arizona as a spokesperson.  She then moved into a boutique public relations firm prior to joining the team at the Arizona Charter Schools Association. Stephanie holds a degree in Business Administration from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and volunteers with CASA – Center for Abuse and Violence in Phoenix.
stephanie@azcharters.org

Ashley Peyton is the Business Manager
Ashley began her professional career working for a lobbying firm.  She was involved many aspects of lobbying along with doing all financial reporting for the firm.  She has a degree in Finance from the University of Arizona , and is currently pursuing an MBA from Arizona State University.
ashley@azcharters.org

Andrea Plucker is the Membership Development Manager
Andrea transferred to the Arizona Charter Schools Association from SmithBucklin, a large management consulting firm based in Chicago, IL. While there she led membership and volunteer programs for a national technology association  and served as an organizational consultant for 15 regional association chapters. Prior to her career in association management, Andrea lived in rural China, Siberia, and St. Petersburg, Russia, leading student exchange programs for local universities. Ms. Plucker holds a degree in Political Science and International Studies from Pepperdine University where she served as Student Body President and graduated with distinction. 
andrea@azcharters.org

Dorothy Mittendorf is the Office Manager/Assistant to CEO
Dorothy has been a Legal Assistant for the past 19 years for David J. Damron, Esq. of the Law Firm of Sanders & Parks, P.C. She is also actively involved in her church, St. Paul’s Catholic Church and has attended North Dakota State School of Science in Wahpeton, North Dakota for 9 month course in business/secretarial.
dorothy@azcharters.org

Michele Diamond is the Financial Consultant
Formerly the Director of Government and Financial Affairs for the State Board for Charter Schools (ASBCS), Michele has experience in finance, auditing, lobbying and charter schools. Prior to working for the ASBCS, Michele was a senior auditor with the Arizona Auditor General’s Office for 8 years. She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Indiana University. Prior to her graduate work, Michele was a flight instructor and charter pilot in the state of Florida. She currently serves as the CEO of Diamond Financial Solutions, a financial service provider dedicated to high quality financial services and financial training. She also sits on the Arizona Central Credit Union’s Audit Committee.

Sarah Hurst is our Fundraising Consultant
In nine years as a fundraising consultant, Sarah has raised more than $61 million for nonprofit organizations in diverse fields.  In addition to writing a wide variety of public and private grant proposals, she supports her clients' success through prospect research, program design, financial analysis and budget development.  Sarah is a summa cum laude graduate of Saint Louis University with a bachelors in communicatio.  She earned an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA.