Rebecca Conwell, Interim Executive Director

Rebecca is a senior administrative officer who works closely with the President to ensure the implementation of all functions of his office with particular attention to the management of internal and external constituents. She assists the President in communicating the university’s vision, plans and expectations for the University and manages special projects assigned by the President. Previously, Rebecca held the positions of Executive Director of State and Local Affairs and Director for Governmental and Community Relations Health Sciences at Tulane University, where she was responsible for developing and implementing strategies for the University’s coordinated response to challenges and opportunities related to federal, state, and local government and community activities for the health sciences.  Rebecca has also served as a legislative aide to Jackie Clarkson, in addition to several positions with the Foreign Relations Association of New Orleans, the World Trade Center of New Orleans, the World Affairs Council of San Antonio and the United Way of Beaumont and North Jefferson County.  She holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Lamar University.

Email Rebecca  | Phone: (504) 274-3688

Debra Vaughan, Assistant Director, Research

Debra Vaughan joined the Cowen Institute to lead the research team in 2010. The research team is tasked with chronicling, evaluating, and researching the transformation of public education in New Orleans. The Cowen Institute is recognized locally and nationally as a resource for unbiased, meaningful reports depicting the impact of education reforms in New Orleans. Prior to her position at the Cowen Institute, Debra spent eight years as the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Public Education Foundation (PEF), a local education fund with a history of success developing innovative programs that improve student achievement in public schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  In addition to authoring and co-authoring several articles, Debra has presented her work to local and state-level stakeholders and at many national conferences, including the Public Education Network, the National College Access Network, and the American Educational Research Association. Prior to her career in education research, Debra was an economic analyst at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency and an economics professor at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga.

Email Debra | Phone: (504) 274-3659

Emily Remington, Assistant Director, Programming

Emily joined the team in September 2008 as the Program Manager of College Readiness Initiatives. Emily grew up on the coast of North Carolina and attended Wake Forest University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in political science. Emily is also a graduate of the George Washington University’s Master of Public Policy program, with a concentration in education policy; during her program, she had internships with the Education Trust and Save the Children. After graduate school, she relocated to Austin, Texas, where worked as a legislative aide in the 80th Session. Most recently, she worked as a program coordinator for the National Center for Educational Achievement. In this capacity, she researched high performing public high schools with large populations of minority and economically disadvantaged students and wrote papers with the National High School Center.

Email Emily | Phone: (504) 274-3684

Nolan A. Marshall III, Assistant Director, Policy and Advocacy

Nolan joined the Cowen Institute in January 2012. Nolan is the former Associate Director of Common Good at Loyola University, a diverse community based coalition founded after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild New Orleans collectively across racial and economic lines. Nolan has also led two for profit companies, Good Citizen and NĀM-IT, providing consulting services and products to public schools, parents, and students. Nolan has been an active civic leader serving as the President of the Young Leadership Council, President of the board at Einstein Charter School, and serving on the board of the Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans City Park Commission, Human Relations Commission, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans Resource Council, New Orleans Crime Coalition, Court Watch NOLA, and the BioDistrict. A native New Orleanian, Nolan received a Presidential Scholarship and graduated from the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University in 2001. In 2009 Nolan received the Fritz Wagner prize for academic achievement and community service in Graduate Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans.

Email Nolan | Phone: (504) 274-3615

Jill Zimmerman, Research Manager

Part of the Cowen Institute since 2009, Jill joined the team as policy fellow before transitioning into her role with the research team where she is responsible for the publication of our regular reports, including NOLA by the Numbers and the annual State of Public Education in New Orleans. Previously, Jill worked as a legislative assistant at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C., and, more recently, as operations associate at The New Teacher Project – Louisiana Practitioner Teacher Program. She currently serves as a vice president of the National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section, a volunteer organization that promotes the well-being of women, children, and families. Jill holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and political philosophy from Tulane University and is pursuing a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of New Orleans.

Email Jill | Phone: (504) 274-3692

Matt Segraves, Policy Manager

Matt holds Bachelor of Arts Degrees from Tulane University in environmental policy and philosophy and a Master of Science Degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment with a focus on energy and environmental policy.  Before attending graduate school Matt worked with a number of non-profits working on low-income education, transportation and food sustainability. While a graduate student he interned at the Congressional Research Service working on forestry policy. Between completing graduate studies in April 2011, he interned at a clean-tech consulting company.

Email Matt | Phone: (504) 274-3616

Amy Barad, Manager of Operations and Special Projects

Amy joined the Cowen Institute in June 2011. Prior to her position at the Cowen Institute, she worked for the Urban Conservancy, a New Orleans non-profit organization, where she wrote a redevelopment strategy for Canal Street, emphasizing local economic development and the built environment. She is also a fellow with Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans (SENO), where she does management consulting for a New Orleans start-up designed to increase female employment and empowerment. Amy moved to New Orleans in March 2011 from Los Angeles, where she worked in the for-profit sector for four years at McMaster-Carr, a supplier to industrial and commercial facilities worldwide. There, Amy held roles in systems design and project and operations management in finance, sales, and logistics. Prior to that, she consulted on development projects in Johannesburg, South Africa with Urban, Inc, a strategic advisory firm to urban planning and policy organizations. Amy graduated with an A.B. in Urban Studies from Brown University in 2007.

Email Amy | Phone: (504) 274-3682

Alex Hand, Programming Coordinator

Alex grew up in Lake Tahoe, CA and graduated from California State University San Marcos with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Justice Studies in May 2010. During his undergraduate tenure, he was involved in various campus organizations, advisory boards, and committees at the university and community levels. He has worked with a variety of educational outreach programs such as Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, and Gear Up. Before joining the Cowen Institute, he served his fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon on staff as a Coordinator of Extension, helping them to expand to various colleges and universities across the country. Alex moved to New Orleans in July 2011 from San Diego, CA.

Email Alex | Phone: (504) 274-3680

Walter Stern, Research Graduate Assistant

A New Orleans native and public school parent, Walter Stern is a Ph.D. student in history at Tulane University, where he focuses on race, public education, and urban change in the twentieth-century South. Prior to beginning his graduate studies, Walter taught high school English in Greenville, Mississippi, as a member of Teach For America. He later covered public education for the daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia, and from 2006 to 2008, he led teachNOLA, a post-Katrina teacher recruitment initiative. Walter has received multiple awards for his journalistic and scholarly writing, including the Louisiana Historical Association’s top graduate student prize. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies from Yale University and a Master’s Degree in History from Tulane.

Email Walter