ECC Bios

Jill E. Shahen

Co-Founder & Managing Partner Empire Charter Consultants

Jill Shahen is a founder and managing partner of In Other Words Advisors and Empire Charter Consultants. 

Jill has worked in the charter school movement since 1999 starting as an authorizer, then becoming an advocate, and now serving as a service provider to schools located throughout the country. She often laments about the "good old days" when charter schools all worked together for a stronger movement. Never afraid to have difficult conversations with schools about quality or to publicly make others aware of authorizer actions that deeply affect the movement, she has held firm to her belief that choice in education matters and that those in charge must be held accountable. 

Over the last eight years at ECC, her work has evolved to add coaching and mentoring boards and school leadership, work she enjoys immensely. She has a deep understanding of how the sector works and what schools need to be successful.

Jill is the mother of two sons, grandmother to four grandsons, and the wife of one man who very much comes in handy when she needs to reach things on a top shelf at the grocery store. She is a roller coaster enthusiast and a big fan of donuts. She has no intention of retiring anytime soon. 

Andrea Rogers Barry

Co-Founder & Managing Partner Empire Charter Consultants

Andrea is a founder and managing partner of Empire Charter Consultants. She provides technical assistance and support services for schools at every stage of their life cycle - from the initial founding stages to renewal and replication. She leads ECC’s technical writing projects and has helped schools in multiple states write new school applications, renewal applications, and grants. 

Andrea has now worked in educational policy and technical support for more than 20 years. She was drawn to this work because she firmly believes in honoring parents and educators who want to establish schools for the children within their neighborhoods. To her, chartering should provide a pathway that allows for community action combined with innovation in ways that truly serve the needs of learners. 

Jessica Mokhiber

Communications Director 

Jessica Mokhiber has worked with charter schools for more than 12 years to help them tell their stories and to highlight their incredible successes and the stellar educations so many of them are providing children.

 Jessica worked in TV news and for the NYS Senate prior to her work with charter schools. Working on a justice-oriented issue is deeply important to Jessica.  Joining Andrea and Jill as they launched ECC was a thrill and allowed her the freedom to voice her own opinions and viewpoints, something she was unable to do professionally prior to 2018. This has been freeing in a way she did not fully appreciate prior. Jessica enjoys sharing the comments of the team especially when ECC is the only group publicly calling out injustice or bad behavior. 

Wendy Diamante

Data and Analytics Research Consultant

Wendy Diamante is the energetic founder of The Diamante Group, a consultancy she started with her husband in 2018. As the go-to data analytics and research consultant for Empire Charter Consultants, Wendy brings meticulous detail and relentless curiosity to her work. Her insights drive instructional strategies and uncover educational trends for member schools. Before founding her company, she shaped data systems and compliance at the Northeast Charter Schools Network, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and the Colorado Charter School Institute, establishing over 15 years of experience with charter schools and education policy. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Management from SUNY Albany. Combining sharp analytical skills with a playful spirit, Wendy is dedicated to enhancing education through data-driven insights.

Dr. Natasha Howard

Dr. Natasha Howard would like us to describe her as whimsical, free-spirited, and ebullient. We’d be lying. The truth is that she is deadly serious about fighting an educational system that punishes students based on skin color, geography, and family income.   
A psychologist by training, Dr. Howard applies a unique lens to her work, artfully pairing rapid situation analysis with a focus on organizational development and capacity-building. Process is her love language, and data-based decision-making makes her swoon.  More than a decade in various leadership roles at the NYC Department of Education and as Managing Director of Program at the SUNY Charter Schools Institute nearly crushed her soul, so she left the bullcrapbureaucracy and hasn’t looked back.

Kristin Greer

Kristin has spent over two decades dedicated to educational reform and supporting underserved learners in NYC and Chicago. In various roles, including high school principal and mentor teacher, Kristin's leadership has delivered record-breaking results. Inspired by her mentor, Jill Shahen, a strong advocate for charter schools, Kristin researched the educational challenges in South Carolina's "Corridor of Shame". Motivated to effect change, Kristin developed a new high school model to break the underperformance cycle and foster progress through innovative approaches.
Passionate about education and the arts, Kristin founded a non-profit performing arts company to empower youth and promote social awareness through theatre. Kristin is also the CEO and founder of Excel Empowerment Educators Network, continuing her mission to inspire positive change. 

Joe Shahen

Joe Shahen is a services and communications consultant with Empire Charter Consultants, providing support to schools in all stages of their life cycle and assisting with the organization’s internal operations and digital media. After starting with the charter movement in 2010 as an Assistant Data Analyst with the New York Charter Schools Association, becoming the Deputy Communications Director for New York as the organization grew into the Northeast Charter Schools Network, he took a detour in the energy industry. Following stints as Communications Director of the Independent Power Producers of New York and a Communications Manager with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, he joined ECC in early 2023. A proud advocate for schools who want to help all students succeed coming up on 10 years in the charter school movement, he now probably has as many years as Success Academies has schools waiting to open despite there being no charters in NYC left to give out and plenty of other teams wanting to open their first.

Regina Lauricella

Regina Lauricella is a collaborative, solutions-driven education leader who believes every child deserves access to a high-quality, affirming education that unlocks their full potential.  With more than 20 years in education, including a decade founding and leading a highly successful community-based charter school in New Jersey, Regina brings deep expertise across the full lifecycle of a school, from charter development and governance to daily operations and long-term strategic growth. At ECC, Regina partners with school leaders to launch, strengthen, and expand high-performing schools. She is highly skilled in academic and instructional programming, designing rigorous, mission-aligned models that drive measurable results. Known for connecting vision to execution, she helps leadership teams build strong systems, elevate performance, and create lasting impact for students and communities.

Regina holds a Certificate in Strategy Execution for Public Leadership from Harvard Business School.