Meet Our Consultants

Mary Lou Camarena is working with Innovate+Educate to further STEM education initiatives in the El Paso region and looking at the integration of the supply and demand side of workforce development to advance STEM jobs and skills.  Ms. Camarena is a Certified Project Management Professional with extensive experience in developing and implementing strategic and operational solutions for cost-effective services to the public.  Previously, she has worked with the Paso del Norte Group, Deloitte Consulting, BearingPoint, the Georgia Department of Revenue and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, and the Office of U.S. Congressman Ron Coleman.  She has a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Harvard, a Master's degree in Public Policy from Duke University.  She is active in the community and serves on the Board of the El Paso Children’s Hospital.

Charles Fadel National STEM Strategist Charles Fadel is a global education thought leader and expert, author, and inventor, with several affiliations: Previously the Global Education Director of Cisco Systems and Vice-chair of the Education committee of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD;, Charles is a currently a visiting scholar at Harvard’s GSE and Wharton/UPenn ‘s CLO. He holds a BS in electronics/physics with a minor in neuroscience, and a MBA in international marketing.

Noah Garrett Public Relations Noah is founder and president of NGC Communications (www.thinkngc.com). A former journalist and syndicated columnist, Noah has worked in the media and public relations fields for more than 15 years. He is married to his wife Rachael and has two children.

Lois Johnson Project Director Workforce, New Options NM Lois Johnson is a results-driven workforce consultant with over 20 years executive level experience in program and policy development in non-profit and government sectors. Over the past several years, Lois has led statewide reorganization of the New Mexico public workforce system, including consolidation of 41 workforce centers, development of a new demand-driven service model, and system-wide staff re-training. Originally from Albany, NY, Lois was the founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Employment and Resource Center, widely noted for successful industry training programs and strategic partnerships with local business and industry.

Thomas S. Kilijanek, Ph.D. Workforce Consultant Dr. Kilijanek is the founder of TSK Consulting, which is focused on linking research results to pragmatic decision-making for individuals and organizations in the education and workforce arenas.Tom brings over 30+ years knowledge and expertise in WorkKeys, assessments, job analysis, data analysis, and employer engagement for the New Options NM project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Yvonne Lozano New Mexico STEM Network-Southern Hub Project Director Yvonne has held many roles in education from teacher to administrator to researcher and specialist. She recently worked with Gadsden I.S.D. as Associate Superintendent for Education and Spaceport Fund Administration. While in the Gadsden district, as Associate Superintendent, she provided vision, leadership, and support in partnership with NMSU to design and develop the Gadsden Math Initiative (GMI) and Balanced Literacy in Two Languages which have significantly improved the achievement of students K-12 in the district. These initiatives made a major contribution to the district turnaround. Yvonne was a NASA Space Science Fellow for 5 years supported by the Ames Research Center, Sunnyvale California, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University. While working in Texas she was selected to write the initial version of the Texas standards and assessments for science and mathematics and was selected to lead Texas textbook adoptions statewide. While there, she was chosen Teacher of the Year in Texas.

Dr. Merrilea Mayo Lead Strategist to New Options Project Merrilea J. Mayo is the founder of Mayo Consulting, LLC, focusing her expertise in the areas of education, workforce, innovation, and technology. Previously, Merrilea was the Director of Future of Learning Initiatives at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Dr. Mayo is a recognized expert in STEM education, workforce development, and data to advance education and workforce. From 2001-2006, Dr. Mayo was Director of the Government-University-Industry Roundtable (GUIRR) of the National Academies. Dr. Mayo brings expertise of metrics, research and innovative technologies to the Innovate+Educate team and is the lead strategist for the New Options NM project funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Al Reed Project Director of Education, New Options NM Al Reed is owner of “As the Crow Flies”, a consulting firm specializing in higher education and workforce consultant. Al was the Dean of Business and Applied Technologies at Santa Fe Community College from 2002-2011 and worked in the community college system for 22 years. In addition to managing nineteen programs offering degrees and certificates, Mr. Reed initiated new programs at Santa Fe Community College during his tenure including work in Environmental Technologies, Facility Technologies, Film Crew Technician Training, Banking, Digital Photography, Green Building, and Alternative Fuels. He serves as an evaluator for Quality New Mexico, directed the start-up of SFCC’s distance learning and has managed USDA, DOE and DOL grants for the College. Mr. Reed received his undergraduate degree at UNM, his masters at St. John’s College and has completed all but his dissertation in instructional technology and distance education.

Tom Ryan, PhD Education 360 Dr. Ryan has worked for public education for over 30 years, as a teacher for 14 years, a high school principal, and district administrator. He has a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Learning Technologies from NMSU. Tom worked in Albuquerque Public Schools as CIO and led a visionary plan for technology in one of the largest districts in the Country. Tom consults in hybrid learning technologies to advance transformation in education.

Amy Schilling Marketing & Communications Strategy Amy Schilling has nearly a decade of experience working as the Communications Director for start-up companies ranging from biotech to consumer products. For the past four years Amy worked in the film industry, specializing in digital media production, producing & directing commercials, documentaries and corporate videos; most notably a series of shorts for eBay. Amy has a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Dayton and a Master’s in Animal Behavior from UC Davis. Her graduate research focused on animal conservation and community economic development in Africa.

Dr. Peter Winograd Director, UNM Center for Education Policy Research Dr. Winograd currently serves as the Director of the Center for Education Policy (CEPR) at the University of New Mexico. CEPR’s mission is to conduct independent, high quality research that can be used to inform and assess policy and practice throughout New Mexico’s P-20 education system. Prior to taking this position in 2011, Dr. Winograd served as the Education Policy Advisor to Governor Richardson for almost two years and served as the Director of the New Mexico Office of Education Accountability (OEA) in the Department of Finance and Administration for six years.