US Math Recovery Council^® Board of Directors

Lesley Maxfield served in the Spokane Public Schools as a District Elementary Math Coach. During her tenure, she implemented Math Recovery training and provided collaborative mentoring and professional development for elementary math coaches and interventionists. She also offered professional development for the district's MRIS and Champion certified staff. Additionally, Lesley worked in intervention, supporting students at Title 1 schools.

Dana is a mathematics education consultant at Oakland Schools, an intermediate school district located in Southeast Michigan. In this role, Dana has worked alongside teachers, mathematics and literacy coaches, interventionists, and administrators in an effort to cultivate rich learning environments that are supportive and responsive to each learner. Prior to joining Oakland Schools, Dana was a middle school mathematics teacher. Dana began her Math Recovery^® journey in 2015 when she started taking Math Recovery^® Intervention Specialist. Since that time, Dana has become a Math Recovery^® Leader and Champion.

Dana earned a Ph.D. in Teacher Education from the University of Michigan in 2010. She also holds a B.S. in Education from the University of Michigan and a M.A. in Middle Level Education from Central Michigan University.

Hubert Condoretti is a Senior Executive and Technology Leader with a passion for innovation, building teams, leading product development, and helping companies and individuals grow to not only reach but surpass their potential. With over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, Hubert has led cross-functional organizations at Microsoft, Amazon, Twitch, Ellie Mae and tech startups where he launched Windows, Office, Azure, OneDrive, Xbox, Alexa, Twitch.tv and numerous other products and services used around the world. As a CTO, he migrated services and platforms to the cloud, led and scaled companies through growth and expansion, adopted modern technologies such as AI, ML and others to increase efficiency and optimize workflows, and evolved existing businesses in highly regulated industries.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Hubert is fluent in Spanish and immigrated to the US where he graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors as the Valedictorian for his class and earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

Mark Hornung is an accomplished and versatile Business Leader with a track record of strong leadership, quality service delivery, operational excellence, and outstanding business results as a service provider to the regulated (banking, insurance, and healthcare) and consumer products and manufacturing industries. His strengths include the ability to lead company-wide initiatives and develop solutions aligned to market demands as well as identify, design, launch and implement initiatives to drive and strengthen market position, increase revenue growth, and ensure long term sustainability.

As a Regional and National Office Partner at Ernst & Young for nearly 30 years, Mark led and executed several successful initiatives. He founded regional practices for both the IT Audit & Security Business and Risk Business, leading both from start-up to market leadership. Following his retirement from Ernst & Young, he joined CliftonLarsonAllen as the National Managing Principal of the Business Risk Services practice until his retirement in 2019. During his tenure at CliftonLarsonAllen, he served as a member of the Quality team for the Advisory practice and led many successful risk engagements for Fortune 1000 clients. Mark holds Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Currently consulting for pharmaceutical and healthcare related companies, and formerly with the FDA as a lead counsel, Judd Katz has used his career experience to help others. Prior to joining the FDA, Judd was a consultant for several pharma companies, and was also a Vice President of Legal and Compliance within Tricida Inc. At Array Biopharma he was an Executive Director of Legal and Compliance and Privacy Officer. Prior to relocating to the Colorado area, Judd was with Depomed Inc. focusing on healthcare compliance along with DOJ, State, and Senate investigations related to the opioid space. Before joining Depomed, Judd handled all compliance related monitoring, auditing, and investigations at Questcor Pharmaceuticals. Beyond the corporate side of the industry, Judd spent time at FDA in the Office of the Commissioner during his law school tenure. He also spent time at the Department of Justice in the Office of Consumer Protection.

Judd earned his Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University prior to obtaining his Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University. He obtained a Master in Healthcare Administration at Seton Hall University, a Master’s of Science degree from John’s Hopkins University, and another Master’s of Science from Columbia University. Judd has graduate certificates from American University in Genetics, Medicine, International Health, Bioethics, and Pharmaceutical Law. Judd also has a Healthcare Compliance Certificate from Seton Hall University School of Law. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at Yale University, and serving as a Board Member of the Benzodiazepine Alliance to ensure appropriate prescribing habits.

Regina Ligon is an Elementary (K-5) Dean of Students with the Albuquerque Public Schools in Albuquerque, NM. She works with teachers, administrators and district leaders analyzing, planning and guiding the implementation of school curriculum. Her work includes coaching teachers and providing professional development; implementing interventions with students; and participating in reflective collaboration with colleagues. She has been a Math Recovery^® Intervention Specialist since 2017 and is passionate about work with students and teachers.

Regina received her B.S. from New Mexico State University in Education and became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2011.

Jeff Little is Vice President, Corporate Actuarial, with Thrivent, a Fortune 500, member-owned, not-for-profit, financial services organization. During his career at Thrivent, he has held positions in a variety of areas including product management, pricing, risk management, expense management, and strategic development. Jeff is an actuary and achieved his designation as Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) in 2001. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from Illinois State University. In his spare time, he enjoys being active outdoors, reading, and planning his family’s next travel adventure. He lives with his wife Jennifer, his daughter Claire, his son Gabe, their three cats, and their one dog in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Dr. Beth MacDonald began working as an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education at Illinois State University in the fall of 2022. After teaching kindergarten, second grade, third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade in southwest Virginia for 15 years, she served as mathematics specialist for two years in two PK-5 Title 1 schools. Beth’s current research includes examining conceptual resources students with learning disabilities utilize when reorganizing their whole number and operational schemes to construct fractions and fraction operations. Prior to accepting a position at Illinois State University, Beth served as an Assistant/Associate Professor at Utah State University in Elementary Mathematics Education.

Dr. MacDonald earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in mathematics education from Virginia Tech in 2013. She also holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Studio Art from SUNY Potsdam and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Mathematics Specialist certificate from Virginia Tech.

Yaraliz Soto is currently the Math Instructional Leadership Specialist (ILS) for Morgan Full Service Community School (Grades Pk-4) in Holyoke, MA. She has been in this role for the past five years. Prior to that, she was a district-wide Math ILS for grades 4-8. She started her educational career as a 7/8 Math and Science teacher for Holyoke Community Charter School, working in this role for 7 years. In 2018, Yaraliz began her Math Recovery journey as a Math Recovery Intervention Specialist and has since added Math Recovery Champion to her resume.

Yaraliz received her B.A. from Barnard College in New York City and her M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.

Bridgette Thompson has 20 years of experience in business strategy, marketing, and digital transformation. She has held leadership roles at Aviva Investors, Invesco PowerShares, and Plan Sponsor Advisors (now Mercer), driving initiatives that scaled product portfolios from launch to billions in assets. She has transformed customer engagement through innovative, data-driven growth strategies.

As a co-founder and advisor to a tech startup, Bridgette provided strategic direction on growth and marketing. She also served on the board of an EdTech startup and DyMynd Angels, advocating for funding of women entrepreneurs.  Focused on giving back as a Business and Marketing Teacher in Illinois School District 300, Bridgette draws on her industry experience to empower high school students with real-world business and financial literacy skills.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Corporate Communications from Dominican University, where she graduated magna cum laude and received the highest honor of Distinguished Senior in Business.

Mike Vallier is a math consultant in Kalamazoo Michigan. He began as a fifth grade teacher in 2000. After becoming a Math Recovery Intervention Specialist in 2015, he began coaching and developing the MTSS program for his district. Mike now provides individual math coaching and consulting to K-8 teachers and school districts in Kalamazoo County. He also provides local and regional professional development offerings throughout Michigan. Mike became a Math Recovery Champion in 2018, and helped found a statewide collaborative network of Champions and MR Leaders. He will complete his MRSp Leader designation this year. Mike is the president of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and is a member of several state and national math organizations.

Mike received his Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, and his Master's Degree in Educational Technology from Western Michigan University.

Deanna Watts has been supporting students and teachers since she was in grade school. That love of learning and heart for service led to a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, a master’s in Educational Leadership, and countless continuing education certificates. She has been teaching since 1994, starting in Orlando, Florida before moving to Santa Clara, California in 1998. Teaching with different grade level teams taught her the value of collaboration and inspired her to become a teacher on special assignment. Since becoming a TOSA she has provided district-wide and site-based professional learning, led teams of teacher leaders, created curriculum resources, modeled best practices with students in classrooms, contributed to grade level PLCs, and shared her knowledge as a presenter at national math conferences. Her greatest accomplishment, besides raising her two sons, was becoming an Add+Vantage Math Recovery (AVMR) Champion in 2018, which helped her to provide teachers with the knowledge, assessments, and lessons to support Tier I and Tier II instruction. Adding AVMR to her repertoire of curriculum support and math workshop professional development strengthened her ability to support teachers as they strive to meet students’ needs and improve outcomes for all students.

Jilian Whaley is a highly respected Mathematics Specialist with over 30 years of experience in math education. Since 2009, she has served as the District Math Specialist for the Indian River School District in Delaware. In this role, she has led curriculum adoption and implementation, created and implemented an instructional framework for elementary math that includes both universal and tiered interventions, and guided the district through the challenges of the pandemic. 

Beyond her district, Jilian plays an active role in state and national math education efforts. She is a lead member of the DE Bridges Cadre and serves on the Delaware Mathematics Plan Steering Committee. Additionally, she leads workshops for Delaware Bridges districts and presents nationally through The Math Learning Center, sharing her expertise in equitable, research-based practices to improve student learning. 

Jilian is dedicated to empowering educators and elevating student achievement. 

Dr. Christina Miller, Executive Director of the US Math Recovery Council^® (USMRC), has been an active member of the Math Recovery^® community for over 15 years serving in various roles including Math Recovery trainer, board member, Program Development Director, and serves currently as Executive Director. Before joining the US Math Recovery Council team full-time, Christina worked over 19 years in K-12 public education in capacities including classroom teacher, math interventionist, and instructional coach. She worked with students, teachers, and administrations to improve the quality of math instruction including supporting large-scale initiatives and implementations of Math Recovery. Christina has supported both undergraduate and graduate-level coursework in higher education. Her current work involves leading the organization in fulfilling the mission of the US Math Recovery Council to transform numeracy education through Math Recovery principles. Christina holds a B.A. in Elementary Education, M.A. in Educational Leadership, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in mathematics and elementary education.