Our Leadership Team
Executive Director
UC Principal Investigator
Dr. McGlawn has provided a servant and transformational leadership approach to urban learning communities for nearly 30 years. Having served at every institutional level, in a myriad of settings and professional roles, she is considered a seasoned collaborator, evidence-based strategist and institutional advisor. Her actionable research interests, where she has served and facilitated professional development, learning and capacity building includes, implementing systemic tactical strategies to achieve equity-based outcomes, performance optimization of individual and organizational practices, operationalizing intersectionality, culturally responsive pedagogy and leadership, building network-community alliances through innovative collective impact initiatives, Improvement Science and Design-Based Implementation Research.
Dr. McGlawn is a proud graduate of both the CSU San Diego’s Community Based Block Multicultural & Social Justice Master’s Program, and the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California where she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership. An effective consensus builder and action-oriented scholar practitioner, Dr. McGlawn brings an ideal synthesis of research savviness, practical application and a deep devotion to increased educational and economic opportunities for all students, their families and communities.
Dr.mcglawn@berkeley.edu
Research Administrator
Business and Ops Lead
Carrie Collins interfaces with funders, UC Berkeley’s Financial Accounting, and other departments at UC Berkeley. She manages contracts, grants, and budgets, and provides administrative support to the CCASN team. She has worked for UC Berkeley since 1989, including the National Center for Research in Vocational Education prior to joining CCASN in 2000.
Collaborative Partner
District and System Leadership
Cindy Bater
Collaborative Partner
Professional Services
Cheryl Hibbeln
Coordinator of Public Programs, Retired
Annie Johnston excels at facilitating collaboration between education leaders at all levels and across systems to address equity problems of practice in college and career pathways. She works with county, district, and site-level teams, as well as community colleges, CSUs, and UCs across the state to change systems and practices that produce educational disparities. Annie focuses on aligning across systems, teacher preparation, and research-practice partnerships. Her expertise in applied and participatory research grew from her work as a California Partnership Academy lead teacher and school administrator, and was honed by UC Berkeley’s PLI (MA) and LEEP (Ed.D) programs. anniej@berkeley.edu
State and Regional Advisor
Susan Tidyman’s extensive experience supporting the development of high-school career academies and small learning communities informs her work as our national and state liaison. She coordinates a cadre of California Partnership Academy (CPA) teacher-leaders using Human Centered Design Thinking to help other academies improve their programs and ensure student success, especially with underserved populations. Her goal is to have a deeper knowledge and understanding of equity and ways to effectively put it at the center of her work. Susan holds a B.A. and M.S. from the University of Montana; she also has secondary and community college teaching credentials. sctidyman@berkeley.edu
Collaborative Partner
AI & Human Systems Architect
Leslie Valmonte
Collaborative Leadership Advisor
State Disability and Special Education Services
Leilani Whitfield
Collaborative Leadership Advisor
Architect of Belonging and Strategic System Design
Dr. Felicia Singleton
Collaborative Leadership Advisor
STEM R&D, Assessment, Learning Technologies
Dr. Britte Cheng
UC Principal Investigator
District and System Leadership
Professional Services
AI & Human Systems Architect
Business and Ops Lead
State Disability and Special Education Services
Architect of Belonging and Strategic System Design
STEM R&D, Assessment, Learning Technologies
Senior Advisor
Faculty Collaborative Advisors
The Career Academy Network: From “CASN” to “CCASN”, Our Legacy
1998
2010
2022
In 1998, Dr. David Stern and Charles Dayton collaborated with lead teachers Dr. Marilyn Raby and Susan Tidyman, and UC Research Administrator Carrie Collins, to establish an innovative college-to-career initiative, the Career Academy Support Network (CASN) at the University of California, Berkeley. CASN, in partnership with the California Department of Education (CDE), collaboratively developed the California Partnership Academy (CPA) Model, this network of academies exists as one of the longest standing college “and” career models in the United States. Carrie Collins is CCASN’s long-standing steward and institutional historian. She has been and remains central to CCASN’s work as the essential business, operations and research administrator.
Now called The College & Career Alliance Support Network (now CCASN) has evolved in its initial role as an intermediary-serving Network for high-schools to an intermediary now extends across PK20 – postsecondary education systems in California, and beyond.




