We are a team of strategic thinkers, empathetic coaches, and innovative educators, united in our commitment to champion inclusive learning environments where every student thrives.
Lee Ann Jung, PhD
Founder and CEO
Lee Ann is founder of Lead Inclusion, Clinical Professor at San Diego State University, and a consultant to schools worldwide. A former special education teacher and administrator, Lee Ann now spends her time in schools, working shoulder-to-shoulder with teams in their efforts to improve systems and practice. She has consulted with schools in more than 30 countries and throughout the United States in the areas of universal design for learning, inclusion, intervention, and mastery assessment and grading. Lee Ann is the author of 9 books, numerous journal articles and book chapters on inclusion, universal design, and assessment. She serves on the advisory board for Mastery Transcript Consortium, as section editor of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Education, and on the editorial board member for several professional journals. In her community, Lee Ann is a board member for Life Adventure Center, a local nonprofit with a mission of healing for those who have experienced trauma.
Johanna Cena, DEd
Instructor
Johanna is co-creator of and instructor for the MTSS course and conducts professional learning with Lead Inclusion. She is the Director of Teaching and Learning at the American School of Barcelona. She has 18 years of experience in education, 10 of those years as an Elementary principal and Director of ELL programs in Barcelona and in Portland, Oregon. Johanna has also been a classroom teacher, ELL teacher, instructional coach and staff developer. She has been a presenter on the topics of teacher leadership, content literacy, reading interventions, English language development, reader’s and writer’s workshop, culturally relevant teaching strategies, sheltered instruction, and systems such as response to instruction and intervention and Positive Behavior Support.
Anita Churchville, MSEd
Instructor
Anita created and teaches the high ability/gifted and talented course. She is an educational consultant and founder of the HAGT Learners Collaborative. She has a long history of coordinating High Ability and Gifted Programs in international schools. She also has worked as a program specialist in the Los Angeles Unified School District in California, supporting 16 schools. She has a master's degree in special and gifted education and certification as an educational diagnostician. She has presented sessions at numerous conferences for international schools.
Abbey Love, PhD
Instructor
Abbey created and teaches the families course and the organizational change course with Lead Inclusion. She is broadly interested in translating educational research to teachers and families and is specifically dedicated to initiatives and research that support individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Her research focuses on motivation and self-efficacy beliefs of professionals who work with students with disabilities in a number of contexts. She is the founder of PACT: Police Autism Community Training, and has worked internationally as a K-12 teacher and university preservice teacher instructor. Abbey has a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Kentucky.
Sam Passeport, MS
Instructor
Sam designed and leads our course on Coaching and Consultation in Inclusive Schools. She is an education consultant/founder of No Borders Learning and an education development officer at ErasmusX, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Sam received the ISTE Edtech Coach PLN award in 2016, was named an ISTE Emerging Leader in 2016 and earned the ISTE Outstanding Young Educator Award in 2017. She is a Professional Postgraduate Candidate in Education at the University of Dundee (online and part-time).
Melanie Mezick, MS
Instructional Design and Media
Melanie manages the social media and participant success arm of Lead Inclusion. Melanie is a seasoned, celebrated special education teacher in Auburn City Public Schools. She designs visuals to bring our content to life. Melanie is the main point of contact and support for participants engaged in our courses.
Amy Bain, BS, BA
Instructor
Amy is co-creator of and instructor for the Compassionate Classrooms emotional regulation course. She is a skilled and seasoned leader of Family Connections™ courses to participants throughout the US, a project funded by National Institute of Mental Health. Amy has a passion for helping educators and family members understand the impact of emotional regulation on child development. The purpose of her work with Compassionate Classrooms is to help educators and families experience decreased feelings of depression, burden, and grief, while increasing in empowerment and self-efficacy as they use research-based practices to help young people regulate emotions and behavior. Although her work is applicable to all students, she has particular expertise and experience with emotional regulation disorders. She has worked in the Health Information Management field for the past 25 years.
Kristen Missall, PhD
Instructor
Kristen co-created and teaches the MTSS course and conducts professional learning with Lead Inclusion. She is Professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington in Seattle. She received a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of Minnesota, completed post-doctoral training at the Center for Early Education and Development, and worked in early childhood special education and elementary school settings. She specializes in school readiness and adjustment, early literacy and mathematics development, and data-based decision making in MTSS models. Kristen serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Early Intervention and on the Editorial Board of Journal of School Psychology.
Nicole DeZarn, MEd
Consultant
Nicole conducts audits of practice and co-teaches courses with Lead Inclusion. She taught special education for 10 years at the high school and elementary levels. She has worked as a developmental interventionist serving children ages birth to three and their families. Nicole has 4 children, 3 of whom are adopted and have disabilities. In addition to her work coaching and teaching for Lead Inclusion, Nicole serves on the board of BuildInclusion, in Lexington, KY.
Chris Jung, BS, PG
Chief Operating Officer
A professional geologist by trade, Chris retired from a long and successful career in his field and now leads the operations of Lead Inclusion. Chris is the point of contact for inquiries about services and manages business operations and accounts.
Maisie Jung
Social Media Consultant
Maisie is a social media consultant for Lead Inclusion. Maisie is a college student at Arizona State University in Museum Studies with a focus on Social Justice. She has authored two articles for Educational Leadership Magazine. Maisie enjoys hiking and gardening and sipping hot tea and coffee.