TEAM
Powered by Miami Dade College
Florida Charter Institute
MEET THE TEAM
FCI is comprised of a team of accomplished professionals, each member bringing a wealth of experience and expertise in education, particularly charter schools. Together, they are dedicated to shaping the future of education and empowering students.
MICHAEL BILECA
Chair, Miami Dade College District Board of Trustees
Michael Bileca serves as the chair of the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees. He also is the Executive Director of the Dennis Bileca Institute for Character and Excellence, a foundation that primarily funds schools focusing on virtue-based education with an emphasis on a classical liberal arts curriculum. Mr. Bileca founded True North Classical Academies, a network of four successful charter schools in Miami-Dade County.
SUSIE MILLER CARELLO
Executive Director
Susie Miller Carello spent 12 years as the chief of the largest higher-education authorizer in the country, the Charter Schools Institute at SUNY. Under her leadership, New York tripled the number of high-quality public school choices for students and their families, quadrupled enrollment, and drove strong and sustained student achievement. At the end of her term, the Institute had authorized 221 charters enrolling 120,000 students.
JENNA HODGENS
EDD Authorizing
Jenna Hodgens began her education career with Hillsborough County as an ESE teacher, and eventually became the Charter Schools Director overseeing all of the charter schools in Hillsborough County. Mrs. Hodgens has been an active member of the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA) since it’s founding, served on the board of directors as a board member, vice president and was president for 12 years. She also served on the Charter School Review Panel and the Florida Charter Schools Appeals Commission.
CURTIS FULLER
EDD LEA and Support
Curtis Fuller is a former special education teacher and the Principal of a high performing charter school in Florida. He moved to Building Hope as the Director of Charter School Operations and for over ten years has been providing support to charter schools through the Charter Support Unit, a program operated in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education to support start-up charter schools through their first charter renewal.
KATHRYN PERKINS
EDD Teaching, Learning and Leadership
Kathryn Perkins comes to FCI after over a decade with Uncommon Schools, a network of 54 schools serving over 20,000 students, where she most recently was Director of Strategy and Operations on the Curriculum & Assessment Team. Prior to that role, Kathryn was the Dean of Curriculum & Instruction, literacy teacher, and Teach for America corps member at one of Uncommon’s top performing middle schools.
CHRISTY NOE, PH.D.
President, Collaborative Educational Network
Christy Noe has been involved in the charter school movement since 1997 when she became the principal of the first charter school in Collier County. The following year she was recruited to serve as principal of Exploris Charter Middle School in Raleigh, NC, which opened in partnership with the former Exploris Museum. Christy was recruited back to Florida to run the Florida Charter School Resource Center, founded to provide Exceptional Student Education (ESE) training and technical assistance to charter schools across the state.
PAUL POWELL
Executive Director, True North Classical Academies
Paul Powell currently serves as the Executive Director of True North Classical Academies in Miami, Florida. Prior to taking this role he was the Regional Superintendent for Uncommon Schools Rochester Prep, a network of six high-performing public charter schools serving 2,300 students in grades K-12. Prior to working with Uncommon Schools, Paul worked with Teach For America New York City as well as the Philadelphia Institute as a Corps Member Advisor. Mr. Powell is also a trustee at Goucher College.