Meet our Board Members
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Chantae Readye, Board ChairChantae Readye has been an educator in the Clark County School District since 2006. It has been her passion and privilege to work with students from some of the most vulnerable populations and to watch them succeed. Originally from San Diego, CA, she grew up in a low income, single parent household where she was taught the importance of a good education as a means to open doors and to improve her life. With the support of her mother and many mentors along the way, Chantae got her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles where she double majored in Economics and Sociology in 2006. Although she intended to go into marketing after college, after attending a Teach For America informational session her senior year, she applied and joined the 2006 Las Vegas Valley corps and became an elementary teacher for CCSD. As a teacher Chantae had the opportunity to teach kindergarten, second, third, and fifth grades and earned a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She was an active leader on her school campus and involved with the school community and was able to use her experiences growing up to help connect with her students. This led to the realization that education was her passion and that she desired to be a school leader to expand her impact in the pursuit of sustained change. Chantae decided to become an administrator and pursued her second Master’s in Urban Leadership Development from UNLV in 2017. Chantae was appointed as an Assistant Principal in September of 2019 and has continued to work within low income communities in Las Vegas to empower students to use education as a means to unlock opportunities.
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Keith J.D. Hightower, board vice chairKeith Hightower currently directs the government affairs and corporate relationships at Teach For America Las Vegas. He joined TFA’s team as the Director of Corporate and Public Partnerships in October 2019. A decade earlier, Keith was selected to join the 2009 TFA Hawai’i corps where he taught middle-school social studies and science and chaired the Social Studies department. Prior to his role with TFA, Keith served on Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s senior leadership team as the Governor’s Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs Director. Keith also served as the Legislative Director for Governor Brian Sandoval. In an era of troubling political tribalism and intense political polarization, Keith earned trusted advisory roles from these successive governors belonging to opposite political parties. Keith majored in Political Science and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in 2009, his Master of Education in Teaching from the University of Hawai’i in 2013, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law, graduating in 2017 with Pro Bono Highest Honors. Keith was recently appointed to the Board of Visitors at Columbia University’s School of General Studies, he also serves on the UNLV Law School Advisory Board for the Justice Michael L. Douglas Pre-Law Fellowship Program, he sits on the executive leadership board for the Las Vegas National Bar Association, and in 2019, the UNLV Law School presented Keith with its prestigious Young Alumni Award.
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Kelsey Stegall, Board SecretaryKelsey E. Stegall advises and defends corporate clients in a variety of labor and employment matters as an attorney in Littler Mendelson’s Las Vegas office. Prior to joining Littler, Kelsey clerked for two years for the Honorable Chief Judge Gloria M. Navarro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. In law school, Kelsey served as vice president of UNLV’s exclusive moot court team, the Society of Advocates, and as notes editor of the Gaming Law Journal.
Kelsey moved from the southwest valley to Downtown Las Vegas in early 2017, and she has been an active resident ever since. Due to the disparity that is apparent in the Downtown Las Vegas community, Kelsey has made it a part of her personal mission to become more involved in equity within this community, particularly involving education. |
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LORI BUTLERLori Butler is a knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated supporter of quality education for all students. With over 20 years in education, she is a natural leader who is uncompromising in her efforts to ensure students have access to excellence.
Lori’s career in education started as a classroom teacher and progressed to leadership roles including Instructional Coach, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and School Principal. She is data-oriented and builds her team so that all members are in a position that engages their skill set and nurtures their passion. In her roles as Vice President of School Services and Director of Educational Services for two charter support organizations, she responded to the expanding needs of the charter school movement with tenacity and integrity. As Director of Charter Development, Lori researched and developed a strategy to enter untapped markets to expand alternative education options for disconnected youth. Lori believes in working with all stakeholders to attain permeating and lasting change. She has become a trusted partner to school superintendents, school board members, and community leaders through transparent conversation and actions supported by data. As a servant leader, Lori is a devout supporter of lifelong learning. She believes the transformation of our society must begin with our learning institutions and the lifelong learners we inspire to create. |
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Dr. Jay MaharjanJay Maharjan is an author, policy advisor and community leader. He is a strong advocate for equity in education. He credits his values for education to his parents who instilled in him that education is the ultimate equalizer. As an immigrant from Nepal, the invaluable guidance he received from mentors and teachers who are diverse, inclusive, equitable, and accessible, has helped shape his own aspirations to make impact at the local, state and national level.
In 2012, the Obama White House invited him to lead the Nevada region for Startup America Partnership, which was one of six initiatives highlighted in the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness report. The goal of the initiative was to revive the US economy following the 2008 financial crisis – by helping launch and accelerate 100,000 startup and early-stage companies. The Nevada region – Startup Nevada – focused on empowering minoritized and women led startup organizations. The following year, the US State Department initiative UP Global, with reach in 135 countries bringing together 210,000 participants, appointed him as its first ambassador. His areas of policy work and research interest include the role of learning, K-12 funding model, accountability and economics of public funds, equity in education, Development, Global Health, Humanitarianism, and Refugees. He received his master’s degree in Public policy and leadership and Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California. He was the recipient of the 2017 Outstanding Alumni Award from his undergraduate alma mater Pittsburg State University, where he received his engineering degree in 1997. |