Leadership Team

The team comprises passionate community stakeholders who believe early childhood education is one of the great equalizers in this world. This belief drives everything – from how we run the organization to who serves on the board of directors. AART’s dedicated team of professionals pours their energy and hearts into ensuring we provide our students and family with the best inclusive preschool experience, so they are ready for success in kindergarten and beyond.


MANAGEMENT Staff

Michelle Sullivan, Executive Director
Michelle oversees the entire organization’s operations and is responsible for fundraising and outreach. Ms. Sullivan has over 21 years of experience in nonprofit management, relationship building, and fundraising. She has a BA in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate. Her favorite children’s book is Chrysanthemum.

 

 

 

 

Sally Masri, Programs Director
Sally has been a lead teacher with AART for a number of years. Prior to teaching with AART, she was a career teacher in counties across Northern Virginia. Sally is the creative and organizational force behind how AART’s preschool programs are created, adapted, and executed each school year. She is an expert in her field and dedicated to seeing AART’s students succeed. Sally’s favorite children’s book is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien.

 

 

 

Jennifer Stecklow, Director of Operations
Jennifer is an educational enthusiast who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations build innovative educational technology solutions. She has coached university faculty transition from face-to-face learning to virtual delivery, built a robust and thriving customer education program for a large educational technology company, and was the first strategic hire at an educational startup brought on to build critical operational, product, and business solutions needed for a growing company. At AART, she is responsible for solutions so operations can run smoothly and the team can focus on developing the leaders of tomorrow. Her favorite children’s book is Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus! by the amazing Mo Willems.

 

 

Monique Duke, Director of Finance
Monique is responsible for all financial processes, company financial planning, and strategy. Ms. Duke has 18 years of experience working in corporate financial accounting and over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. She was involved with many leadership aspects of the nonprofit groups, including money management, fundraising, and event planning. She has a B.S. in Business Management. Her favorite children’s book is Toot & Puddle.

 


SUPPORT STAFF

Kim Timbrook, Assistant Director – Resources
Kim has been a lead teacher with AART since 2018 and started as a volunteer in one of our classes. In her Assistant Director – Resources role, she is responsible for selecting, ordering, and distributing multicultural and inclusive books and supplies which complement AART’s educational experience. She is also responsible for coordinating donations.

 

 

 

Carine Threlkeld, Outreach Coordinator
Carine is a trusted leader in her community who has a passion for early childhood education and supporter in her community. She has been with AART for 10 years and is a natural at recruiting families for our program. In her Outreach Coordinator role, she supports AART’s bilingual assistants, who canvass communities to spread awareness and recruit students for the program. 

 

 

Virginia Turner, Assistant Director – Administration
Virginia has been with AART for 10+ years – first as a teacher and now as our Assistant Director in Administration. She is
responsible for the administrative functions required for the day-to-day operations of all AART classes. This includes managing class flyers, staff communication (emails, meetings, monthly checklist), and maintaining AART’s google calendar.

 

 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lara MajorLara Major, Chair
Lara is an educational consultant with Major Consulting LLC. She has over 20 years of experience facilitating the professional development of teachers in early literacy instruction. Lara has worn many hats in education, including  – public school teacher, reading specialist, program director, curriculum and assessment developer, and university adjunct instructor. Her years in classrooms helped her see how hard it is for children to succeed when they lack access to quality early childhood education. Lara’s favorite activity is reading books to young children, but she can also be found doing outdoorsy things like hiking, biking, and taking care of farm animals. Her favorite children’s book is George and Martha by James Marshall.

 

Joy Kuvareewong, Treasurer
Joy has over 14 years of experience working in the Wealth Management industry and is responsible for end-to-end client operations. She supports wealth advisors in various client service efforts. She is passionate about early childhood education and wants to give back to the community. Joy brings with her various operational and financial experiences and has a Master’s Degree in Finance from Johns Hopkins University. Currently residing in Annandale, VA, she speaks fluent Thai and enjoys traveling and spending time at her family’s “All Rice Thai” restaurant.

 

 

Headshot of Erin Austin, board member of AART.Erin Austin, Secretary
Erin is the founder of Erin Austin Law, and the management consultancy Think Beyond IP. A graduate of Harvard Law, Erin has practiced law for over 25 years, including serving as general counsel, head of business affairs, and COO. Her experience as a lawyer and an executive provides a deep understanding of the intersection between business and the law. She is passionate about using her experience to make capitalism work for all stakeholders. Like so many parents, Erin became obsessed with the differences among early childhood programs when searching for the right program for her now 14-year-old son. In her spare time, she clears brush on her farmette, searches for the perfect gluten-free bread, and plays drums in a rock band. Her favorite children’s book was given to her at her son’s baby shower, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.

 


Sandra  (Sandy) Shihadeh, Co-Founder & Director
Inspired by how much her nieces and nephews lightened up the lives of residents at her grandmother’s nursing home, Sandy had an idea of pairing eager young learners with elder volunteers in multigenerational programs. In 2007, Sandy piloted an intergenerational reading program at her grandmother’s nursing home, and AART was born. She served as its first teacher, then as President until 2016. Before starting AART, Sandy served as a preschool educator for nearly 20 years. Today she is an active volunteer with the Area Agency on Aging and Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers, where she also sits on the Board of Directors. She grew up outside Philadelphia, moved to Loudoun County in 1991, and is a longstanding member of the UU Church of Loudoun, currently serving on its Governing Board. She has dozens of favorite children’s books, but if forced to choose one, she’d have to say the fabulously illustrated Piggies by Audrey Wood and Don Wood.

 

Karen G. Schaufeld, Co-Founder & Director
Karen is a philanthropist, author, entrepreneur, and lawyer. She is the founder and President of 100WomenStrong, a granting organization that invests in Loudoun County, Virginia. She serves as CEO of SWaN Hill Top, working to redevelop the Hill Top House Hotel in historic Harpers Ferry, WV, and as CEO and Co-Founder of Altor Locks, a company that creates innovative security products like bike locks and trailer hitch locks. She is an advocate for the growth of renewable energy in Virginia and founded PoweredbyFacts.com and VaOurWay to spread awareness about Virginia’s energy policy. She serves on many regional advisory councils and boards of directors and has published three books for children, with a fourth coming out next year. She has many favorite children’s books, including The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown.

 


 

Tamar Datan, Director
Tamar has worked to advance education as well as economic, environmental, social, and racial justice for over three decades. Born in Jerusalem, Israel, she also lived in Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts before moving to Loudoun County in 1997. In addition to management and executive roles in the nonprofit sector, Tamar has served on 14 nonprofit boards and public service commissions (chairing seven of them) and is a devoted member of the UU Church of Loudoun. Since 2015, she has been Senior Advisor at NPAG, an executive search and talent strategy consulting firm. The longer she works to advance opportunity and prosperity, the more convinced she is that an ounce of prevention is worth way more than a pound of cure. That’s why she happily completed AART’s IRS 501c3 application and has loved serving on the AART Board since its inception. Her favorite children’s book is The Little Engine That Could.

 

 

Headshot of Mariana, Treasurer of AARTMariana Ippolito, Director
Mariana is the CFO of Credit Builders Alliance, a national nonprofit network headquartered in Washington, DC, whose mission is to help improve the Credit Building and Financial Inclusion capacity of its members. Mariana has served on the board of AART as Treasurer since 2017. She strongly believes that investment in early education is critical to foster a child’s lifelong love for learning, perseverance to achieve higher education, and, eventually, a path to economic mobility. She is fond of her native Colombia, where she graduated as an Economist from Universidad de los Andes. After working for the Colombian Export Promotion agency, she pursued an MBA at Georgetown University. Upon graduation, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in McLean, VA, and after some years of consulting, she dedicated herself to raising her two children. During this time, she volunteered at her children’s preschool and school and co-chaired the APT Multicultural Committee. During her spare time, Mariana loves to read fiction books, her favorite authors are Gabriel García Marquez and Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and her favorite children’s book is Poesias Infantiles by the Colombian poet Rafael Pombo.

 

 

Carol Jameson

Carol Jameson, Director
Carol has over 35 years working in the Northern Virginia nonprofit
community to advance access to health care for underserved communities. She recently retired after eleven years as the CEO of HealthWorks for Northern Virginia, a comprehensive nonprofit community health center serving Loudoun and Fairfax Counties. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Maryland and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. Carol began her work in health access and health equity during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and has been the director of several nonprofits, as well as serving on many nonprofit Boards. She is passionate about equitable access to health care and its intersection with other critical areas, including literacy, food insecurity, housing, geography, and transportation. Her favorite children’s book is The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood.

 

 

Headshot of Peter, board member of AARTPeter Knapp, Director
Peter is the founder and Team Leader of The Peter Knapp Realty Group, LLC at Compass Real Estate. A graduate of William and Mary majoring in English, Peter has been an entrepreneur for the last 20 years. He first co-founded Prodocs, which provided Litigation Support Services to law firms. After taking that business from 5 to 50 people, he and his partner sold it and he ventured into real estate. After 6 years in the business, he then founded The Peter Knapp Realty Group, which has sold over 500 homes for over 250 million dollars. Along the way, he aspired to get involved in the community and give back. In 2010, he joined the board at All Ages Read Together. During his tenure, he has served as Chairman for two years and founded Tee Off for Children’s Literacy Golf Tournament – a yearly golf tournament that helps support AART’s programs. He also serves on the board of 100 Women Strong and The Board of Trustees at Loudoun Country Day School. In his free time, he enjoys anything sports-related, being with his son, Trent, and hanging out with their dog, Pidic. His favorite children’s book is Curious George by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey.

 

 

Headshot of Cindy, board member of AARTCindy Schaufeld, Director
Cindy Schaufeld’s philanthropic mentoring started when she was very young. Her mom helped those in need in our community by giving her time, cooking, and love. Her mom would bring her along as she visited community sites and helped those who needed it. Cindy observed and absorbed everything her mom did which led to her joining the board at All Ages Read Together. At her first classroom observation, Cindy felt the same passion and love that her mom did when she was giving back to her community. Cindy believes great things happen when we give our time, effort, and love to our communities! Her favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

 

 

Headshot of Debbie, board member of AART

Director, Debbie White
Debbie White is an experienced elementary school teacher who has a passion for reading. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science degree in School Guidance and Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Professionally, Debbie was a teacher in an early childhood education school before moving to Maryland to teach for Montgomery County Public Schools. During her 10-year tenure, she taught first and fourth grades. Debbie continues to inspire lifelong readers through her volunteer work – starting book clubs at her children’s school, setting up lending libraries at shelters in Washington, DC., and leading reading readiness programs at various sites. One of her favorite picture book authors is Kevin Henkes, the characters and storylines in Chrysanthemum, A Weekend with Wendell, Owen, and other titles are so relatable to children.

 


Bobbi Schaufeld, Emeritus Board Member
Bobbi has always volunteered in local communities starting in high school with the Multiple Sclerosis Society during summer vacation. It has always been a part of her life, and she has instilled that value of service in her family. Instead of Mother’s Day gifts, she asks her daughters and grandchildren to volunteer their time instead. She previously served on the board of Healthworks and currently serves on the boards of the Equine Rescue League, 100WomenStrong Executive Committee, and the INOVA Foundation board. Her free time is spent with her grandchildren, numerous dogs, and horses. Her favorite children’s book is Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.

 

 

 

 

 

Equal Employment Opportunity
It is the policy of AART that all applicants for employment and all current employees receive fair and equal treatment and not be discriminated against because of race, age, gender, religion, national origin, disability, or veteran status, with respect to hiring, promotion, demotion, recruitment, termination, rates of pay or other compensation. Selection for training and employment opportunities are made solely on the basis of merit, service, and the ability to effectively perform work assignments.

 


Everyone has a right to education.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The United Nations.