Leadership & Governance

The NCL Board of Directors

NCL is directed by a volunteer Board of Directors that sets direction and strategy for the organization. Board members are representatives of NCL member organizations and professionals active in adult education and related fields. Members are elected to the Board by the voting membership at the fall NCL members’ meeting. Board members serve three-year terms; no Board member may serve more than two terms sequentially. Board terms begin on October 1 of the year elected.

Jeffrey A. Fantine, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Jeffrey A. Fantine, Ph.D. is a national leader in adult education and literacy with more than 35 years of experience spanning policy, practice, research, and systems leadership. He currently serves as Executive Director of the National Coalition for Literacy, Associate Professor of Adult Education at The Ohio State University, and a national consultant providing technical assistance and professional development to states and local programs nationwide. His work focuses on advancing adult and family literacy through advocacy, strategic policy influence, and innovative service models, particularly in career pathways and systems alignment.

Eric Nesheim

Managing Director, Northstar Digital Strategies at Literacy Minnesota

Eric Nesheim is the former longtime Executive Director of Literacy Minnesota and currently the Managing Director of Northstar Digital Strategies. This new and expanding division of Literacy Minnesota houses the Northstar Digital Literacy platform, national partnerships and digital navigation. He’s on the steering committee of the Open Door Collective, the board of the National Coalition for Literacy and Co-Chair of E-BAES (evidence based adult education system) which promotes and advocates for more resources around research in the field. Eric began his human services career by serving in the Peace Corps in Haiti and Paraguay. He earned his Master’s of International Management degree from the University of St. Thomas School of Business.

Meghan McBride

Vice President

Senior Project Manager, WestEd

Meghan McBride is a dedicated advocate for adult education with a career
spanning leadership, policy, and instructional roles in the field. As the
Senior Program Manager for Adult Education at WestEd, she leads efforts to
enhance professional development, technical assistance, and research to
support adult learners and the institutions that serve them.

Lauren Osowski

Treasurer

Director of Advocacy & Field Services, Proliteracy

Lauren Osowski is the Director of Advocacy and Field Services at ProLiteracy. Since joining ProLiteracy in 2021, she has been responsible for projects related to workforce development, technology, and advocacy in addition to managing the Adult Literacy Education Journal publication and other special initiatives. Prior to coming to ProLiteracy, Lauren spent more than 15 years working in New Hampshire and abroad as an ESL/ABE teacher, mentor, facilitator, presenter, and program director. She holds a master’s degree in education from Rivier University.

Keven Maher

Secretary

Deputy Director, Office of Government Relations, American Literacy Association

Bio to come…

NCL Members

Cynthia Bell

Member

Director, Numeracy and Workforce Development Services, Literacy Assistance Center

Cynthia Bell, M.A., Director of Numeracy & Workforce Development Services at the Literacy Assistance Center, provides professional development for adult basic education and high school equivalency instructors, focusing on standards-based numeracy and math instruction, integrated curriculum design and digital resiliency. Bell co-authored the book Teaching Adults: A HiSET Exam Resource Book, has presented at numerous conferences, and is an active board member of National Coalition for Literacy (NCL), the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD) and the Adult Numeracy Network (ANN).

John Chick, Ph.D.

Member

Director, Educational Doctorate Program, University of Bridgeport and Director, Commission for Adult Basic Education & Literacy, AAACE

Bio to come

Jacob Hofstetter

Member

Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute

Jacob Hofstetter is a Policy Analyst at MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, where he conducts research related to language access as well as educational and workforce policies and service designs for immigrant adults and youth. His work focuses on the civic, economic, and linguistic integration of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In the language access space, he analyzes the design and implementation of federal, state, and local policies that aim to expand access to government services for individuals with limited proficiency in English. In his work related to adult education and workforce development, he researches programs that promote the integration of immigrants and examines the broader policies that govern adult skills systems.

Marcela Movit

Member

Director, Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy, Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, Penn State University

Marcela Movit, Ph.D., is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy. She oversees three of the statewide professional development projects offered through the Division of Adult Education in Pennsylvania as well as direct service programs in two counties in the state. Prior to joining the Institutes in January, Marcela worked at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) for 16 years, leveraging her expertise in the areas of adult learning, professional development and training, English learners, and standards development for many federal and state initiatives. She most recently served as the deputy director of the LINCS and Teaching Skills That Matter in Adult Education (TSTM) projects. She was the director of the Adult Education Content Standards project for Alaska and the Integrated Education and Training Professional Development project in Alabama, in addition to providing content expertise and training for professional development projects in California and Nevada.

Tom Nash

Member

Director of Adult Education, Windham/Raymond School District and Board Member, Maine Adult Education Association
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Tom Nash has devoted more than 40 years to adult education in Maine,beginning as a teacher and program director and for the past 22 years serving as Director of Windham Raymond Adult Education. He holds degrees from the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine and has completed advanced leadership training through COABE and the American Institute of Research.

Tony Peyton

Member

Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer and Chief of Staff, National Center for Families Learning

Tony Peyton is the Chief Policy & External Affairs Officer and Chief of Staff at the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and brings more than 30 years of public policy, project/grant management, lobbying and advocacy, and philanthropic experience in the nonprofit and governmental sectors to the organization. Prior to returning to NCFL, he served as the Program Director at the C.E. and S. Foundation, a private family foundation focused on education grantmaking and led the development and execution of a grantmaking strategy focused on important issues such as early childhood education, K-12, Out-of-School Time, postsecondary education, family stability, and family engagement.

Jen Vanek, Ph.D.

Member

Director of Digital Learning & Research, World Education

Jen Vanek, Phd, is Project Director of Digital Learning and Research at World Education, Inc. In that work, Jen leads research, technical assistance, and professional development initiatives focused on digital equity, online learning, English language and literacy, and adult education. She directs communities of practice that help adult education researchers, practitioners, and administrators develop quality educational opportunities for adult learners. Jen began her career as a classroom adult ESOL instructor and has since collaborated on and led research and technical assistance projects with diverse organizations, scholars, and policy leaders. She is a former member of the steering committee of the Open Door Collective. Jen is currently co-principal investigator on two US Department of Education/Institute of Education Sciences research initiatives exploring technology use in adult basic education.

Gwenn Weaver

Member

Independent Consultant and Board Member, Durham Literacy Center

Gwenn Weaver is an independent consultant with more than forty years of management experience, providing leadership to and promoting change in the public and private sectors encompassing educational, nonprofit, government and business organizations. She retired from National Telecommunications and Information Administration where she was a broadband program specialist. She has served as a consultant, presenter and trainer for the American Association of Colleges and Universities, American Library Association, Literacy Minnesota, National Collaborative for Health Equity, ProLiteracy, and many other entities. She serves on the boards of the Durham Literacy Center, the National Coalition for Literacy, Digital Durham, and on the Steering Committee of the Open Door Collective.