Leadership
Tony Habit
President
As founding president, Tony Habit developed NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning to become one of the nation’s leading private-public ventures to transform public education. He is an experienced leader for the development of school reform and innovation strategies with government, higher education, and the private sector. Habit partnered with the Office of the Governor, the State Board of Education, colleges and universities and others to create the largest network of early college high schools in the nation. He also leveraged ties with business and industry to establish a statewide network of STEM-aligned schools linked to areas such as biotechnology, energy and sustainability, health and life sciences and aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Under Habit’s leadership, North Carolina’s early colleges were named by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as an “Innovation in American Government” award recipient.
Habit regularly presents to governmental committees and commissions at the state and federal levels including presentations to the United States Senate HELP committee. He has traveled extensively to learn about school innovation in other countries. In 2000, he was named an Eisenhower Fellow to travel to Australia and New Zealand to study market competition and school quality and instructional technology. He served as president of the 2014 - 2015 North Carolina Eisenhower Fellows.
Habit earned a doctorate in educational administration from Columbia University, Teachers College in New York. He began his career as a counselor for special needs students in middle and high schools.
To contact:
919.277.3762
Angela Hinson Quick
Senior Vice President
Angela Hinson Quick joined NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning in 2013 to lead the organization’s efforts to support innovative programming in schools, districts and regions that effectively advances Common Core standards and graduates all students ready for success in postsecondary education and careers. She focuses on approaches to teaching and learning marked by inquiry and authenticity in addition to collaborating with colleges and universities to focus on the preparation of future educators and partnering with leaders at all levels to advance STEM education.
From 2008 to 2013, she served as deputy chief academic officer for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. In that position, she was responsible for the standards, assessments and accountability metrics for North Carolina’s K-12 academic programs, oversaw the design and development of the Instructional Improvement System (IIS), and worked with North Carolina’s successful Race to the Top (RttT) Grant program.
Quick began her work in education as one of the first North Carolina Teaching Fellows and served as a high school biology teacher and principal, with experience in school districts in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. She was honored twice as a Teacher of the Year and as the Watauga County Schools’ Principal of the Year in 2007.
Quick has served on numerous science, math, and engineering education advisory boards. She holds a bachelor of science degree from Appalachian State University, a master of science degree from the University of South Carolina, and a doctorate in education from Cambridge College in Boston.
To contact:
919.277.3792
Jodi Anderson
Vice President, Institutional Advancement
A staff member at NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning since 2008, Jodi Anderson now leads the Institutional Advancement department. As a department, they are charged with the responsibility of raising visibility and credibility, cultivating supporters and securing diversified financial resources to reach the organization’s mission. In her specific role, Anderson works with superintendents and district staff to develop solutions and provide our services to develop high performing schools and districts. From 2008 to 2013, Anderson led the creation of NC New Schools’ North Carolina Center for Education Leadership to advance new approaches to enhance the knowledge and skills of school administrators as leaders for innovation.
Anderson brings more than 28 years of experience as an educator and student advocate. She began her teaching career in Virginia as a middle and high school science teacher, then went on to serve as an elementary, middle and high school principal in Granville County. Anderson also has worked at the district level as the testing and accountability director, elementary and middle school director, and most recently as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. In her doctoral dissertation on male dropouts in rural schools, Anderson identified new research that has fueled her passion to help all students succeed.
Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in botany from DePauw University, a master’s degree in educational leadership from UNC-Chapel Hill and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of Phoenix.
To contact:
919.277.3768
Laurie Baker
Senior Director, Rural Innovative Schools
During her many years in public education, Laurie Baker has served as a high school English teacher, middle school assistant principal, high school assistant principal for at-risk students, and early college high school principal.
She joined NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning in 2012 to lead career academy development across North Carolina in partnership with the National Academy Foundation. Baker currently leads the expansion of college and career readiness strategies in Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and South Carolina through the Rural Innovative Schools initiative.
Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree in English education and writing from Longwood University and her Ed.D. in educational administration and policy studies from The George Washington University. For her doctoral dissertation, Baker researched the quantitative relationship between local fiscal capacity and student achievement in public schools.
She is a court appointed Guardian ad Litem, an advocate for abused and neglected children, in Wake County, North Carolina. Throughout her career and volunteerism, Baker has sought to understand and combat the effects of poverty on our children and our communities
To contact:
804-350-0737
Stacy Costello
Senior Director, Institutional Advancement
As Senior Director of Client Strategy, Institutional Advancement, Stacy Costello brings 20 years experience as an educator. Since 2012, Costello served as the Director of the NC STEM Teacher Education Program (NC STEP), NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning’s alternative licensure program. Beginning her career in Virginia, she spent 11 years in the classroom teaching science and STEM-related courses at the middle and high school levels. Costello then worked on special assignment for the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project creating an integrated biology and physics curriculum, Space Medicine: Human Adaptation in a Space Environment. Moving into the state educational arena, she worked for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as an education consultant specializing in family and community engagement, equity and as instructional review coach assessing NC schools and districts. She serves as the state representative for the National Association of Alternative Certification (NAAC) and as a member of the accreditation and review team for the Council of the Accreditation for Educator Preparation (CAEP).
Costello holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech. She is also a graduate of the NC Education Policy Fellowship Program.
To contact:
919.277.3798
Matt Friedrick
Senior Director, Institutional Advancement
As Senior Director for Institutional Advancement, Matt Friedrick works with corporate, foundation, government, and individual partners to ensure that every student in their community graduates ready for college, careers, and life. Breakthrough Learning’s efforts rely heavily on the guidance and financial support of these stakeholders, all of whom are the ultimate beneficiaries of our schools’ success.
Friedrick brings broad experience in education to this position, most recently directing Duke University’s business school relationships in India and Latin America. Previous to his years at Duke, he served for nine years as director of global education programs for the University of North Carolina System’s Center for International Understanding, building programs and collaborative relationships in the U.S., China, India, and Latin America. His most prominent success there was in building a statewide Chinese language program, which leveraged funding partners’ support to reach 16,000 North Carolina students who would otherwise never have had the chance to learn Chinese. Prior to working for the UNC System, Friedrick taught for five years in innovative middle and high schools in the U.S. He has served as a school board member in North Carolina, and currently serves as a trustee for the Longview Foundation, which supports efforts to internationalize education in the United States.
Friedrick holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Language and Literature from Texas A&M University, where he was a McFadden Scholar. He also holds a Master of Education degree from NC State University and is currently finalizing his MBA, also at NC State University. He is a 2008 graduate of the North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program.
To contact:
919.277.9011
Monisha Karnani
Senior Director, Professional Learning
Monisha Karnani joined NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning in 2015 as Senior Director, Professional Learning. She leads the Professional Learning team in the design, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of all Professional Learning offerings.
Karnani started her career in education through the Baltimore City Teaching Residency, after working with the juvenile justice system in metro Detroit. In Baltimore City, Karnani was a high school math teacher at a large comprehensive high school and a small innovation public school. After leaving the classroom, Karnani joined Center for Inspired Teaching in Washington, DC, an entrepreneurial nonprofit focused on transformative teacher training. As Director of Teaching and Learning, Karnani led work with schools and districts, before launching the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, making Inspired Teaching the first nonprofit, state-accredited licensing agency in the District of Columbia. Under her leadership, the certification program evolved into a financially sustainable teacher residency program preparing educational changemakers to teach in DC public schools.
Karnani earned a bachelor’s of science in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a master’s degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Howard University.
To contact:
919.277.9014
Edna Wallace
Senior Director, Policy & Partnerships
Edna Wallace joined NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning in 2012 to lead the organization’s effort in public policy and advocacy. Under her leadership, NC New School/Breakthrough Learning has established funding from the General Assembly and removed policy barriers to allow education innovation initiatives to scale across the state. In addition to policy, Wallace leads the Communications and Marketing team with which seeks to position the organization as a national leader in strategies that graduate students ready for college, career and life.
Previously Wallace worked for four years special assistant to the vice chancellor for university relations at UNC Charlotte, serving as the university’s liaison to state and local government to inform policy makers and advance the university’s fiscal and policy agenda. She led government relations efforts to expand legislative appropriations from the NC General Assembly, including appropriations to complete one of UNC Charlotte’s largest academic initiative — the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC).
Wallace has also served as director of development and assistant director of community affairs. In addition, she represented the university as a member of the Charlotte Chamber’s Workforce Development and Education Committee. Previously, she was the Harris Conference Center senior coordinator, an entrepreneurial venture for Central Piedmont Community College.
A Goldsmith Scholar for Psychology, Wallace earned her bachelor’s degree at Elmhurst College in Illinois with a major in psychology and a minor in intercultural studies and sociology.
To contact:
919.277.9016
