Leadership Team

JoJo Reyes, Ed.D. – V.P. of Equity

jreyes@clearvoz.com

Jose “JoJo” Reyes, Ed.D., is a dynamic award-winning leader and presenter for the students and staff he serves. Dr. Reyes is currently the Associate Director of program data for the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy, where he leads efforts to use data in order to increase student outcomes throughout California. In addition to this role, Dr. Reyes serves as faculty for CSU Fresno, Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR) Advisory Board/Presenter, and facilitator for the California Leadership Network Equity Leadership and Guided Pathways projects. Previously, Dr. Reyes was Chief Administrative Officer at Parlier Unified School District, where he built staff capacity districtwide through Professional Learning Communities. With more than 25 years of educational experience, he was instrumental in developing systems to re-shape Yosemite Middle School at Fresno Unified, which was a Turnaround Model school at the time.  He has continued the PLC process Central USD, Mendota USD and Parlier USD. Dr. Reyes has served as a Director of Adult and Special Education, Principal, Vice Principal, Counselor, Mentor, Teacher, and Head Varsity Football Coach.

Dr. Reyes is an Equity Warrior who strives to provide districtwide vision and leadership to support all students and staff. His passions include curriculum and instruction, schoolwide structures, collaboration, student access, increasing staff professional growth opportunities, culturally proficient educational practices, and supporting districts as they strive for collective teacher efficacy. He was certified as a Cultural Proficiency in Educational Practices trainer through the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and completed an 18 month program for Cohort II of the California Academic Partnership Program Leadership Network Focused on Leading Equity and Excellence.

He is a recipient of the Caroline S. Cassida Outstanding Leadership Award from the Council on Adult Education. During his time as an instructional leader, his school was awarded PBIS Bronze, Silver,  Gold and Platinum Awards. Two additional schools under his leadership received the Fresno State Bonner Character Award. Additionally, Solution Tree selected Dr. Reyes as a manuscript reviewer for From Frustration to Freedom (2023), Ensuring Teachers Matter: Eight Must Haves for School Success (2023), Power Enage: Seven Power Moves for Building a Culture of Engagement and Equity  (2023), and Becoming a School Equity Leader: What to Know, Say and Do (2022).

Dr. Reyes earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication, a Master’s degree in Special Education, and a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Autism from California State University, Fresno.


Suwinder Cooper – V.P. of Professional Initiatives

Suwinder Cooper is an experienced leader in facilitating transformational change in the area of equity, inclusion and intercultural relations. Her work focuses on a broad range of issues related to social justice, educational equity, cultural proficiency and leadership development. As the Vice President of Professional Initiatives for the Center for Leadership in Equity and Leadership (CLEAR) she provides specialized professional development services to build capacity with LEA’s statewide.

Suwinder Cooper is an Education Consultant specializing in addressing educational disparities. By leveraging her expertise in equity, diversity & inclusion she draws upon her broad-based experience in professional development training in education, the arts, human-relations and cross-cultural counseling to assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs) across the state in the development and implementation of Compliance and Monitoring (CIM) for Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervention Services (CCEIS) Plans.

As a Technical Assistant Facilitator, she is involved in all aspects of the four step process and activities in the development and implementation of CIM for CCEIS plans. In addition to her role as a lead TA Facilitator with both urban and rural districts, she also works collaboratively with her colleagues to assist with conducting equity walks, empathy interviews, and in the facilitation of focus groups with students, parents and community members. By conducting a thorough analysis of both “street and satellite data” she is able to assist with the identification of potential root causes, success gaps, measurable outcomes and activities.

Suwinder has taught classes in education and counseling at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Community College, and as an Academic Trainer, trained faculty and teaching assistants at the University of California, Irvine. Suwinder earned a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Education in Cross-Cultural Counseling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a certified True Colors Trainer and a certified Anti-Bias Trainer with the Anti-Defamation League, Central Pacific Region.


Mary Lang – Chief Education Justice Officer

mlang@clearvoz.com

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Mary Lang is CLEAR’s first Chief Education Justice Officer. In this new role, Mary focuses on the educational and social justice implications of emerging technologies in K-12 education. Her first focus will be on building the justice-centered CLEAR Artificial Intelligence Initiative. This Initiative aims to amplify the voices and participation of underserved students across the AI ecosystem to serve a diverse society today and creating a just future for everyone.

Mary is currently a Women in AI Fellow, for the EdSAFE AI Alliance, and a member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. She is a social justice futurist, who brings experience in socio-technical transformations, school district administration, teaching, academic program and faculty development experience, creativity, and courage at critical junctures, to help mission-focused initiatives tame wicked problems and scale positive transformation for progress.

Mary holds a Master’s degree in Communication Management (ICT track) from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School, and a Bachelor’s degree in Writing (economics minor) from the University of California, San Diego.

A lifelong learner, Mary is a graduate of Stanford University’s inaugural Designing for Social Systems cohort, an Institute for the Future Certified Foresight Practitioner, and a graduate of the inaugural UCLA Women’s School Leadership Academy. She received a Human Dimensions of Organizations Non-profit Accelerator Award from the University of Texas, and merit grants for her graduate work on the social dynamics of information communication technologies (ICTs) at the Annenberg School.

Mary was the co-creator of an inaugural leadership communication initiative for a new critical, analytical thinking curriculum as part of a re-envisioned MBA program at Stanford University’s graduate school of business. At Stanford, she helped develop a renowned coaching team and taught workshops and courses for eight years. She taught organizational dynamics at the California State University, Los Angeles, and served as a Faculty Development consultant at UCLA.

Mary served for ten years as the first Officer of Organizational Change Management at the nation’s largest regional education agency, the Los Angeles County Office of Education. There she introduced a series of transformational initiatives, including: the first customer voice and predictive analytics data programs employing AI, and the first enterprise culture assessment. She led the data work on the COVID Emergency Response Team, completing analysis and reports including, A) Context: School Closure Trends, B) Unity: Educational Advocacy Futures, and, C) Educational Equity Requires Empathy. Mary also led the inaugural Equity and Social Justice Task Force.