Our Team

Phil Poekert, Ph.D. is a clinical professor and director of the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning. Since being appointed in 2018, Phil has led the Lastinger Center through exponential growth in products, projects and staff while streamlining the Center’s focus on impacting achievement across three educational milestones: kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, and algebra.

Phil joined the Lastinger Center in 2006 as a graduate assistant and has climbed through the ranks of the organization. Previously serving as faculty and assistant director, he has led the development and expansion of local, state, and national initiatives. Beginning his career with Teach For America in the South Bronx, then teaching in secondary schools in California, Phil moved back to Florida to teach at his hometown middle school in West Palm Beach before working for UF in Miami for 10 years and then moving to Gainesville in 2017.

Phil has presented at numerous state, national and international research conferences, has published in national and international journals, and serves on the executive editorial board of the Professional Development in Education journal. In collaboration with the journal and other partner institutions, Phil co-hosts the recurring Leadership for Professional Learning international symposium and has co-edited the resulting special issues.

Phil earned his Doctor of Philosophy in curriculum and instruction from the University of Florida, his Master of Science for Teachers from Pace University, and his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from New College of Florida. At home, Phil loves spending quality time and traveling with his wife, Claudia, and two children, Penelope and Charlie.

Cathy Cavanaugh, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director of the UF Lastinger Center for Learning. Cathy has dedicated her career to partnering with education leaders and organizations around the world to transform learning and teaching. Prior to joining the Lastinger Center, Cathy held roles at Microsoft as the Principal Program Manager for Professional Development and Analytics in the education products group and the Director of Teaching and Learning in Worldwide Education. Highlights of her many notable contributions to education include leading a statewide education transformation initiative, launching a virtual school in Western Australia and working in higher education leadership and research in the Middle East during a national mobile learning program.

She has served as a professor and researcher in educational technology in U.S. universities and was a Fulbright Senior Scholar, advancing e-learning in Nepal. Cathy has also developed successful and innovative online degree and professional development programs as well as blended learning programs for K-12 students, and directed professional development centers in the US. She was a STEM classroom teacher in the U.S. and Caribbean. Her prolific research portfolio includes 150 publications that focus on technology-empowered teaching and learning in virtual schools, online and blended learning, teacher development, and mobile learning. Cathy holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Florida. Outside of work, Cathy loves exploring the world through travel, hiking and kayaking. She has a goal to visit every Florida state park and U.S. national park.

Tyran Butler, Ph.D., serves as Director of Early Learning and Literacy, and as a Research Scientist at the Lastinger Center for Learning. Dr. Butler brings a wealth of experience to the role in developing academic programs in early childhood education, advancing workforce development initiatives, and serving in senior administrative leadership roles. She is dedicated to advancing educational practices and committed to creating positive change.

In her role as Director of Literacy and Early Learning, Dr. Butler leads Lastinger Center initiatives aimed at enhancing early childhood and literacy professional learning programs, fostering collaboration with educators, researchers, community stakeholders, and policy makers, and driving the development of cutting-edge strategies and programs to optimize the provision of high quality learning experiences.

Dr. Butler holds a Ph.D. in Special Education and Teacher Education with an emphasis on the prevention and remediation of reading difficulties, from the University of Florida. She has published on evidence-based instructional practices, inclusion, and teacher development. Her commitment to improving educational outcomes aligns seamlessly with the Lastinger Center’s mission to research, develop, and scale equitable educational innovations for adults and children that put all learners on trajectories for lifelong success.

Zandra de Araujo serves as Director of Mathematics and Research Scientist at the Lastinger Center for Learning. Her research examines mathematics teacher professional development and teachers’ instruction with multilingual students. She has been Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI on several grants funded by the National Science Foundation, and her work has been published in numerous top tier journals.

Zandra began her career as a high school mathematics teacher for Orange County Public Schools. After earning her doctorate, she has served as a board member of prominent professional organizations including TODOS: Mathematics for All, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. She has been an invited speaker at several math teacher organizations and has received numerous awards for her work including the University of Missouri’s 2019 President’s Award for Early Career Excellence and the 2020 Early Career Award for the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Florida, and her Master of Education in Mathematics Education from the University of Central Florida. In 2008, Zandra began her doctoral program in mathematics education at the University of Georgia. Upon completing her Ph.D. in 2012, she joined the faculty at the University of Missouri and was an associate professor of mathematics education there until joining the Lastinger Center in September 2021. Outside of work, Zandra enjoys gardening, walking, and spending time with her husband and two dogs.

Shaunté Duggins is Director of State Initiatives at the Lastinger Center, which includes the New Worlds Reading Initiative and the Florida Tutoring Advantage.

In her previous role as Associate Director of the New Worlds Reading Initiative, Shaunté led the implementation of this statewide book delivery program since its establishment in 2021. Prior to New Worlds Reading, Shaunté was senior manager of literacy initiatives. In this role, she facilitated professional development for hundreds of early learning and Pre-K-12 educators in the areas of literacy and coaching. Shaunté has been intimately involved with the Center’s Literacy Matrix program since its inception, collaboratively designing literacy content and successfully supporting educators.

Shaunté received her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Florida State University and taught in inclusive high-poverty elementary schools. She has a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Teacher Leadership for School Improvement (TLSI) and a reading specialization from UF. Shaunté completed her doctoral studies in Special Education with an emphasis on early literacy and teacher education. As a former Holmes Scholar, she proudly serves as an advisor for the UF Holmes Scholars Program. Her research includes early literacy, teacher education and professional development, particularly in high-poverty schools.

Julie Henderson serves as Interim Associate Director for communications, marketing, and creative services at the Lastinger Center for Learning. In this role, Julie leads her team in the development of effective messaging and communication strategies, the development and implementation of visual identity and branding, and the production of visual and video assets for communications, marketing and educational content.

Julie’s early career combined teaching, communications, and technology-supported instruction. She has worked in graphic design, web design, institutional technology integration and online course and program development. Previously, Julie served as communications director at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School. In this role, Julie provided leadership for internal and external communications, developing communications strategy and messaging for audiences including families, teachers, school leaders, donors, and the Florida legislature. Throughout her career, Julie has been inspired by making individual and collective lives better through education and communication.

Julie has a bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and culture and a master’s degree in higher education from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. In her free time, Julie enjoys working outdoors, hiking in beautiful places, spending time with her family and pets, and being on, in, or near the water.

Leland Hill is the Associate Director for Business Operations. He manages the Center’s administrative operations, finance, IT, language and literacy partnerships, and enrollment management.

Prior to joining the Lastinger Center, Leland worked with servicemembers and veterans in obtaining education benefits. He served as the director for Military & Veteran Student Services at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide Campus and as the President of the non-profit organization Florida Association of Veterans Education Specialists. He is passionate about advocating for veterans and improving their access to services available for their transition from military to civilian life.

Leland earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in Finance and Master of Arts in International Business from the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years, earning the rank of Sergeant, and has served in Africa and Iraq.

Dr. Ginno Kelley is Associate Director of Product Operations at the Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida. In this role, he oversees the development of educator learning experiences that include learning experience design, data management, product development, and platform management. Most recently, he was a Global Education Architect for Microsoft where he worked with Ministries and Departments of Education on their digital transformation, change leadership, and data and analytics initiatives. Prior to his role at Microsoft, he was Head of Teaching and Learning for Catholic Education Western Australia’s (CEWA) Digital Transformation program. During this time, he led the State change strategy for building teacher capacity, created programs for developing digital curricula, and led the design of the system’s conversation platform as part of the LEADing Lights initiative. He also served as Director of Teaching and Learning for Worldwide Education at Microsoft. As Director, he worked with Ministries and Departments of Education from around the world on large-scale education transformation initiatives.

Before Microsoft, he was Head of Professional Development and Research at Promethean. Prior to his career at Promethean, Ginno worked for the state of Florida’s Digital Educator Program. The program served educators from the state of Florida and provided professional development for the creation of technology-rich curricula and the integration of digital tools. Ginno also served as a high school teacher for mathematics and technology for many years. During his teaching career, he developed innovative projects for helping primary and secondary students in mathematics and worked with disadvantaged youth developing multimedia environments that promote student voice and achievement. He regularly presents at national and international conferences on the effects of technology on learning, professional practice, change leadership, and organizational systems change.

Lisa serves as the Interim Associate Director of Organizational Excellence for the Lastinger Center. In this role, Lisa focuses on the establishment and implementation of operation standards and procedures in associate professional learning, project management, organizational development, and change management.

Prior to joining the Lastinger Center, Lisa served as an organizational development consultant with McGlynn Associates, providing high level, cross-agency collaborative meeting design and facilitation support to create alignment and action for system-wide strategic goals. Lisa has worked with the Human Resource Services Administration (HRSA) leading Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) compliance state site visits as a programmatic expert. She has also worked for the State of Oregon as a member of the MIECHV team within the Maternal and Child Health Department, and at the Oregon Early Learning Division where she led the effort to launch the new Oregon early learning hub system. She has also served as Director of Training and Professional Development for Healthy Families America, a national evidence-based home visitation program. Additionally, she was the lead field expert alongside the Director of the Oakland Children’s Hospital and WestEd President, Ronald Lally, Ed.D., to support the Romanian ministry of health in implementing a Shaken Baby Public Awareness Campaign and practice changes for nurses working within the abandoned baby ward.

Lisa brings her love of people and the systems and processes that support them to excellence to her work here at the Lastinger Center. Lisa holds a B.A. in child development/elementary education from Humboldt State University. In her time away from work, Lisa enjoys many creative pursuits including knitting, sewing, gardening, tending to her flock of chickens and ducks, and building an herbal apothecary.