Founding Advisory Board Announcement
We are honored to announce the NY4ECP Founding Advisory Board! These five leaders have each demonstrated an exceptional commitment to our mission and their dedication for expanding early college pathways to more New York students. Representing key stakeholder perspectives, a nonprofit organization, business, city government, school leadership and education policy, this group will serve as trusted advisors. Each advisor will shape the strategy, priorities, and initiatives that drive systemic impact for students, strengthen connections between our local and regional partners, and advance our fundraising strategy.
Dr. Dia N. Bryant
Deputy Mayor for Education, The City of Jersey City
Dr. Dia N. Bryant is a nationally recognized education leader and currently serves as Deputy Mayor for Education for the City of Jersey City. For more than two decades, she has worked across classrooms, schools, districts, and state policy to improve outcomes for students and communities, particularly those historically underserved.
Dr. Bryant began her career as a New York City Teaching Fellow and later founded and led a public school, experiences that continue to ground her system-level leadership. She served in senior roles within the New York City Department of Education, including Special Assistant to the First Deputy Chancellor under Chancellor Richard Carranza, helping design equity-focused strategies across the nation’s largest school system.
As Executive Director of The Education Trust–New York, she led a statewide equity and access agenda, mobilizing cross-sector coalitions and helping secure investments and policies that support students and families that have been historically excluded from opportunity. In Jersey City, Dr. Bryant focuses on aligning education, city planning, and youth workforce development to ensure that growth translates into opportunity for children and families. A first- generation college graduate, she is known for connecting policy vision to classroom reality and building systems that deliver for learners from birth through the workforce.
Rob Magliaro
Former Head of Ecosystem and Workforce Partnerships, Grow with Google
Rob Magliaro is an education and workforce leader focused on building pathways to economic mobility. He co-founded The Urban Assembly Early College High School for Emergency Medicine, one of New York City’s P-TECH high schools, where students earn college credit, industry credentials, and work-based learning experiences alongside their high school diploma.
Most recently, as Google’s Head of Education and Workforce, he led the company’s national education-to-career portfolio, building partnerships and communities of practice across sectors to strengthen pathways across K–12, higher education, and employment and reach hundreds of thousands of learners.
He now advises organizations on building pathways that better connect learning, work, and economic opportunity.
Sheridan Miller
Student, Fordham University School of Law
Sheridan Miller is a current student at Fordham University School of Law. Prior to pursuing to law school, Sheridan worked first as the Assistant Director of Policy & Research at the New England Board of Higher Education. There, she prepared policy briefs and answered policy questions for the six New England legislatures and various higher education campuses across the East Coast. Most recently she served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Education in Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Chamber, where she worked with members of the State Education Department, SUNY, CUNY, and HESC systems to develop and implement executive policy. Sheridan is particularly interested in education policy concerning college in high school programs and providing equitable education to incarcerated students. She has a Bachelors in Political Science and Psychology from Boston College, and a Masters in Education Policy from Harvard's Graduate School of Education. When she graduates law school, she hopes to continue advocating for students and children, and to join legal teams that fight for equitable education. Sheridan is originally from California, but happy to be an East Coast transplant.
Dr. Tracee Murren-Holder
Principal, Kingsborough Early College Secondary School
Dr. Tracee Murren-Holder is a distinguished educational leader and adjunct professor with extensive experience in curriculum design, program management, and school leadership. Currently serving as the Principal at Kingsborough Early College Secondary School in Brooklyn, NY, Dr. Murren-Holder has been instrumental in enhancing educational programs and fostering a positive learning environment since 2015. Previously, she served as an Assistant Principal at the same institution from 2010 to 2015, where she played a pivotal role in shaping school curricula and improving student outcomes.
Dr. Murren-Holder holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Russell Sage College, a Master of Science in School Leadership from Touro University, a Master of Arts in Mathematics Education from City College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from St. Francis College. She is certified as a school district leader and school building leader in New York State and holds certifications in mathematics instruction for grades 7-12.
In her role as Principal, Tracee has achieved notable success, including maintaining a graduation rate consistently above 95% and overseeing a diverse student body of 730 learners. She is dedicated to improving school curricula in alignment with the Next Generation Standards, mentoring staff, and enhancing student performance through data-driven instruction. Her leadership extends beyond the secondary school program, having supervised the Early College program at her school and facilitated college credit accumulation for 98% of students. This year, 65% of her 12th-grade students earned their associate’s degree before their high school graduation. This is an impressive feat as she leads a non-screened school that accepts students via lottery.
Dr. Murren-Holder is also actively involved in various educational committees, including the NYC Department of Education Chancellor’s Advisory Committee, the Empower Schools Advisory Committee, and the New Principal Mentor program. She has also served as a Model Principal, showcasing her work in open citywide visits. Her commitment to educational excellence is further exemplified by her work with Touro University as an adjunct professor, where she teaches Supervision of Instruction and Curriculum Development and Implementation. Dr. Murren-Holder brings a global perspective to her work and is dedicated to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive educational environment.
Dave Rust
CEO, Say Yes Buffalo
Since accepting the Say Yes Buffalo post more than fourteen years ago, David Rust has steadily built a coalition of staff and partners focused on fulfilling one of the most significant community renewal efforts undertaken in the region’s history. Through the promise of a free-tuition scholarship program, Say Yes Buffalo scholars are eligible to attend more than 150 private and public institutions throughout the country. Under his leadership, Say Yes Buffalo has grown into an economic development engine and a best-in-class nonprofit organization that serves as a national educational partnership model.
Selected accomplishments include:
Contributing to a thirty-percentage point increase in the number of students who graduate from Buffalo’s public high schools, a twenty-five percentage point increase in the number of students who matriculated to college, and a nineteen percent increase in students who complete a certificate, two-year degree, and four-year degree.
Providing tuition scholarships to more than 4,000 scholars who have already completed academic programs and completing a Say Yes Forever $65 million endowment campaign to fund the scholarships in perpetuity.
Developing agreements with Erie County, Buffalo Public Schools, the City of Buffalo, New York State, and local and national foundations to provide comprehensive supports for students and families including social service supports, mental health supports, early childhood programming, legal clinics, health clinics, mentoring, internships, postsecondary supports, apprenticeships, and extended learning time programming including K-12 after-school programs, summer camps, and Saturday academies.
Building Say Yes Buffalo into a dynamic and leading non-profit with a staff of over 200 people, of whom 68% are people of color, serving in nearly a dozen different roles that offer supports to Buffalo children from cradle to career and every step along the way.
Expanding regional impact through the launch of Say Yes Niagara Falls, including launching a $20M scholarship endowment campaign
He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University where he earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration Marketing/Management.