Our Network Team
Margaret Doughty
Margaret Doughty, founder of Literacy Powerline, is an international literacy expert committed to supporting local governments, foundations, businesses and community organizations in their efforts to create effective systems for lifelong learning. Her work links stakeholders, neighborhoods and services together to increase literacy levels through coordinated, high-accountability service provision.
A native of the United Kingdom, Margaret has worked to raise literacy levels in Africa, the Middle East and the United States. She has developed coalitions, facilitated regional literacy planning, advocated for educational system change and raised resources. Appointed to direct the Houston READ Commission in 1990, Margaret served as executive director for ten years before developing Literacy Powerline to promote economic, educational and social justice.
Margaret serves on the board of Literacy Texas, Darla’s School for the Mentally Retarded, and Literacy Advance of Houston. She works with national and international literacy organizations on solution building around community literacy issues, including ProLiteracy Worldwide, National Institute for Literacy,
Wider Opportunities for Women and the National Center for Family Literacy. In 2000 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire by HRH Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to the field of literacy.
Margaret resides in Palacios, Texas.
Dianne Apter
Dianne has worked as an evaluator for human service and educational agencies for more than 25 years. Her experience includes program development, implementation and management, community planning and policy formation, teaching and workshop leadership. Dianne presents her work at national, state and local conferences and in academic publications. She has conducted evaluations in areas such as Family Literacy, Early Childhood Literacy, School Improvement Efforts, Children’s Mental Health, and Children with Special Needs. Dianne has served as a consultant or facilitator of community system change efforts, board retreats and helped agencies develop results based services. Her specialties include program evaluations, large group facilitation for strategic planning or community system change, working with not-for-profit and school district personnel, and presentations.
In 2003, Cynthia, along with Dianne Apter founded Apter & O’Connor Associates, a consulting firm specializing in program evaluation, data management, professional learning, and capacity building. Dianne’s publications include Paving the Way to Kindergarten: Timelines and Guidelines for Preschool Staff, Working with Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families, Moving On From Preschool to Kindergarten, From Dream to Reality: A Participant’s View of the Implementation, New Collaborations: Professional-family Partnerships, and Utilization of Community Resources: An Important Variable for the Home-School Interface. Dianne has her Masters in Family Studies from Syracuse University.
Dianne lives in Syracuse, New York.
Vicki Clark
Vicki Clark has devoted the past 20 years of her life to developing the capacity of organizations, congregations and community based groups. She is a Senior Governance Consultant for BoardSource and is a trainer and consultant for the Leader to Leader Institute’s (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation) international training team. She is also a featured facilitator for the Association of Junior Leagues International and a member of the Corporation for National Service’s integrated VISTA training consortium.
Vicki has provided training and consulting for a variety of organizations including: The T. Howard Foundation, National CASA, Prevent Child Abuse America, National Association of Urban Literacy Coalitions, Chattanooga Community Foundation, University of Texas San Antonio, Living Cities, Y-ME Breast Cancer, and the Association of Graphic Artists. Her international experience includes work in Russia, the United Kingdom and Venezuela. Vicki has been instrumental in training teams of AmeriCorps members to build the capacity of literacy coalitions.
For 12 years she served as Vice President for the Points of Light Foundation and served on the steering committee for Colin Powell’s Summit for America’s Children. She is a member of the International Association of Volunteer Efforts and the Alliance for Nonprofit Management.
She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia and lives in Memphis, Tennessee.
Raymond Hart
Raymond C. Hart is President and CEO of RS Hart and Partners, an evaluation and assessment consulting firm. The company works with school districts, education agencies and corporations on data analysis, evaluation and assessment. Prior to his work as a consultant, he served as the Director of the Bureau of Research Training and Services at Kent State University for six years, where he directed the work of the agency and conducted over 150 research and evaluation projects. Ray holds the post of assistant professor in the College of Education at Georgia State University. His career began in 1989 as a program director for African American, Hispanic and Native American students in Engineering and Science.
Ray holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master’s Degree in Education from Cleveland State University with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction and Education Research. He holds a Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics from Kent State University. Ray has over 15 years of experience conducting program and grant evaluations. He has provided guidance on projects across the country and internationally regarding research methodology, design, data analysis and interpretation, reporting procedures and presentation of results.
Ray has worked on several literacy coalition initiatives including the development of the Literacy Cooperative in Cleveland. Ray is a team leader for the National Institute for Literacy’s Community Literacy Committee.
Ray lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Annie Lopez
Annie Lopez has a Ph.D. in Developmental and Educational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has been active in both research and applied settings. She has developed and supervised several successful family literacy programs which include the Waltersville Family Resource Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Heights Even Start in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She has designed creative and effective educational programs including the “Play-a-Day” literacy program which has increased children’s school readiness scores. Her management experience includes supervising and improving programming in 23 childcare centers throughout Northeastern Ohio and managing both ELI and Early Reading First early childhood literacy programs. She has extensive experience training and motivating staff and conducting professional development workshops.
Annie currently owns and operates Redstone Schoolhouse, a preschool and extended day learning center, as well as provides consulting services and conducts teacher training.
Annie is fluent in Spanish and resides in Cleveland, Ohio and Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Cynthia O’Connor
Cynthia has a unique combination of professional expertise and real world experience in evaluation, strategic planning & consultation. With over twenty years of experience in public administration and human service programming, she has vast knowledge about program development and management, community planning and policy formation, public budgeting, regulatory compliance, personnel issues, data management systems and program evaluation.
Cynthia has worked with schools, community agencies and governmental entities to develop successful service delivery systems. She has conducted evaluations and provided consultation in areas such as: Family Literacy, Early Childhood Literacy, School Improvement Efforts, Adult Education, Children’s Mental Health, Family-driven Special Education, Immunization Systems and many Public Health initiatives and Promotional Efforts.
In 2003, Cynthia, along with Dianne Apter founded Apter & O’Connor Associates, a consulting firm specializing in program evaluation, data management, professional learning, and capacity building. They work with nonprofit, government and private entities to measure and improve the effectiveness of their programs and policies while providing accountability to constituents and funders.
Cynthia earned a Master in Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Cynthia resides in Manlius, New York.
Cathay Reta
Cathay O. Reta has almost thirty years of experience in program management, curriculum and training development, and group facilitation in adult education and literacy. Motivated by a passion for learning, she began as a volunteer tutor in 1984, accepted the position of program coordinator a year later, and launched a career that spans local, statewide and national levels.
On a local level Cathay has managed adult literacy programs, led strategic planning sessions, and conducted management training. Statewide, she was Training Director for California Literacy from 1987 to 1991, responsible for technical assistance to diverse community groups (libraries, prisons, churches, adult schools, etc.) to develop and maintain literacy programs; professional development and support for a network of 400 tutor trainers; and coordination of an annual statewide conference. In 2003 she started her own consulting business, Cornerstone Concepts, with a contract from the California State Library to bring Prime Time Family Reading Time®, a family literacy program from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, to California. She developed and presented training on Performance Accountability for ProLiteracy, authored curricula for English Language Learners, “Talking with the Police” and “Financial Resources and Economic Education,” as well as a Logistics Employment Training Program for The Logistics Training Consortium of Southern California, and a Workplace Literacy Trainer Certification Program for Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles. Cathay’s clients include ProLiteracy, the California State Library, Jewish Vocational Services—Los Angeles, and more.
Cathay lives in Los Angeles, California.
Kimberly Scott
Kimberly Scott’s career has been in philanthropic, corporate and community development settings. Kim is Literacy Powerline’s managing partner and provides consulting services to communities to build coalitions, raise resources and develop sector collaboration. Her expertise includes the design and development of community needs assessments, assessment of literacy services and the analysis of resources to increase the funding base. Kim assists communities in building community literacy plans and is also a leader in the annual National Community Literacy Coalition Conference.
Kim created and led the community-wide literacy initiative of Onondaga County, New York. As Vice President of the Central New York Community Foundation, Kim led the grantmaking process, shared expertise with donors and managed special initiatives. The Community Foundation’s literacy initiative in her own community led to her pursuit of her passion and work with Literacy Powerline.
Kim graduated from Syracuse University, became a Certified Public Accountant, and settled in Central New York. Her work as a CPA began with Ernst & Young and Dannible & McKee. In 2000, Kim left her career in corporate America, after holding senior management positions with Niagara Mohawk/National Grid, a Fortune 500 company serving 37 New York state counties. She committed herself to a life of community service when she joined the Central New York Community Foundation in August of 2000, followed by her work in the community literacy field with Literacy Powerline in 2007.
Kim is a 1991 graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse and a 1996 graduate of Leadership Buffalo, a founding member of Appleseed Trust — a micro-enterprise lending agency, and has served as both volunteer and board member for a number of Central New York nonprofits. Kim currently serves on the boards of the Center for Community Alternatives and the Onondaga Citizens League.
Kim lives in LaFayette, New York.