Empowering students with language-based learning differences
Board of Directors
About
Siena's Distinguished Board of Directors
Siena’s experienced Board of Directors concentrates on leadership, decision making, and future growth for the Siena organization as a whole in accordance with our mission. Its members have decades of experience in education, school leadership, education technology, and the arts.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ERIK HEYER
Founder and Board Chair
Erik Heyer is a respected education leader, business manager and social entrepreneur. Over the past two decades, he has played key roles building, managing, and advising numerous high-quality education organizations including private schools, charter schools, school districts, online and education technology companies, colleges, universities, and social-impact investment firms. Erik was on the founding team and management committee of Victory Schools, a national leader in the charter school and public education reform movements. He also founded a leading autism services organization that includes The Auburn School network and the Little Leaves behavioral therapy programs. In 2003, he was awarded a Broad Fellowship in the Broad Foundation Superintendents Academy, one of the nation’s most prestigious educational leadership training programs. His roles in finance have included work with Goldman Sachs, New Mountain Capital, and Bridges Fund Management, a global pioneer in the field of social-impact investing. Mr. Heyer holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in systems engineering with high honors from the University of Virginia. He has served as a trustee or director of the International Dyslexia Association, the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center, the Education Design Lab, Excellence with Integrity Institute, the Mental Health Association of Montgomery County, Springboard Education and Calvert Education.
LYDIA W. ADELFIO
Sidwell Friends School
Ms. Adelfio worked at Sidwell Friends School as the Assistant Head of School for Administration and Secretary to the Board of Trustees eleven years. She has recently spent nine years on the Center City Public Charter School Board, 2 ½ as Chair, a consortium of six public charter schools in Washington, DC, that serves a majority of students who are At-Risk. She is currently Vice Chair of the Friends of Holly Hill Farm board, an organic educational farm that also works to provide service programs for Teens and provides farm to food pantry produce, and working with over forty local schools on school gardens and a specialized curriculum. Programs for all ages focus on conservation and sustainable farming.
STEVEN GUTTENTAG
EPS School Specialty
Dr. Guttentag is currently the CEO of EPS School Specialty, a leading developer of curriculum products and services that enhance literacy and math skills for K-12 grade level students, particularly those who are two-plus years behind grade level. The Company's suite of products includes those that are based on science of reading principles and reading intervention strategies proven to effectively help students get back on grade level. Dr. Guttentag was most recently the CEO of Reading Plus, an adaptive literacy intervention solution that develops silent reading proficiency and confident, lifelong readers. Reading Plus was sold to Dreambox Learning in 2021. Prior to that he served as an Executive in Residence for Avathon Capital, an investment firm that provides funding to distinctive companies that have reached proof of concept and commercial adoption and are ready for scale. Dr. Guttentag was the co-founder and President of Connections Academy, an online schooling company that was sold to Pearson PLC in 2011. He began his career as a classroom teacher and has spent the last 30 years designing and deploying technology-based solutions to improve K–12 education. His academic credentials include a B.A. from the University of Michigan, a M.A. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Policy and Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
PETER JABLOW
Levine School of Music
Mr. Jablow recently retired after serving the past 19 years as President and CEO of Levine Music, one of the country’s leading community music schools. Under his leadership, Levine more than doubled in size and now has 5 campuses in the Metropolitan Washington region serving more than 4,000 students (ages 6 months to 100 years young) each week. Previously, Mr. Jablow served as Executive Vice President and COO of NPR, President of TicketMaster’s mid-Atlantic franchise, and CEO of Ticketron. While at TicketMaster, he grew a fledgling regional company into a $60 million operation, leading to the acquisition of Ticketron nationwide. Mr. Jablow has also been active in Montgomery County Arts, having served as Chairman of the Round House Theatre Board of Trustees for eight years and overseeing the establishment of Round House’s mainstage in Bethesda and second stage and education facility in Silver Spring. He holds a Master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.