EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bonnie Holliday

Bonnie Holliday was appointed Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Student Achievement in October 2011. Prior to joining the GOSA team, she worked for the Office of Planning and Budget as the Accountability Manager for the Race to the Top Innovation Fund and for the Georgia Charter Schools Commission as the Program Manager for Accountability. She also worked previously for GOSA as the Planning and Policy Development Specialist where she coordinated the implementation and evaluation of the agency's education policy initiatives. Holliday received both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Georgia. She is currently a doctoral candidate in UGA's Educational Administration and Policy program, where she is completing a dissertation on school choice coalition building in Georgia. While completing her doctoral coursework, Holliday held research assistantships in the Learning and Performance Support Laboratory and the Educational Policy and Evaluation Center. She also taught English at a public high school in Banks County prior to returning to graduate school.

STATEWIDE LONGITUDINAL DATA SYSTEMS DIRECTOR
Kriste Elia

As Director of the SLDS, Kriste Elia manages the team that will design and build the P-20 Data Hub serving the state’s education research and reporting agenda to improve student achievement and outcomes. Elia previously served several years with the Georgia Technology Authority as both the Service Delivery Officer and as an Executive Program Director where she took part in developing and staffing GTA’s Service Management Organization. Related responsibilities included managing a team of eight project managers and providing direction to a 74-member SMO staff as the state transitioned personnel and technology services to its new providers, established asset inventory processes and governance structures, and began such transformation activities as e-mail, server and storage consolidation. Ms. Elia joined GTA in 2006 after serving for several years as Director of Project Management for GeoFields, Inc., of Atlanta and working as a project manager for Parsons Engineering of Norcross. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Georgia, a Master of Science from Georgia State University and a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is certified in project management, ITIL and SQL/Oracle11g.

ACADEMIC AUDITOR
Adrian Neely

Adrian Neely began her educational career as a high school science instructor in the Atlanta Metropolitan area in 1997. After serving in the local school system for several years, she accepted an unique opportunity to become an Aerospace Education Specialist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), serving urban and rural communities throughout the United States and U.S. Territories. Prior to becoming an academic auditor for GOSA, Adrian provided leadership and coordination in the implementation of the new Science Georgia Performance Standards in middle and high school grades in the north Georgia area with the Georgia Department of Education where she also served as the middle school science specialist. She earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from the University of Georgia.

EDUCATION RESEARCH AND POLICY SPECIALIST
Tiffany Taylor

Tiffany Taylor serves as the Education Research and Policy Analyst at GOSA. At GOSA she assists the Executive Director with the negotiation of local school district performance contracts, known as IE2 contracts, and annually evaluates and communicates local districts’ IE2 goal attainment. She is also responsible for researching and profiling promising practices and policies within Georgia’s education reform efforts and monitoring the progress of education legislation proposed by the Georgia General Assembly. Prior to joining GOSA, Tiffany completed a series of legal internships with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, both in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., where she provided research on various national and international securities regulation issues. Tiffany previously taught Algebra at Hopewell Middle School in Fulton County. She holds a J.D. and an MBA from Howard University, and an M.Ed. and a B.S. from the University of Georgia.

RTT RESEARCH AND EVALUATION SPECIALIST
Niah Shearer

Niah Shearer serves as the GOSA Research and Evaluation Specialist for Race To The Top. In this role, she is responsible for researching evidence-based practices related to the four core components of the initiative, as well as evaluating the State’s effectiveness in implementing the work. Prior to assuming this role, she worked for the Abyssinian Development Corporation, an acclaimed community development organization in New York City. As the Strategy, Research and Evaluation Project Executive, Niah designed education programs, successfully raised over $1M in funding for school-based programs, including the coveted US DOE Promise Neighborhood grant, and managed the organization’s program evaluations. Niah earned her Bachelor of Arts from Spelman College and Master of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

DATA MINING SPECIALIST
Nazmun Nahar

Nazmun Nahar has worked in Information Technology for more than five years. Before joining GOSA in 2008, she was employed by several large corporations, including Bank Of America, Federated Corporation, and Strategic Software. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Dhaka University. Nazmun has also completed database and network certification training programs from Solutions Incorporated and DeKalb Technical College.

OFFICE MANAGER
Beverly Lopez

Beverley Lopez has served as GOSA’s Administrative Operations Coordinator/Office Manager since April of 2007. Before joining the GOSA team, she worked with the Georgia Department of Education as an Administrative Assistant for 19 years.