Chairman Miller Announces New Staff For Education And Labor Committee

Monday, January 22, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, today announced new hires for the majority staff of the Committee.

"I look forward to working with these new staff members on our common goal of growing and strengthening America's middle class," Miller said. "I have no doubt that the talented team we have assembled will help the Committee achieve important goals for the American people."

Alejandra Ceja, 32, joins the Committee as its Budget and Appropriations Analyst after more than seven years at the Office of Management and Budget, where she worked as a Program Examiner in the Education and Human Resource Division.  Prior to OMB, Ceja worked for Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard and was a Public Policy Fellow for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.  She has a Bachelor?s degree from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles and an MPA from Baruch College's School of Public Affairs in New York.

Sarah Dyson, 22, joins the committee as a Staff Assistant for the newly formed Oversight Office.  While in college, Dyson worked for the Education Policy and Leadership Center of Pennsylvania and Teach for America.  After graduating, she worked for the state legislature in Pennsylvania.  Dyson, a native of Maplewood, New Jersey, received her Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College.

Mike Gaffin, 23, joins the Committee as a Staff Assistant for the labor policy office.  He previously served as a temporary Staff Assistant for Senator Edward Kennedy's labor policy office.  Prior to that, he interned in Kennedy's committee and personal offices.  Gaffin is a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ryan Holden, 33, joins the Committee as a Senior Investigator.  He most recently served as a Forensic Auditor for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Holden also worked as a CPA for Arthur Andersen, LLP. Holden, a native of Marysville, MI, is a graduate of Xavier University in Ohio.

Elizabeth Hollis, 48, joins the Committee as the Administrative Assistant to the Staff Director.  She had previously served as the Special Assistant to the Director of the National Institute for Literacy; as the Executive Assistant to the President for the Council for Opportunity in Education; and as an Administrative Assistant on the House Education and Labor Committee (then Education and the Workforce) from 1998 to 2001.  Ms. Hollis is a 1980 graduate of Cheyney State College in Pennsylvania. 

Lamont Ivey, 24, joins the Committee as a Staff Assistant for the education policy office.  He previously interned in the Washington office of U.S. Representative Robert "Bobby" Scott.  Ivey, a native of Roswell, Georgia, is a senior in the Industrial Engineering program at Georgia Tech University.

Brian Kennedy, 47, joins the Committee as General Counsel for Labor. He has previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Counsel; Labor Coordinator/Counsel to the Committee on Education and Labor (then Education and the Workforce); Staff Director for then-Senator Paul Simon's Subcommittee on Employment and Productivity; and General Counsel to Senator Harry Reid.  Most recently, Kennedy served as Deputy National Director of Job Corps.  Kennedy is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and James Madison University.      

Ann-Frances Lambert, 31, joins the Committee as Special Assistant to the Education Policy Director for the Education and Labor committee. Lambert worked for the City of Richmond, VA under the Chief Lobbyist, and most recently opened the Hyperlink Cafe, a restaurant lounge with two of her siblings.  Lambert began her Hill experience while working in the office of Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott as a staff assistant. Lambert, a native of Richmond, VA, received her Bachelor's degree in Communications while minoring in Education from Howard University.

Danielle Lee, 23, joins the Committee as a Press and Outreach Assistant. Danielle previously worked as a temporary Press Assistant at the AARP.  She has also interned in the press office of Senator Edward Kennedy and for then-Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.  Lee, a native of Walnut Creek, California, graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts.

Sara Lonardo, 23, joins the Education and Labor Committee as a Staff Assistant after working as a field organizer for the Sheldon Whitehouse senate campaign in Rhode Island.  Lonardo has also worked as a canvasser and office political director for the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group.  She has interned for Senators Jack Reed and John Kerry.  Lonardo, a native of Rhode Island, graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts.

Stephanie Moore joins the Committee as General Counsel for Education. Moore previously served as Judiciary Counsel to former Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Melvin L. Watt.  She has also worked as General Counsel to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  Moore has taught at the Rutgers University Constitutional Law Litigation Clinic, the District of Columbia School of Law (now the David Clarke Law School at the University of the District of Columbia), Howard University Law School and the University of Pennsylvania. She also served as a law clerk to the late Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Moore, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, graduated from Oberlin College and Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. 

Megan O'Reilly, 30, joins the Committee as a Labor Policy Advisor. She has served as a law clerk at Baker McKenzie, LLP in the Compensation & Employment practice group.  She also worked as an Executive Assistant and Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo. O'Reilly, a native of Exeter, New Hampshire, graduated from American University and DePaul University Law School, where she was a staff writer for the Health Law Journal. 

Lisette Partelow, 25, who began interning for the Committee in September 2006, joins its staff as a Staff Assistant for Education Policy. She is currently on leave from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, where she is earning a Master?s degree in Public Affairs. Last summer, Partelow interned in Oregon Governor Ted Kulongski's office.  She has also worked as a research assistant at the American Institutes for Research and as an intern for the Child Welfare League of America. Partelow, a native of Hamilton, New York, graduated from Connecticut College in 2003.

Theda Zawaiza, 53, joins the Committee as Senior Disability Policy Advisor. Zawaiza previously served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Major R. Owens. Prior to that, Zawaiza served as Special Assistant for Equity in the Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education under the Clinton Administration, where she led its 24-member Diversity Committee.  She has also served as a Senior Legislative Analyst with the Subcommittee on Select Education and Civil Rights and the Disability Policy Subcommittee and as a policy analyst for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Zawaiza earned her Ph.D. in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in policy analysis research.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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