Nelson Smith, President
Nelson Smith, a nationally recognized expert on charter schools and education policy, is the President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. His experience includes senior management positions at the U.S. Department of Education, the D.C. Public Charter School Board, the New York City Partnership, and most recently at New American Schools, where he served as Vice President for Policy and Governance. In 2002, he was appointed by Education Secretary Rod Paige as one of 21 negotiators who developed federal regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act. Nelson is a graduate of Georgetown University and a resident of Washington, DC.

Todd Ziebarth, Vice President for Policy
Todd Ziebarth is the Vice President for Policy for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Previously, he worked as a Policy Analyst both at the Education Commission of the States from 1997 to 2003 and at Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates from 2003 to 2005. He has a Bachelors of Business Administration from Western Michigan University, a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver and a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver.

R. Brooks Garber, Federal Policy Director
R. Brooks Garber is the Federal Policy Director for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Prior to joining the National Alliance, Brooks worked as the Associate Director of Policy at the Center for Education Reform in Washington, DC. Before that, he worked at the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations where he assisted the Legislature in the development of a new education funding formula for the state. Additionally, Brooks has campaign and political experience at both the state and local levels. Mr. Garber has a Bachelor of Science in History and Human and Organizational Development, and a Master's in Public Policy, with an emphasis on education policy, both from Vanderbilt University.

Contact Our Experts:
William Schulz
Vice President for Communications
(202) 289-2700
wschulz@publiccharters.org