Wendy Pugh, Board Chair
Wendy Pugh joined DC Public Schools in 2008 as a World Cultures Coordinator and is currently a Pathways Coordinator at Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC). In the Pathways role she collaborates with other district and school-level staff members to research alternative, innovative, and engaging approaches to teaching, learning, and student engagement and support. This research then leads to the development of personalized promotion plans for all students in the designated population. Wendy works with students to ensure they have set goals that will help them meet promotion targets, that students are aware of exactly how to achieve these goals, and that students are able to track their own progress toward these goals.
Wendy holds a Master’s Certification in Project Management and began her professional career in the private sector as an Operations Manager at Verizon Communications. Wendy has over twenty-nine years of technical and cross-functional project management experience in delivering innovative solutions that transform strategic goals into measurable results.
Richard Pohlman, Board Vice Chair
Richard Pohlman is an independent education consultant partnering with schools and education non-profits to reach the goal of improving outcomes for students. Previously, Richard served as Executive Director for Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School in Washington, DC, a law-themed school that is consistently ranked as one of the top schools in D.C. with more than 80% of graduates enrolling in college within one year. Prior to joining Thurgood Marshall Academy, he served as the Chief of Operations and Policy and as Acting Head of School at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. He also served as the Director for the District of Columbia’s Race to the Top program and Attorney Advisor to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Richard was a Presidential Management Fellow at the United States Department of Education and served as Special Assistant United States Attorney at the Department of Justice. Rich lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
Donice Leak, Board member (and Truth parent)
Donice A. Leak, APRN, FNP-BC, CPN, SANE-PEDS, is a well-versed family nurse practitioner who attends to patients as Family Nurse Practitioner at Unity Healthcare in Washington, DC, which she joined in 2014. Focused on your well-being, our team of compassionate and multicultural health professionals provides a full-range of health and human services that reach every facet of your health from pregnancy and infancy through your senior years. As a patient-centered medical home (PCMH), Unity offers a team-based approach that encourages you to become an active participant in your own health care. Furthermore, Donice is a Registered Nurse in Emergency Medical Trauma Center and SANE Registered Nurse and at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC is ranked nationally in 10 pediatric specialties. Children’s National Medical Center is a 313-bed children’s general facility with 14,580 admissions in the most recent year reported. It performed 5,277 annual inpatient surgeries, and 11,918 outpatient surgeries. Its emergency room had 108,449 visits. Children’s National Medical Center is a teaching hospital. Donice also acts as Family Nurse Practitioner – Clinical Instructor for Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, The Catholic University of America, and Kaplan University. She has an impressive professional journey spanning ten years and her areas of expertise cover sexual assault forensic nursing and family medicine.
Laura Masimini, Board member (and Truth parent)
Laura Masimini is a native Washingtonian and proud product of the District of Columbia Public Schools. After finishing her studies in DCPS she attended Delaware State University and earned a Bachelor of Science in English Education. Mrs. Masimini currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for The Masimini Group LLC, an educational consulting firm that focuses on helping train educators and prepare schools and school districts on being more trauma informed and restorative. While she spent most of her 20 years in education as a classroom teacher, she has also served in leadership roles such as, Literacy Coach, Lead Teacher, Curriculum Designer and Program Coordinator of a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Physical Wellness afterschool program. Mrs. Masimini is a dedicated family woman who loves to spend time with her husband and three children. She also enjoys yoga, reading and listening to music.
Rachel Kimboko, Board member
Rachel is a veteran of public Montessori in the District, and is the founding Executive Director of Stakeholder Engagement at D.C. Wildflower Montessori Public Charter School.
She is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in human development, from early learning through adult education and coaching. She is skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Youth Development, Program Evaluation, Public Speaking, and Research.
Her education credentials include a Master of Education (M.Ed.) focused in Technology in Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, an Elementary Montessori diploma from Association Montessori International, and coursework from the Certificate in School Management and Leadership program at Harvard Business School/Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Caroline Hill, Board member
Caroline is a thought leader who lives, works, and designs at the intersection of education, innovation, and equity. Her work inspired the creation of equityXdesign, a powerful design framework that merges the values of equity work and innovation with the intentionality of design. Her latest venture, 228 Accelerator, catalyzes the redesign of the relationships that normalize mistreatment and oppression, builds bridges between the powerful and the powerless, and accelerates our journey to a more inclusive society.
Caroline empowers people with the creative authority to reimagine themselves as designers of human relationships. This challenge inspires her to explore innovative organizations and learning models that optimize the role of relationships, leverage technologies, and engage people as agents in their own transformation.
Caroline’s work is rooted in more than 20 years of experience in public education, education innovation, management consulting, and engineering. She has lived the life cycle of school creation and transformation as a teacher, mentor, coach, founding principal, and investor in innovative school models.
Aryan A. Rodriguez Boucquet, Governance Committee Chair
Aryan served as the director of partnerships and engagement for My School DC, the District’s public school lottery program, at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). Since its launch in 2013, Aryan led the program’s citywide engagement efforts working in partnership with parents, schools, and community and government stakeholders to equip DC families with the resources needed to make informed school choices. She is passionate about social equity and justice, specifically as it relates to the health and wellbeing of the District’s communities, and continued her journey in support of District students and families at Flamboyan Foundation where she most recently served as the senior managing director of external affairs.
Prior to My School DC, Aryan led the District in its implementation of the DC Language Access Act of 2004 at the Office of Human Rights (OHR) as the city’s first language access director, working with local agencies and community coalition partners to ensure equitable access to services for the city’s limited and non-English speaking residents. Aryan earned her Master of Public Administration from the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Government and Politics and Communications from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Originally from Puerto Rico, she has lived in DC for over 17 years. She currently resides in Ward 4 with her husband and rescue pup and loves, loves, loves Ethiopian food.
Christa Kovacs, Board Member
Christa Kovacs is the Development Director at the Brady Center. At Brady, Christa works with a stellar group of individuals to prevent gun violence in all of its forms across the United States. She is one of the key fundraisers on her team and manages day to day operations, while contributing heavily to the strategic planning, development and growth
of the department. During her six years with the organization, she knows what it takes to build a robust and diverse fundraising program and looks forward to helping Truth grow. Throughout her career, Christa has worked in a variety of development functions including major gifts, planned giving, events and direct marketing.
Prior to working in DC at Brady, Christa was the Director of Development at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, where she truly came to appreciate how education and mentoring play a critical role in child development. Christa graduated from Saint Louis University.
Christa is a proud resident of Ward 5 in DC and lives with her husband and a sassy bulldog named Stevie.
Jonathan O’Connell, Board Secretary
Jonathan O'Connell is a DC parent, volunteer and reporter at The Washington Post.
Since joining the Post in 2010, Jonathan has spent most of his time covering urban and economic development in the Washington area, including redevelopment of the region’s waterfronts, the District's dramatic population growth and the crunch in local housing affordability. More recently he has been covering Amazon’s search for a second headquarters and President Trump’s real estate business, the Trump Organization. He is a two-time finalist for Gerald Loeb Awards for business journalism.
For almost 10 years, Jonathan has lived in the District's Petworth neighborhood with his wife and (now) three children. In his spare time, he has volunteered at D.C. schools. For three years he ran a newspaper and journalism club for fifth graders at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. Previously he was the volunteer coach of the Wilson High School ultimate frisbee team and co-founder of the Washington area’s high school frisbee league (WAFC Jr).
John Kenchelian, Board Treasurer
John Kenchelian is an Associate in the Legal, Regulatory, Compliance and Government Affairs practice at Heidrick & Struggles based in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining Heidrick, John served as an outsourced CFO for a portfolio of charter schools in the DC Metro Area, including Sojourner Truth. John was a Senior Finance Specialist working for EdOps, a professional services firm providing back office solutions for educational institutions. John has also supported key executives at Georgetown University as Assistant Director of Public Affairs. He started his career working in fundraising for Georgetown University's athletic department, working on data analytics and communications.
John holds an MBA from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, an MPP from Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy and a BA in Economics and Government from Georgetown University.
Kristen Wolfe, Board member
Kristen Wolfe is Managing Director of Data Analytics at EmpowerK12, a DC-based education non-profit that empowers public education systems with rigorous data analytics, tools, and training to drive collaborative improvement and equitable student outcomes. In her role, Kristen manages all aspects of EmpowerK12’s engagement with schools, providing data support for a growing number of LEAs in the district.
In addition to her years with EmpowerK12, Kristen brings 12 years of experience as a middle and high school educator, teaching math, physics, and engineering. One of her most transformative experiences during this time was as the founding science teacher at an innovative high school in Cleveland, where she was able to experience the challenges and joys that accompany the creation of a new school. She is excited to bring this experience to her service as a board member at Truth!
Kristen is also a parent of 4 children whom she shepherded through many years of Montessori education, and in the process developed a passion for student-centered learning. Kristen holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.Ed. in Educational Research from Cleveland State University. Beyond education, Kristen enjoys DIY home renovations, attending musical theater, and adventuring outdoors with her family.
Board Meeting Minutes
All General Meetings are open to the public, and minutes can be found below:
February 17, 2024 @8am: Meeting to consider purchase of 3420 16th St NE
March 29, 2024 @5pm: Meeting to consider applying for an enrollment ceiling increase of 10 students
SY 2023-2024 Board Meeting Calendar
All General Meetings are open to the public. For more information on how to attend, email info@truthpcs.org.
Upcoming Meetings
April 6, 2024 General Meeting
June 22, 2024 Annual Meeting
Please click here to find other documents of public interest on our school profile page on the D.C. Public Charter School Board’s website.