The Educator Advancement Council is a 21 member board of Directors with a broad range of voices, experiences, and perspectives from across the educator career continuum. As a statewide Council, the EAC intentionally seeks directors representing urban, suburban, rural and remote educators. Additionally, the EAC strives to have a Council that is racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse and reflective of Oregon’s educators and students.
EAC directors serve two-year terms, up to a maximum of two terms. Directors advise on policy making, budgetary decisions, planning and vision setting of EAC initiatives, as well as upholding the Council’s mission, vision, and values and actively employing the Oregon Department of Education Equity Lens.
Learn more about the current Council Directors here. For a list of vacant positions and application instructions, please visit our Join the Council page.
Andi Bales Molnar is the Professional Learning System Specialist at the Oregon Early Learning Division. She has been appointed by the Early Learning Systems Director, Alyssa Chatterjee, to serve on the Council and represent the Early Learning Division.
Dr. Traniece Brown-Warrens is a Principal in Portland Public Schools. She has taught 8th Grade U.S. History in Houston, TX in addition she was a department chair, instructional excellence coach, teacher specialist, football coach, and basketball coach. She has won awards for her culturally responsive teaching style that infused Hip-Hop music and History. Director Brown-Warrens is an active member of the Oregon Association of Black School Educators and received her Doctorate of Education at Baylor University.
Dr. Veronica Dujon, Ph.D., is the Director for Academic Policy and Authorization at Oregon Higher Education Coordination Commission. She leads the Commission's efforts to coordinate academic programs, degree pathways, accelerated learning and student success initiatives among Oregon's public universities. Dujon also oversees degree authorization for private schools, and licensing and compliance for private career schools. Prior to joining the HECC Veronica was an Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Portland State University. She received her Ph.D. in environmental sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Representative Susan McLain is a 5th generation Oregonian, raised on farms in the Willamette Valley. A graduate of Western Oregon University (formerly Oregon College of Education), Rep. McLain spent over 40 years teaching and coaching speech and debate in Hillsboro. In 2011, she was honored to receive a Crystal Apple award for outstanding local teachers from the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce. Rep. McLain recently received a national award for longevity and excellence as Glencoe High School’s Speech and Debate coach. After her election to the Oregon State House in 2014, Rep. McLain has been a legislative advocate for Oregon students, teachers, and schools.
Bio coming soon...
Jana Giles has been an educator in Oregon for six years. She grew up in rural Southern Oregon and attended Title-1 K-12 public schools. Giles has taught first-grade and is currently teaching in a third-grade classroom at North Marion, as well as being the Vice President of her Local Union. Her intimate experience within rural communities, school leadership, and elementary classrooms has directly shaped her approach to education.
Bio coming soon...
Diana Juárez is a passionate, multilingual, BIPOC, autodidactic educator, that has experienced firsthand the inequities in schooling that obstruct the education of our students today. She is driven to see the implementation of an inclusive and equitable education system that acknowledges the assets that Oregon’s diverse learners bring to our classrooms and provides them with safe, welcoming environments in which they can thrive. She is determined to ensure that the interests of those most impacted by the education systems are represented in any changes made. Her pursuit of this goal is evidenced in a plethora of spheres—practicing educator, Douglas REN Coordinating Body member, Teachers of Color affinity group member, Equity Team member, and participant in a wide range of learning communities—as she is acutely aware that to develop an equitable system requires the involvement of all stakeholders. Director Juárez is a teacher at Phoenix Charter School of Roseburg.
