Meet Your Directors
Theresa Lewallen
Gail Clark Dickson
Molly McCloskey
Kathleen Welling
Theresa Lewallen
As managing director of Constituent Programs, Lewallen leads the group responsible for constituent programs, including affiliates, connected communities, Emerging Leaders, networks, and student chapters, as well as partnerships and alliances. Lewallen's focus at ASCD has been on tying together research, policy, and practice and developing strategic initiatives that demonstrate those critical links.
Lewallen's tenure at ASCD began in 1999 when she was directing a project funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that linked schools with local public health agencies. The outcome of that work was published in Education and Public Health: Natural Partners in Learning for Life. Immediately prior to assuming the managing director role, Lewallen served as the director of ASCD's Healthy School Communities, overseeing the research and evaluation component of that work. She oversaw the research, development, and production of Creating A Healthy School Using the Healthy School Report Card: An ASCD Action Tool, released in January 2006, and ASCD's first customized product Creating a Healthy School Using the Healthy School Report Card: An ASCD Action Tool—Canadian Edition, released in January 2007.
Lewallen played an instrumental role in the development of ASCD's whole child efforts. She has authored or coauthored policy papers and journal articles, presented at national and international conferences, and continues to serves as a content expert and referral source for ASCD. Lewallen has participated on numerous ASCD teams and co-chaired strategic plan development and measurement teams.
Lewallen represents ASCD on national and international committees, primarily those that focus on improving outcomes for students through research, policy, and practice. She has interacted with state, provincial, and national governments, making the case for using evidence to inform policy development and implementation.
Lewallen has a Master of Arts degree in community health promotion and education from Trinity University in Washington, D.C., and is a certified health education specialist (CHES). Prior to coming to ASCD, she provided technical support to the Office of the Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. She also served the City of Alexandria, Va., for seven years as a community health educator developing and presenting programs through the schools and in the community.
Contact Theresa Lewallen by e-mail or by phone at 1-800-933-2723, ext. 5622.
Gail Clark Dickson
Gail Clark Dickson joined ASCD in 2001. As director for Constituent Services, Gail works closely with ASCD's constituents in providing an array of consulting services regarding organizational management, governance, strategic planning, board development, and education issues. Dickson facilitates connections and partnerships between and among the association and its constituent groups. She advocates for education by supporting local influence initiatives that are compatible with ASCD's goals and values and encourages constituent groups to develop collaborative relationships with influential education groups to pursue shared goals. Dickson is a member of ASCD's Senior Directors' Team and Book Acquisitions Team, and she is program lead for the Emerging Leaders Program and the Network Program.
Prior to ASCD, Dickson worked in Colorado with Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), where she served as senior consultant. In that position, she coordinated the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program for the seven-state central region. She remains an active presenter on school improvement issues across the nation.
Dickson has more than 25 years of educational experience, which includes working with the Kentucky Department of Education in the Division of School Improvement as a distinguished educator, being a school-based management consultant, and being a trainer at the Kentucky Leadership Academy. In addition, she worked in the Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Ky., as a middle school administrator, guidance specialist, social worker, and teacher. Dickson was also an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work.
Dickson holds degrees and certifications in educational administration, sociology, social work administration, and education. She completed her certification in Nonprofit Executive Management at Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership.
Dickson remains active with the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) as a board member and chair of the Program Development Research and Evaluation Commission. She was a charter member and president of the Lexington (Ky.) Alliance of Black School Educators and a charter officer of the Kentucky Alliance of Black School Educators. She has a continuing interest in community grassroots advocacy.
Contact Gail Dickson by e-mail or by phone at 1-800-933-2723, ext. 5620.
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Molly McCloskey
Molly McCloskey is managing director, Whole Child Programs at ASCD, directing multiple components of the ASCD Whole Child Initiative, a multiyear, cross-organizational program, including member and nonmember outreach and engagement, ASCD'S Healthy School Communities Program, and development of capacity-building resources and services. This is her third role at ASCD; she was previously project director for the First Amendment Schools program and director of Constituent Services, working with various constituent groups including state and provincial affiliates.
Prior to coming to ASCD, McCloskey was the executive director of Community Youth Development for the YMCA of Greater Cleveland (Ohio), where she supervised an alternative school for secondary school students who would otherwise have been expelled and an alternative court for first-time misdemeanor offenders.
Her career began as a 5th grade teacher in the District of Columbia and has included every level from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. As a school counselor and Comer School Development Program facilitator in the Prince George's County Public Schools (Md.), McCloskey engaged school communities in comprehensive school reform and served as a member of the Yale Child Study Center national faculty. In addition, she was an adjunct professor for Western Maryland College (now known as McDaniel College), teaching group dynamics and human growth and development to graduate students in the School of Education.
Since joining ASCD, McCloskey has presented across the United States, Canada, and Germany and has written and been interviewed about school reform, whole child education, and First Amendment issues in the Miami Herald, USAToday, Edutopia, and the Chicago Tribune. She coauthored the ASCD Infobrief on The Whole Child: A Framework for Education in the 21st Century in February 2005 and the Fall 2007 update of that issue.
McCloskey serves on the advisory boards for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools and the Coalition of Community Schools and on the steering committee of United Voices for Education. She is also part of numerous ASCD internal teams and volunteers for the Prince George's County Public Schools Comer Steering Committee. McCloskey holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Catholic University of America and a master's of education degree in school counseling from the University of Maryland.
Contact Molly McCloskey by e-mail or by phone at 1-800-933-2723, ext. 5475.
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Kathleen Welling
Kathy Welling came to ASCD with nearly 10 years of experience in constituent partnerships and outreach. Most recently she was a member of the music education faculty and director of music education outreach at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her teaching experience spans from preschool through graduate level.
Prior to her work at Duquesne, Welling was the director of outreach and special programs for the National Association for Music Education. In that position, she served as liaison to 52 affiliated organizations; organized and produced various special events; and was responsible for the numerous programs of the association, including information services, student programs, resource workshops, and the National Coalition for Music Education advocacy campaign. Welling remains an active spokesperson on music education standards, advocacy, and leadership throughout the nation.
Welling holds a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Northern Colorado and a master's degree in music from Arizona State University. She remains an active spokesperson on music and the other arts, standards, leadership, advocacy, and influence. Welling currently sings with the National Cathedral Choral Society and is a guest faculty member at Duquesne University.
Contact Kathy by e-mail or by phone at 1-800-933-2723, ext. 5617.
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