Our Team
Aryonna Young is the Program Manager for the California Reading and Literature Project, and she also assists the Computer Science Equity Project at UCLA Center X. With over 6 years’ experience in administrative roles and finance, Aryonna’s job is to manage the program’s budget and guarantee the funds are allocated to the right areas. Growing up in the K-12 system in Los Angeles herself, she is grateful to be a part of change and assist with bringing much needed educational programs to areas that lack these resources.
Carol Jago, Thought Partner
Carol Jago is currently president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English. Carol served as AP Literature content advisor for the College Board and has published six books for teachers with Heinemann. She has also published four books on contemporary multicultural authors for NCTE’s High School Literature series. Carol has written a weekly education column for the Los Angeles Times, and her essays have appeared in English Journal, Language Arts, NEA Today, as well as in other newspapers across the nation. She edits the journal of the California Association of Teachers of English, California English, and served on the planning committee for the 2009 NAEP Reading Framework and the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework.
Maryanne Wolf, Thought Partner
Maryanne Wolf is the UCLA Distinguished Visiting Professor of Education and Director of the UCLA Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice and the Chapman University Presidential Fellow. She is also the former John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research, and Professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. Within literacy areas, she has served on the Library of Congress Advisory Committee on Literacy Awards, and the Advisory Committee to the X Prize, whose new award will target Global Literacy, based in part on the recent work on literacy by her joint team in Ethiopia. With pediatric neurologist Martha Bridge Dencla she has published the RAN-RAS test for measuring naming speed, one of the best predictors of dyslexia across all languages. Funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, she created the RAVE-O intervention program for children with dyslexia and beginning readers.
Tyrone Howard, Thought Partner
Dr. Tyrone C. Howard is a professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also serves as Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. His research examines culture, race, teaching, and learning, and he has published several best-selling books exploring these topics, including Expanding College Access for Urban Youth. As the director and founder of the Black Male Institute at UCLA, Tyrone leads an interdisciplinary group of scholars, practitioners, community members, and policymakers dedicated to improving the educational experiences and life chances of males of color. He was the recipient of the 2015 UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 2016 and 2017, Dr. Howard was listed by Education Week as one of the 60 most influential scholars in the nation informing educational policy, practice, and reform.