Teachers & Leaders

After coming to TEP in 2009 as one of the school’s founding teachers, Casey is now the Head of School for Grades K-8. He has served as a leader of TEP’s middle school campus since the 2011-2012 school year, acting as Assistant Principal and then Middle School Director while also teaching Math. Casey spent the first decade of his teaching career at Community School 211 in the Bronx, New York, where he was initially placed by Teach for America in 1997. He assumes the Head of School role at TEP in his 25th year as an educator.

Aaron Villela joined TEP in 2018 as Director of Talent Acquisition, partnering with leaders in the organization’s expansion to a three-campus school, to ultimately serve 1080 students (grades K through 8). Aaron’s journey at TEP continued, serving as Director of Talent and then as Chief People and Services Officer. He now serves as Chief Executive Officer.

Before TEP, Aaron brought over a decade of experience leading national operations specializing in the provision of pediatric therapy and educational services for children (ages birth through 21 years) and leading a global team with talent operations in nine countries. Aaron is a Queens (NYC) native, son to immigrant parents from Guatemala, who is committed to advocacy for immigrant families and the advancement of equitable services for historically underserved communities. Aaron is married and has three daughters.

Ms. Gupta has over 18 years of experience as an educational entrepreneur, information technology project manager, and consultant. She began her career at Thaumaturgix, a software consulting firm, where she was the architect of cutting-edge technology platforms for many e-commerce businesses. Subsequently, she worked for Standard & Poor’s as a Senior Consultant in the Risk Solutions group, leading and managing teams of engineers to build two key, highly profitable products. Shelly then co- founded TutorAndMentor.com, a supplemental educational services company that leverages technology to deliver affordable and convenient education to K-12 students in the US & UK. Shelly earned her Integrated Master of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics at the world-renowned Indian Institute of Technology, earning admission as one of the top 0.5% of students from over 200,000 nationwide applicants.

Sean Juan serves as a Portfolio Manager at Point72 Asset Management, a private family office based in Stamford, CT. Mr. Juan specializes in the energy sector and manages a team of research analysts. Originally from Texas, he studied finance at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to moving to New York in 2011, he worked at Goldman Sachs and Carlson Capital in Texas. He brings deep financial knowledge to the Board. Prior to joining TEP, Juan has been involved in the community through mentorship roles and various volunteer events through his company.

Laura Tavormina served as Deputy Director of the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing (www.wsfssh.org) from 1990 to 2020.  WSFSSH, a leading supportive housing provider located in New York City, was organized in 1977 and since then has built close to 2,500 units of housing in Manhattan and the Bronx. Over her 30-year tenure at WSFSSH, Ms. Tavormina was responsible for agency-wide financial matters including financial reporting and audits, budgeting, cash management, tax reporting and government contracts; she held primary operations oversight for the areas of property management, asset management and information technology; and she was a key member of the development team responsible for creating new real estate projects for the agency.  She retired from WSFSSH in 2020.

Jennifer Mulhern serves as Vice President, Mission Implementation at the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity.  The Mission Implementation team works to connect students and educators with digital access tools and college planning resources.  In this role, she manages the College Board National Recognition Programs as well as the strategic partnerships with access and scholarship organizations across the country, all with the goal of propelling students forward to college. A native New Yorker, Jennifer was born and raised in Brooklyn and experienced first-hand the transformative impact of a great education.  She looks forward to helping more students access a great education through TEP.  She holds a MA from Harvard University and a BA from Haverford College.

Brooks S. Clark is a native New Yorker raised on the upper east side of Manhattan.  He was educated at The Browning School in New York, and graduated from the College of William and Mary and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Mr. Clark is an attorney specializing in real estate finance in the Financial Services Department of Polsinelli Shughart (www.polsinelli.com), a 650 attorney law firm with offices in sixteen cities.  Mr. Clark’s practice focuses on advising foreign and domestic banks, private equity funds and investment banks on all aspects of real estate finance.  He also advises corporate clients on the real estate aspects of large corporate and M&A transactions.  He has presented and written extensively on corporate real estate matters.

Mr. Clark is active in his local community.  Mr. Clark has been a long term active parishioner of St. James' Church on 71st and Madison Avenue. Outside of New York, Mr. Clark has served as a Board Member of the Mountain Top Arboretum, an arboretum and conservancy group based in the Northern Catskills.

Andrew Buher is the Executive Director of Dialog, an organization that builds participatory forums that gathers global leaders from across industries and ideologies to discuss pressing issues and find opportunities for collaboration. Immediately prior, he served as a White House Fellow at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Until 2014, Andrew was the Chief Operating Officer of the New York City Department of Education under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an organization with a $25 billion annual operating budget and a workforce of 135,000 employees.  He began his career in education promoting college access for low-income, first-generation students. He earned an MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and his BA from Rider University. He is a French American Young Leader and has been a White House Fellow, Education Pioneer Fellow, Fellow at the Center for the Presidency and member of the Forbes 30 under 30. He and his wife live in Manasquan, New Jersey with their Labradors, Lincoln and Jackson.

Anyeli Matos (An-Je-Li) is a proud Afro-Dominican, born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Her experiences as an immigrant and first-generation graduate drive her passion for education reform. Most recently, Anyeli led the charter schools office at the New York City Department of Education. She is a product of New York City public schools, graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in Sociology and economics, recently completed an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and she is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) at HGSE.