Who We Are

Our Staff

Michael Magee, chief executive officer, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and English from the College of the Holy Cross and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania. For a dozen years he taught American literature and philosophy at Haverford College, Wheaton College and Rhode Island School of Design. In 2004, his book Emancipating Pragmatism, won the Elizabeth Agee Prize in American Studies. During these years, Dr. Magee was active in the nonprofit world supporting the arts as well as in Democratic Party politics. As a member of an active political family with a special focus on public education, he enjoyed strong connections to a diverse group of education service and policy organizations including Reach Out and Read, the Progressive Policy Institute, ConnCAN, Achievement First and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. In 2007, Magee went on hiatus from academia to help found and direct Mayor Daniel J. McKee’s Office of Children Youth and Learning. He is co-founder of RIMA and its first chief executive officer.

Drew Allsopp, director of school support and accountability, holds a Bachelor of Science from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and a master’s degree in urban education policy from Brown University. His research topics include school accountability systems, teacher compensation, school-level data use to improve instruction, and charter school performance. Before moving to Rhode Island, Mr. Allsopp was a teacher at Park East High School, a public high school in East Harlem. At Park East, he taught humanities and was chairman of the English department. He led successful efforts to improve the instructional program at Park East and boost college enrollment.

Christine Lopes, director of community and external relations, holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree in public administration from Suffolk University. She is the former executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. Before moving to Rhode Island, Ms. Lopes worked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and as field director for “Early Education for All,” an initiative of Strategies for Children, Inc. where she developed and directed a statewide advocacy plan for the public policy campaign that directly contributed to the creation of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

Desiree Okunola, executive assistant, is a recent graduate of Brown University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. While at Brown, she was a minority peer counselor helping to foster a close-knit community among ethnically diverse students while also injecting an international flavor as a result of her having attended K-12 schools in Nigeria and England. She also mentored elementary school students and provided help with homework assignments through the John Hope mentoring program. Most recently she managed an ACT and SAT preparation program for students at the MET school in Providence.

Our Board Members

Daniel J. McKee, Mayor of Cumberland, Rhode Island; Board Chair

Ramon Martinez, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Retired), former president/CEO of Progreso Latino, Inc., Rhode Island; Board Vice Chair

Daniel Waugh, Esq., Moses & Afonso Ltd; Board Secretary

John Carter, Trustee, Carter Family Charitable Trust

Allan W. Fung, Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island

Richard Lynch, (retired) former Executive Director of RI Interscholastic League, former Superintendent of Schools, Smithfield School Department

Norman E. McCulloch, Jr., Trustee, McAdams Family Foundation

John R. Morton, M.D., Women’s Healthcare Specialists in Pawtucket, RI & Assistant Clinical Professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Martin West, PhD, Assistant Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

Joe Williams, Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER)

Ellen Winn, Director of the Education Equality Project (EEP)