About Us

Anne Miller is passionate about improving educational opportunities and has been committed to doing so for almost two decades.  She was a founding school leader at North Side Community School, a high-performing elementary charter school serving students from north St. Louis.  Anne founded the school’s Pre-K Program in 2010, and served as Early Childhood Director overseeing 120 pre-k and kindergarten students in nine classrooms. Under Anne’s leadership, 80% of pre-k students started kindergarten on grade level despite entering school one to two years behind their peers nationally.  

Anne has extensive research and policy experience. Her interest in public policy began during her time at the Early Education for All Campaign, an advocacy organization working for universal pre-k in Massachusetts. She has conducted various in-depth research projects evaluating the education landscapes in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas, and Missouri.  Designing and building collaborative, innovative systems-level solutions to address opportunity gaps for students and families is usually at the heart of Anne's work.

Before returning to St. Louis, her hometown, Anne taught kindergarten in Spain and received a Master's of Public Policy from Brown University. She has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.  

Kaitlin Gastrock is an education advocate and public affairs professional with over a decade of experience in the education, nonprofit and political spheres. Her areas of expertise include strategic communication, advocacy campaigns, program evaluation and improvement, and talent strategy. She leads communication and talent consulting for EdStrategies.   

Kaitlin began her career in the Massachusetts Governor’s Office as Deputy Director of Gubernatorial Appointments, appointing leaders in their field to boards and commissions in education and across all issue areas. Next, she expanded her political experience at the national level as the Director of Internal and External Relations for the Romney for President campaign, managing the campaign’s HR function, internship program, and constituent services team. Most recently, Kaitlin led Teach For America's Regional Communications and Public Affairs team, directing integrated communications and marketing strategy across the national nonprofit’s 53 regions. Under her leadership, the team landed thousands of stories in national and local press and dramatically increased TFA’s social media presence. Her team’s public affairs responsibilities included policy and research analysis, elected official engagement strategy, and public funding and policy advocacy campaigns.      

Kaitlin earned her Doctorate in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education, a Masters of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, a Masters of Public Policy from Brown University, and a Bachelors in Government from Dartmouth College. Based in the Boston area, she serves as board chair for The Elizabeth Peabody House and a member of The Winsor School Corporation.