Pinnacle Academy

Ruth has taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults for over 14 years.  She began teaching in Hawaii while taking Language Acquisition classes at the University of Hawaii.  In 1999, she moved to Washington, D.C. to continue her schooling in the field.  Ruth received an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language (T.E.S.O.L.) in 2001 from American University.  After graduation, she taught at Howard University in D.C. and is currently teaching at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Don Soifer is Executive Vice President of the Lexington Institute, a nonpartisan public-policy think tank based near Washington, DC.  Soifer has published dozens of papers and articles on various aspects of education policy, including charter schools, accountability and assessments, higher education finance, closing achievement gaps for English learners, and special education. 

Donna Johnson is the senior minister of Unity of Fairfax exercising full range of ministerial and CEO responsibilities. Her experience includes leading congregation through transition and culmination of  a 4-year program for the construction of $4M facility. She was the associate minister of first Church Unity in Nashville, Tn. responsible for counseling, lay leadership program development, small group ministries, teaching and regular Sunday speaking.

Nancy Bort, currently teaching in Alexandria City Public Schools, has been in the field of education since 1971, primarily as a secondary science teacher.  In addition, she taught college courses and worked in Army sponsored continuing education programs in Korea and Germany. She achieved National Board Certification and was recognized as a 2007 Virginia state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Math and Science.

Zeina Azzam Seikaly has worked as Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University since 1994. She coordinates programs for K-12 educators, including workshops for social science and humanities teachers, on all aspects of Arab affairs and Islam, and serves as a consultant in curriculum development.