Aim Hire
2024

Jason Dougal is the President of NCEE and former CEO of the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL). Mr. Dougal has conducted various benchmarking trips to some of the highest performing education systems in the world and serves as a senior consultant to various state departments of education, state legislators, and Governors’ commissions focused on systemic education policy reform. He has also served as the lead facilitator in NISL Superintendents Academies in three states (Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Mississippi). Under Mr. Dougal’s leadership, NISL won multiple grants from the U.S. Department of Education totaling more than $20 million and was the subject of multiple third-party evaluations showing statistically significant improvement in student performance conducted by The RAND Corporation, American Institutes of Research, Johns Hopkins University and Old Dominion University.

Prior to his role at NISL, he was the Executive Director of Excellence for All, a competency-based diploma program aimed at restructuring high schools that yielded statistically significant gains for students on state accountability exams. Prior to that, he was the General Counsel and oversaw operations at America’s Choice, Inc., the country’s leading provider of comprehensive school reform services. Mr. Dougal has over 19 years of experience in senior leadership of leading K-12 not-for-profit organizations. Before joining NCEE, Mr. Dougal was a corporate associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a preeminent international law firm. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. from Swarthmore College.

A native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Dr. Toriano Holloway has led a distinguished career education for more than 25 years. Dr. Holloway has served in various capacities, to include teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent, at school districts across north and south Mississippi. Prior to joining Vicksburg Warren School District, Dr. Holloway was the Superintendent of Education for Simpson County and Quitman School Districts.

An avid leader, Dr. Holloway is a board member of the East Mississippi Center for Educational Development, the Mississippi Association of School Administrators, the National Advisory Board for Battelle for Kids, the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents and the Governing Board for AASA. Dr. Holloway holds a Bachelor of Science from Mississippi University for Women and a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in educational administration from The University of Southern Mississippi. He has also completed numerous leadership programs, such as the Mississippi School Boards Association Prospective Superintendent Leadership Academy, the Harvard Institute for Superintendents and District Leaders, and the National Institute for School Leaders Superintendents Academy. Dr. Holloway is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Inc. and is the proud father of two, Aaron 27 and Lindsey 19.

Mario joined GACC Midwest in October 2014 to lead the Skills Initiative, the Chamber’s effort to promote German-style apprenticeships in the US. In this capacity, he built the chamber’s apprenticeship programs and the Apprenticeship Networks department. Before joining GACC Midwest, Mario worked at a Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Germany as a training consultant for industrial and technical professions, and later as head of the international business division. Mario was also responsible for international projects on know-how transfer in Central Asia and the Balkans.

Mario is head of GACC Midwest’s ICATT (Industry Consortium for Advanced Technical Training) Apprenticeship Program, the largest apprenticeship program in the U.S. fully benchmarked on the German Dual Education System. In addition, Mario oversees the management of the MAT2 (Michigan Advanced Technician Training) apprenticeship program and all of GACC Midwest’s apprenticeship and workforce development activities. Mario was elected Vice President of GACC Midwest by the Board of Directors in September 2017. In this capacity he also manages GACC Midwest’s Membership & Events and Marketing/Communications departments.

Mario serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the German – American Apprenticeship & Education Foundation which supports the creation and expansion of high-quality apprenticeship pathways and related education in the United States. In 2024, Mario was appointed to serve a 2-year term as an Employer Representative on the Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship (ACA) of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Erica joined Ascend Indiana in August 2017, and currently serves as the Vice President of Consulting, leading Ascend’s talent strategy and talent pipeline development efforts in partnership with Hoosier employers and education and training providers. During her time at Ascend, she has led the design and launch of multiple talent pipeline programs and strategies in Central Indiana to connect youth and adults to in-demand training and jobs, including the Community Health Network Behavioral Health Academy, the Roche Academy for biomedical equipment technicians, and the Youth Apprenticeship Accelerator. Prior to Ascend, Erica supported Cummins’ environmental sustainability strategic planning efforts and regulatory emissions compliance initiatives. Erica holds her undergraduate degree in Economics and Public Policy from the Kelley School of Business and her Juris Doctorate from Indiana University Maurer School of Law.