Steve Navarre serves as Chief Executive Officer and co-owner for Project Education. He has built a career based on technology and education. Navarre is a results-oriented entrepreneur with nearly two decades of extensive experience in developing companies and managing business units for national and international technology consulting companies. He began his career in the education technologies department of Texas Instruments. As a Business Unit Director at Sogeti-Cap Gemini, Navarre turned his business unit from a million-dollar producer to a nine million dollar producer in just one year. Navarre’s career involves numerous consulting positions leading him to work with several well-known companies like Pepsico, Chevron, Texaco and Merrill Lynch to name a few. Navarre is also the founder and owner of MindPower Consulting. Before starting Project Education, Navarre was the CEO of a regional educational software provider specializing in special education compliance. Lastly, he is the father and sibling of those with special needs and has years of experience with the parent/family aspect of special education.

Mellony Deuel serves as Chief Academic Officer and co-owner of Project Education. Before starting Project Education, Mellony worked as a Program Manager for a special education software company where she was responsible for the overall development of several educational programs including gathering customer requirements, working with development, marketing, sales, training, and product support. Mellony has been able to utilize her skills to create software programs that tracks both student achievement and compliance. Her previous education experiences as a general and special education teacher and the compliance officer across all special populations for the 5th largest Texas school district has enabled her to understand the importance of being able to produce actionable data. She has experience with the IDEA/504/ELL audit and OCR complaint process. As Chief Academic Officer, Mellony’s experience provides an understanding of how our partnerships work from both the vendor and educator that uses our software and services.

Jayson Hammett made language acquisition a cornerstone of his education and career. He started his education career by teaching elementary Spanish and general studies in several North Texas school districts before moving to Arlington ISD to teach 4th grade. While there he found a passion for teaching ELL students how to succeed. From there he became an Instructional Coach and Response to Intervention Facilitator and then a World Languages Instructional Specialist.

In his current role, he helps expand Project Education’s ELL offering to numerous states. He has also helped to design proficiency tracking and targeted intervention software for meeting English Learner needs.

Jayson holds an Associate’s Degree in Interpreting for the Deaf, a Bachelor’s degree focusing on Linguistics and Foreign Language Acquisition, a Masters of Education in Policy Studies and a Principal Certification. In January 2021 Jayson was honored with the TeX TESOL V TESOLer of the Year Award.

Jill Lowe is the Director of Program Management for Project Education. Prior to joining the Project Education team, Jill was in the education field for more than eighteen years at campus and district leadership capacities, with a focus on improving instruction for English Learners through professional development and coaching. As an instructional coach, Jill has supported classroom teachers with implementing effective practices that meet the needs of their English Learners. Previously, Jill was the ESL Coordinator in Fort Bend Independent School District where she provided campus support and professional development to improve the educational outcomes of English Learners in grades PreK-12. Jill began as a certified ESL teacher who taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. She has won district and local association awards in recognition of her work as an ESL Teacher. Jill lives in the Houston area with her husband and two children.

Alicia Bergeron serves as the Directory of Implementation Services for Project Education. Alicia received a Bachelor’s in Business Management from Tarleton State University and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Lamar University. Alicia is a certified Human Resource professional and Registered Texas School Business Administrator. Prior to joining Project Education, Alicia served in central administration for Cleveland ISD as Coordinator of Information Services and LPAC Compliance Specialist. While there she provided campus and district support by streamlining procedures, implementing audit processes, and onboarding multiple computer software systems to support those efforts including the Project Education suite of programs. Alicia’s time as a teacher focused on supporting EL students with language and academic interventions. Prior to becoming an educator, Alicia served the public sector in roles such as corporate training, management, and human resources. Her background in education and process improvement strengthens her commitment to building partnerships with districts to maximize their students’ success.

Tom served over three decades in large urban and small public-school settings, with principalships in elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as central office positions. He was a director of special education in Goose Creek CISD from 2009-2016, where he helped engineer significant performance improvements for schools and students. He was instrumental in creating systems that supported students’ well-being both academically and emotionally.

Tom retired from public schools in 2016, broadening his reach as an educational and business consultant for districts, companies, and communities across the U.S. He is at his best when helping diverse teams thrive and perform across broad ethnic, cultural and economic ranges. He has served in coalitions and committees with students, parents, board trustees, superintendents, executive level management and community leaders.

Tom joined Project Education in 2021, and applies his insights and expertise to helping districts achieve the maximum results from our Project SPED, Behavior, RTI, Truancy, and SEL programs.

Julie Kaiser has worked in public procurement and client account management roles since graduating from Texas A&M University. Having an extensive background in customer service and account management, she is committed to building partnerships with districts to maximize their students’ success. Julie is passionate about providing outstanding service while building strong, productive working relationships with all stakeholders.

Julie is responsible for District Engagement, helping to ensure our existing clients are benefiting from Project Education at its fullest potential, and introducing our software solution to new districts. She previously served as a Client Services Manager, assisting with customer support, training, and program enhancements. Her positive attitude and attention to detail are great assets for the Project Education team.

Dora Sosa spends most of her career specializing in school improvement efforts for the at-risk, special education, and bilingual students. She began her educational career as a science teacher. She moved oved on to become an assistant principal and principal of a middle school and a high school comprised mostly of students identified as low-socioeconomic and bilingual. Through her efforts, the campuses saw tremendous academic improvement. She then went on to become a director and an assistant superintendent, focused on principal coaching and academic improvement efforts of K-12 public high schools.

Dr. Sosa retired from public education in 2022 and joined Project Education to continue to assist school districts all over the nation in ensuring that our products assist school districts in surpassing all academic goals for all students.

Dr. Sosa holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Masters of Education from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Texas at Austin Cooperative Superintendency Program.

Marcy is skilled at facilitating collaboration with school district teams and leaders to support successful ELL programs, professional learning community structures and leadership development. Marcy has an extensive background in school administration including roles from teacher to Assistant Superintendent, all in the State of Texas. She has led both campus and central office teams, departments, and divisions over 29 years serving public schools and most recently in Katy ISD. Her passion for raising achievement levels of ELLs is apparent throughout all her work. In addition, she is a sought-after mentor to new administrators. She has helped many develop core strengths which prepared them for the leadership positions in which they now serve.

Marcy leads consulting and professional development for all Project Education areas. All training solutions are customizable in the PK-12 environment for both campus and central office needs.