Our Staff
Lisa Sahulka
Lisa A. Sahulka joins the Cahn Fellows after a role as Chief Operating Officer at The Southern Poverty Law Center. Ms. Sahulka served as Chief Financial Officer for the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) of Pinellas County, Fla. She provides educators with free resources that teach school children to reject hate, embrace diversity and respect differences.
She is a career-long proponent of administrative effectiveness in mission-driven enterprises. During more than 15 years with JWB, she developed infrastructure and processes supporting some 60 external programs serving thousands of children each year.
Prior to moving to Florida, she served in positions with CARE, Covenant House, and the Jacob Riis Settlement House. She also served as an adjunct professor at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served abroad at Casa Alianza in Antigua, Guatemala, and the International English Schools in London.
Lisa Sahulka
National Director
Dr. Barbara McKeon
Dr. Barbara McKeon’s career has focused on serving the needs of the most vulnerable populations. She has earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from Rutgers University, Masters in Communication Disorders from the University of Vermont, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, Management and Policy from Seton Hall University and is an ASHA certified Speech/Language Pathologist.
She has written and been featured in numerous articles and has spoken extensively both nationally and internationally on topics in education including improving school culture, school turn-around, aspiring leadership, building relational trust and integrating restorative practices.
Dr. McKeon has served on numerous city and state committees designed to improve educational outcomes for at-risk youth. She has held adjunct professorships at Pace, Brooklyn College and the University of Vermont. She currently holds the position of Director for the Cahn Fellows Program and was a 2015 Cahn Fellow for Distinguished Principals.
Dr. Barbara McKeon
Program Director
Anna Cano Amato
Anna Cano Amato, a 2015 Fellow, retired from her position as Principal of PS 110 in Brooklyn in February 2020 after having assumed the position in 2006. She joined the faculty of PS 110 in 1984 where she worked in the following positions: Assistant Principal, Literacy Coach, Teacher Trainer, Spanish and Classroom Teacher, 2nd through 5th grades. She has earned advanced degrees from Queens College and St. John’s University as well as an administrative degree from the College of St. Rose.
During her tenure at the school she ensured that the school’s vision of Growing Hearts and Minds addressed the academic, social and emotional growth of its students. In recognition of the school’s efforts in fulfilling its vision, PS 110 was the first New York City public school to receive the “Educating the Whole Child in the 21st Century” award from the New York ASCD for creating a healthy, safe, engaging, supportive, and challenging school environment.
Always exploring educational opportunities for her students, she recognized the value of bilingual programs and introduced a French Dual Language curriculum to the PS 110 school community in 2010. Anna was a recipient of the Chevalier dans I’Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2016 for her “… remarkable role in the development of French-English bilingual programs.” This award was founded in 1808 by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize devotion and accomplishment in the areas of teaching, scholarship and research. Her vision contributed to the success of bilingual education in New York City public schools, and she helped to offer hundreds of children the opportunity to learn in two languages.
Upon retirement, she assumed the position of Program Coordinator for the Cahn Fellows Programs, where she has served as an Alumni Advisor since 2016.
