Parent Teacher Home Visits is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members of our national board of directors: Dr. Chrishirella Sutton, a clinical assistant professor, and Helen Westmoreland, family engagement director at National PTA.

The new organizational leaders will play a key role in leading PTHV’s deepening and expanding role in transforming K-12 family engagement nationwide.

Dr. Sutton’s professional record of service spans teaching and leadership roles in schools, school district administration, higher education, and state education agency with specialty areas in elementary education, social justice and culturally responsive pedagogy, and family engagement practice. She also provides nationwide family engagement consultancy and doctoral candidate coaching.

She earned a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning & Service from Cardinal Stritch University. She holds a master’s degree in education leadership from National Louis University, K-12 teaching certification from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Detroit-Mercy.

Helen Westmoreland leads National PTA’s Center for Family Engagement, which equips grassroots leaders to be champions for more transformative family engagement policies and practices across the education system. In her role, Helen oversees the Center’s partnerships, programs, equity initiatives, and multi-media resources, including co-hosting Notes from the Backpack: A PTA Podcast.

Prior to National PTA, Helen was a founding staff member and Deputy Director at Flamboyan Foundation, where she co-led the strategy to build, grow, and evaluate a comprehensive approach to parent-teacher collaboration. Previously, she provided research and technical assistance with the Harvard Family Research Project after starting her career working with community-based afterschool programs in Durham, NC. Over nearly 20 years, Helen has consulted and authored publications on family engagement, education organizing, out-of-school time, and scaling impact. Helen is a proud graduate of South Carolina public schools. She also received degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Duke University.

Chrishirella and Helen were elected to two-year terms to the PTHV Board of Directors last week, just as Board President Kwesi Rollins and long-time board member Michele Brooks stepped down from the board. Kwesi and Michelle were founding members of PTHV’s National Board of Directors, and Helen is a returning board member who previously served a two-year term.

Lisa Levasseur, executive director of school support at Elk Grove Unified School District, is now board president, and Cecily Darden Adams, CEO of Rooted Learning, is now board vice president.

Stay engaged with the entire PTHV Board of Directors by following this list on Twitter.