Advisory Committee

HCM has assembled an Advisory Committee composed of bipartisan and nonpartisan experts in higher education and financial aid policy and advocacy to govern the FFAA Fund.  The Advisory Committee will approve and oversee the FFAA Fund’s operating framework, including evaluation criteria, and will review and vote on all applications received.  Advisory Committee members will recuse themselves from voting on any proposals submitted by organizations with which they are affiliated.

Advisory Committee members include:

John Bailey

Vice President of Policy, Foundation for Excellence in Education/

Executive Director, Digital Learning Now

Michelle Asha Cooper

President, Institute for Higher Education Policy

Terrell Halaska, Chair

Partner, HCM Strategists, LLC

Nick Lee

Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dan Madzelan


Assistant Vice President, Government Relations, American Council on Education

Jen Mishory

Executive Director, Young Invincibles

Julie Peller


Strategy Director, Federal Policy, Lumina Foundation

Scott Ralls


President, Northern Virginia Community College

Thomas Saenz

President/General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Celia Hartman Sims


Vice President of Government Relations, KinderCare Education

Lorraine Stiehl

Consultant, StiehlWorks