Who We Are
We're working together to keep the American Dream alive.
Executive Advisory Board
Susana Martinez
31st Governor of New Mexico and Daniels Fund, Board of Directors
Scott Walker
45th Governor of Wisconsin & President, Young America’s Foundation
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
President, American Action Forum & Fmr. Director of the Congressional Budget Office
Doug Ducey
23rd Governor of Arizona and CEO of Citizens for Free Enterprise
Max Eden
Director of Federal Education Policy, America First Policy Institute
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
President, American Action Forum & Fmr. Director of the Congressional Budget Office
Our Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors is passionate about improving education in America and guides ERA in its mission to identify and train the next generation of education policy reformers and leaders.
Josh Archambault
Reformers Academy Founder and President, Senior Fellow at the Cicero Institute & Fmr. Senior Legislative Aide for Governor Mitt Romney and State Sen. Scott Brown
Josh Archambault is the President of Reformers Academy. He is also the Founder of Presidents Lane Consulting and a Senior Fellow at the Cicero Institute. His work experience has ranged from work as a Senior Legislative Aide to a governor, Legislative Director for a state senator, to years working for think tanks operating in complex and highly political waters in thirty-five states, and in D.C.Josh has become a trusted adviser to Governors, state legislators, senior staff at the White House, and executive branch leadership as they navigate the policy issue of the decade.
Josh’s healthcare policy work has been covered in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Fox News, NPR, MSNBC, Money Magazine, and National Review Online. He is also a regular contributor to the influential Forbes.com blog, The Apothecary.
Josh holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. in political studies and economics from Gordon College. He and his wife enjoy raising four kids— a mix of biological, adopted, and children experiencing foster care.
Scott Darnell
Reformers Academy Founder and Executive Vice President & Fmr. Senior Advisor to Governor Susana Martinez and Mayor Richard Berry
Scott Darnell is the Executive Vice President of Reformers Academy. He is also the President of Arrowhead Strategies, a policy and strategic communications firm. Scott oversees policy development and programs – including Leadership Albuquerque – for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. He facilitates the efforts of a six-organization coalition working to expand educational opportunities for children in New Mexico and leads a U.S. Department of Justice grant to develop cutting-edge crime-fighting tools for police and prosecutors in the Albuquerque area.
Scott previously served as a senior advisor to New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez – first as her Director of Communications, and then as her Deputy Chief of Staff. He oversaw roughly half of the State’s cabinet agencies, as well as policy development, communications, speechwriting, and the management of the state budget. Later, in the Administration of Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, Scott led the “Albuquerque Innovation Team,” which conducted groundbreaking research on crime in Bernalillo County and worked with police, prosecutors, and others to launch several new, data-driven crime-fighting initiatives and collaborations.
Scott earned a Master in Public Policy (MPP) degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government after graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in political science. While at Harvard, he twice earned the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching for his instructional work as a teaching fellow for a course entitled “The American Presidency.” He also authored a teaching case for the Harvard Kennedy School Case Program on the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Scott and his wife enjoy raising two boys – Jude, age 11 and Lucas, age 9.
Tarren Bragdon
CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability & Fmr. State Representative, Maine House of Representatives
Adam Meier
Senior Fellow and Legal Counsel for the Cicero Institute & Fmr. Director of the Montana Dept. of Public Health and Human Services
Marie Sanderson
Founding Partner of Guidepost Strategies & Fmr. Policy Director for the Republican Governors Association
Manny Diaz, Jr
Florida Commissioner of Education & Fmr. Member of the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate
Ryan Long
The ERA Team
Josh Archambault
Founder & President
Josh Archambault is the President of Reformers Academy. He is also the Founder of Presidents Lane Consulting and a Senior Fellow at the Cicero Institute. His work experience has ranged from work as a Senior Legislative Aide to a governor, Legislative Director for a state senator, to years working for think tanks operating in complex and highly political waters in thirty-five states, and in D.C.Josh has become a trusted adviser to Governors, state legislators, senior staff at the White House, and executive branch leadership as they navigate the policy issue of the decade.
Josh’s healthcare policy work has been covered in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Fox News, NPR, MSNBC, Money Magazine, and National Review Online. He is also a regular contributor to the influential Forbes.com blog, The Apothecary.
Josh holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. in political studies and economics from Gordon College. He and his wife enjoy raising four kids— a mix of biological, adopted, and children experiencing foster care.
Scott Darnell
Founder & Executive Vice President
Scott Darnell is a Founder and Executive Vice President of Reformers Academy. He is also the President of Arrowhead Strategies, a policy and strategic communications firm. Scott directs the Leadership Albuquerque program for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and facilitates the efforts of a six-organization coalition working to expand educational opportunities for children in New Mexico.
Scott previously served as a senior advisor to New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez – first as her Director of Communications and Spokesman, and then as her Deputy Chief of Staff. He oversaw roughly half of the State’s cabinet agencies, as well as policy development, communications, speechwriting, and the management of the state budget. Later, Scott served as a senior advisor to Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and led the “Albuquerque Innovation Team,” which conducted groundbreaking research on crime in Bernalillo County and worked with police, prosecutors, and others to launch several new, data-driven crime-fighting initiatives and collaborations.
Scott earned a Master in Public Policy (MPP) degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a recipient of the distinguished Public Service Fellowship, after graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in political science, summa cum laude. While at Harvard, he twice earned the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching for his instructional work as a teaching fellow for a course entitled “The American Presidency.” He also authored a teaching case for the Harvard Kennedy School Case Program on the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Scott and his wife enjoy raising two boys – Jude, age 12 and Lucas, age 10.
Stephen Bowen
Dean, Education Reformers Academy
Stephen Bowen is the Dean of Education Reformers Academy. He also serves as the executive director of the Hoover Education Success Initiative. In this role, he works to ensure that Hoover’s education research is informed by and responsive to the needs of practitioners, state policy leaders and education reform advocates.
Before joining Hoover, Bowen served as the deputy executive director for state leadership at the Council of Chief State School Officers, where he oversaw programs and services to support the council’s members, the state education chiefs, and other state education agency leaders. He joined the council in 2013.
From 2011 to 2013, he served as the commissioner of education. In this role, he led the department to better target its supports to schools and school districts; enacted and implemented public charter school legislation and expanded other school choice options; enacted innovative schools legislation; and worked to improve transparency in reporting of student outcomes.
He previously served briefly as a senior policy adviser for Governor Paul LePage, joining the administration from the Maine Heritage Policy Center (now the Maine Policy Institute), a state-based public policy think tank where he served as education policy director. He joined the center in 2007, after serving two terms in the Maine House of Representatives.
Heather McDaniel
Director of Admissions & Outreach
Heather McDaniel is the Director of Admissions and Outreach for Reformers Academy. Heather previously served as New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez’s Director of Policy, a role that included intensive legislative work, regulatory policymaking, and speechwriting. After that, she helped lead an Albuquerque-based policy team, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and affiliated with the City of Albuquerque, that developed criminal justice research and interventions. She then worked as the executive vice president of the leading business advocacy organization in New Mexico, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, overseeing finance, operations, and business development. Heather has a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of New Mexico.
Tracy Tilus
Director of Fellow & Alumni Engagement
Garett Roush
Garett Roush is the Manager of Career Advancement & Talent Placement at Reformers Academy, where he connects reform-minded professionals with impactful roles across government, think tanks, and policy organizations by working with fellows, alumni, and partner organizations.
Before joining Reformers Academy, Garett served as the Talent Acquisition Manager at Pacific Legal Foundation, a national public interest law firm focused on defending constitutional liberties. In that role, he led nationwide recruitment efforts across legal, policy, and operations teams.
Earlier in his career, Garett worked as a corporate recruiter across several industries, including healthcare, banking, property services, and an electric vehicle startup. He holds a degree in Political Science from Syracuse University, where he led campus chapters of Students for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty.
Outside of work, Garett enjoys PC building, following Detroit sports (despite the emotional stress), and spending time with his fiancée and their two cats.
Naomi Allen
Manager of Admissions
Naomi Allen is the Manager of Admissions at Reformers Academy, where she leads admissions strategy and enrollment operations. Coming from a background in higher education at Grand Canyon Education, Naomi held roles across admissions, employee learning and development, and program development. There she supported the growth of healthcare programs, led outreach and engagement efforts, developed teams, and designed training experiences for enrollment and student services staff.
Naomi holds both a B.S. in Psychology and M.S. in Instructional Design from Grand Canyon University and is participating in the 2026–2027 Koch Associate Program.
Outside of work Naomi enjoys an intense game of pickleball, exploring Virginia with her husband, or trying a new restaurant with friends.
Scott Centorino
Scott Centorino is a Reformers Academy Senior Fellow. Previously, he was Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 2025-2026, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Do No Harm Medicine, Deputy Policy Director of the Foundation for Government Accountability, Assistant Attorney General for the Louisiana Department of Justice, and a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps.
Scott earned a B.A. in Politics from Washington and Lee University and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. If you can’t get a hold of Scott, it’s because he’s at a minor league baseball game or, if it’s the winter, legitimately lost in the woods. He lives in Rockbridge County, Virginia with his family and entirely too many pets.
Kim Borchers
Kim Borchers is a senior fellow for Education Reformers Academy. She is a thought leader in the realm of talent acquisition and leadership development, serving as the President and owner of Bird Dog Recruitment and Consulting LLC. Her firm stands at the forefront of placing C-suite talent within the highest echelons of state and federal government, specializing in comprehensive management development initiatives.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Kim is actively involved in numerous civic and philanthropic initiatives. She proudly served as the Kansas Republican National Committeewoman for the RNC and currently holds directorial positions at Kansas Delta Dental and the Eisenhower in Public Service Series. Additionally, she contributes her expertise as a board member for the Topeka Women’s Fund, Cair Paravel Latin School, and the transformative Project 2 Restore, dedicated to supporting women rescued from sex trafficking.
Kim’s personal life is characterized by a steadfast partnership with her husband, Dr. Tim, which has spanned 31 years. Together, they reside in Topeka, KS, where they cherish their roles as parents to three accomplished children, a beloved son-in-law, and a cherished granddaughter. Kim’s multifaceted commitment to professional excellence, civic engagement, and family values exemplifies her as a true leader in her community and beyond.
Policy Advisory Board
Stephen Bowen
Dean of ERA, Executive Director of the Education Success Initiative at the Hoover Institution and Fmr. Maine Education Commissioner
Bill Phillips
Senior Director of Charter Policy and School Choice Advocacy at American Federation for Children
Christopher Ruszkowski
Fmr. New Mexico Secretary of Education
Michael Petrilli
President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and Executive Editor of Education Next
Chad Aldeman
Founder of Read Not Guess, Formerly of Edunomics Lab, Bellwether Education, and the U.S. Dept. of Education
Manny Diaz, Jr
Florida Commissioner of Education & Fmr. Member of the Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate
Our Instructors
Our instructors are some of the most accomplished and recognized practitioners, researchers, implementers, policymakers, and thinkers in the education policy field – at both the national and state levels. They not only teach ERA students about important aspects of America’s education system and structures, but they also share practical experiences and lessons they’ve learned along the way about how to drive change and implement policies and programs.
“A masterclass on the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in an education policy career” – Spring 2024 ERA Fellowship Graduate