Laura Zorc
Director of Education Reform - FreedomWorks
Laura’s experience in various levels of the education system has prepared her to lead this movement effectively. As one of Florida Parents Against Common Core founding members, Laura’s work led to the removal of Common Core standards in Florida. Additionally, she has served as president of her county’s parent-teacher association and as an elected member of her local school board. These experiences have equipped her to form and guide effective parent coalitions across the country. As a parent of three school-age children, Laura knows that the key to education reform is not just white papers but parents across the country standing up for their families.
Zachary Laba
BEST Program Manager - FreedomWorks
Zach Laba joined the BEST team after working for Glenn Youngkin's campaign, getting to see first hand the importance of parental rights in education and the dangers of school board tyranny to service teachers unions. He previously worked for the Congressional Leadership Fund, coordinating IE spending for races across the country. Zach graduated from The George Washington University in 2020, so he knows a bit about bias in education. He enjoys trying to golf, reading biographies, and 2000s network television.
National
Tamra Farah
National Advisor for BEST
Tamra Farah is leading Strategic Partnerships for Parents Know Best. Tamra launched and served as the Senior Director of MomForce with Moms for America® resourcing, networking and mentoring moms and school board members in the battle for parental rights in K-12 education. Tamra’s background in policy and politics spans over a decade including serving as the Communications Director and then as Deputy State Director for Americans for Prosperity in Colorado. Prior to that she assisted local, state and federal candidates and issue campaigns through TFPR. Tamra’s six-year effort in founding and leading the Human Trafficking Awareness Day at Colorado State Capitol helped inspire the passage of new laws to punish perpetrators and protect victims in the state. Tamra and her husband, entrepreneur, and podcaster, Barry Farah, are members of the Advisory Council at Turning Point USA. They helped start one of the largest classical charter schools in Colorado and homeschooled their kids in junior and senior high school. They are proud that their now adult children are Christians and Patriots.
Amy Carney
National Advisor to the Director
Amy is the Author of Parent on Purpose and speaks to moms and dads about the importance of raising their children with more intentionality. Her work has evolved into empowering parents to stand up for education reform in Arizona and around the country. Amy is a mother of six and an advocate for foster care adoption. She is currently serving on the Scottsdale School Board, having won her seat in the Nov. 2022 election.
Quisha King
National Advisor for Parent Advocacy
Quisha King is a mother of 2 daughters, host of The Quisha King Show and Founder of the Mass Exodus Movement, that aims to get children into better learning environments. Currently, she is a national speaker on education issues and parental rights and has been featured on major news outlets and national TV shows. She is the former SpokesMom for Moms for Liberty and former Sr. Director of Education and Membership with Moms for America. Quisha received the 2021 Rising Stars Award from the RNC and was a featured guest at Governor Ron DeSantis’s 2022 State of the State address. She was also highlighted by Governor DeSantis for her Board of Education remarks against critical race theory during the 2020 Faith & Freedom Conference.
Dr. Karen Hiltz
National School Board Policy Advisor
Dr. Karen Hiltz served in the Navy, is a retired Federal Procurement Professional, and taught business courses in undergraduate and graduate programs. Elected in 2015 to the Franklin County School Board, VA, she created The Apple Report FB page to communicate with constituents. In 2016, she was appointed to a Community College Local Advisory Board. Other experience includes serving on a private school board, multiple education non-profit boards, authored numerous articles on education and two books. Dr. Hiltz holds a BS and MBA in Management, an Ed.D. in Leadership Studies, and currently resides in Florida.
Nicole Solas
National Advisor for Parental Rights in Edu
Nicole Solas, a stay-at-home mom from Rhode Island, became an education advocate after the National Education Association sued her for submitting public records requests about critical race theory and gender theory in school. Now a senior fellow with Independent Women’s Forum, she writes for its Education Freedom Center. Nicole has had numerous media appearances including The Ingraham Angle, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Newsmax National Report, Fox's America's Newsroom, Fox News Digital, and National Review. Her favorite appearance was on the cover of the New York Post as a featured “domestic terrorist.” She is the 2021 winner of the Goldwater Institute Freedom Award for battling education bureaucrats. Nicole is a Massachusetts attorney and graduate of Roger Williams School of Law.
Adam Rizzieri
BEST Dad Leadership Development Advisor
Adam Rizzieri brings high energy to the FreedomWorks’ BEST Dads mentoring and leadership development initiative. With 20 years of experience in online marketing, Rizzieri was one of the first media buyers on Facebook and among the first to work in the New Media (Web TV) industry, serving the online advertorial needs of major advertisers. Adam regularly contributes to national radio and television programs and on a weekly basis, he can be heard speaking on Newsmax, SiriusXM Patriot, Cumulus Media, and iHeartMedia news stations. Adam earned a B.A. from Southern Methodist University, where he was class president and a M.S. in International Marketing Management from Boston University. Adam is a Board Member of the Collin County Conservative Republicans and is a member of the Plano Citizens Coalition. With BEST, Adam's goal is to develop leaders amongst our BEST Dads and Granddads. Adam lives in Plano, Texas with his wife, Jessica, and they are expecting a baby boy, Hayden Taylor, in October 2022.
Tera Myers
National Advisor for Parental Choice in Edu.
Tera lives in Mansfield, Ohio, where she fought for her son Samuel to access education funding to attend the school of his choice. After years of advocation for the law to be changed, in 2011, Tera started a functional learning program in her town for children with exceptional learning needs in the local Christian School. While directing the program, Tera began sharing her story with other schools in Ohio and nationwide. Tera speaks to legislators on how school choice can help students nationwide. She shares with parents how to have their voices heard and advocate for their children. Tera offers training to parents and teachers on how to have a genuinely personalized Individual Education Plan for students with learning needs. Tera participated in a roundtable discussion with the President of the United States in 2019 and spoke at the 2020 RNC. Tera started her own business to help parents, Tera Myers Consulting LLC, and is currently the Advisor for Families of Individuals with Special Needs for the American Federation for Children.
Arizona
Kerwin Franklin
Arizona State Coalition Coordinator
Kerwin Franklin is the daughter of two Arizona teachers and a working mother of five boys. She is the product of government education and a strong supporter of parental rights and transparency in Education. Kerwin was previously on the Board of Arizona Women of Action and Director of Education. She actively works with many local and national groups to help educate parents and support those running for local school boards so we can return to academics. Kerwin's goal is to see Arizona literacy rate dramatically increased across all grade levels. Parents and teachers need to work together to achieve this - and transparency in education is key to supporting the partnership.
Florida
Angelique Contreras
Florida State Coalition Coordinator
Angelique Contreras' family members were immigrants from Cuba and France who sought freedom and an opportunity to build a better future. Mrs. Contreras is a native Floridian raised in Fort Pierce, Florida. She is a wife and mother to three children, Aubriana, 11, Abigail, 4, and Alexandro. Angelique has been involved with BEST since nearly its beginning. Angelique uses her experience in developing young leaders in her native Florida to assist new coalition partners and grow BEST in Florida.
Georgia
Sheri Mitchell
Georgia State Coalition Coordinator
Sheri Mitchell became an activist when she felt pushed in the corner during the Covid pandemic. Like many parents across the country, she was able to sit across the table and see what her children were being taught in school. When the school system decided not to send her kids back to school in-person, she organized a grassroots effort with other community leaders and started a protest. That protest drew hundreds in the community. She partnered with BEST early on and also served on a campaign for a school board member. She took her experience lobbying in DC for Healthcare Reform and brought it to Education by partnering with local politicians and decision makers. She has also published articles to educate the public on local school board events. Sheri has a BS in Business Marketing and resides in Gwinnett County Georgia. She has two children, one in middle school and one in high school.
Ohio
Tracy Ulrich
Ohio State Coalition Coordinator
Tracy Ulrich is from Perrysburg, Ohio. She is a mother of two and grandmother of two dedicated to fighting for the education and freedom for our children. She Started Perrysburg Stands Up - a parent group in Wood County Ohio that is standing up for the rights of parents. Tracy and her group actively push for transparency and fight against the woke agenda of the education system. As State Coordinator, Tracy helps new groups develop and builds relationships with current and potential Ohio coalition partners.
Mission Statement
Building Education for Students Together’s mission is to ignite a national parent-led movement by building, educating, and mobilizing the largest network of parent activists in the country to advocate for their children’s education through the election of school board members and the passage of policies that align with our vision of expanding education freedom.
Thanks so much for everything FreedomWorks does. Your voice, your work, is so essential right now, because as we both know, our fundamental freedoms are in real jeopardy.
