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Staff Bios  Gary Beckner Executive Director Gary Becker oversees both AAE and its supporting foundation. He is based out of AAE’s membership office in Mission Viejo, California. Mr. Beckner is a successful business executive with a vision for America's educational future. His heart for education comes from his love for children and his desire to see America's young people develop with academic and moral excellence. Mr. Beckner knows first hand the important role a teacher has in the development of America's citizens. His background includes being a lifetime credentialed instructor with California's community colleges, authoring a college textbook, teaching courses in business ethics, and conducting seminars throughout the state. Immediately after graduating from Florida State University with a B.S. degree in marketing in 1967, he began a career in business that led to management and part ownership of several insurance industry companies. In 1988 Beckner began consulting work in insurance and marketing, while holding seats on the board of directors of several organizations. In 1993, he contracted as a consultant for a Washington, D.C. based association management company. Over the next year, while working on an education project, and after surveying teachers across the nation, he became convinced there was a need for the Association of American Educators. In 1994, Beckner helped found AAE as an alternative for teachers who were disenchanted with the nation's teacher unions. He and a group of nationally recognized and respected educators came together to form this new organization because they thought the two unions were leading our public schools in the wrong direction. He has also served as the executive director of the Coalition of Independent Education Associations (CIEA). The coalition represents over 300,000 teachers in 23 separate independent, nonunion associations across the nation. They are united in their belief that educators should be free from compulsory membership, and should not be forced to join or otherwise pay dues to a labor union in order to teach. Beckner is a frequent lecturer on the nonunion independent teachers association movement and has been featured or quoted in articles published in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, and Investors’ Business Daily among others. Beckner resides in Southern California with his wife. The father of three sons, Beckner is active in several civic and religious organizations.  Tracey Bailey Director of Education Policy Tracey Bailey is the Director of Education Policy at the Association of American Educators. Mr. Bailey oversees all education policy and labor policy as it relates to education. A frequent commentator on education issues, Mr. Bailey believes that teachers should have a choice in professional organizations and works with educational leaders nationwide to promote increased professionalism among educators. In 1993, Mr. Bailey was selected as the National Teacher of the Year for the United States, from a field of over 2.7 million public school teachers across the country. He was honored at a White House ceremony in the Rose Garden by the President of the United States and the U.S. Secretary of Education. Innovation and the use of technology became the hallmark of his career as a science instructor. A crusader against "chalk talks," he developed hands-on projects where his students designed their own computer network systems, purchased DNA finger-printing equipment, and even built a greenhouse on the school's "back 40." Mr. Bailey served in the Florida Department of Education for four years as the State Coordinator for Education Reform and as the Director of Charter Schools and Public School Choice under the leadership of Lt. Governor Frank T. Brogan. In that capacity, Mr. Bailey directed the efforts to establish high-quality public schools of choice and charter schools throughout the state. Over 120 such charter schools were developed in Florida under Mr. Bailey’s leadership. In 1998, Mr. Bailey was inducted into the Florida Educators’ Hall of Fame. Mr. Bailey earned his bachelor's degree in Science Education and his master's degree in Instructional Technology, both from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. Mr. Bailey is married to Rosemary, a former community college mathematics instructor. He is the proud father of nine children. He and his family reside in Northern Virginia.  Heather Reams Associate Director Heather Reams is the associate director for the Association of American Educators. She manages AAE’s Washington, DC office, where AAE focuses on national policy, marketing, outreach and media relations. Ms. Reams’ primary responsibilities are to support AAE’s partners from national level, serve as the primary contact to the media, coordinate government relations efforts, oversee marketing programs, create and launch new state AAE chapters, develop strategic alliances with like-minded organizations, and to identify innovative member services and benefits. Ms. Reams has over fifteen years of experience in and around Washington, DC, serving as a Capitol Hill staffer, lobbyist and communications advisor. Her experience has focused on issue advocacy and media communications. Ms. Reams has spent much of her career at top-tier public relations boutiques in the nation’s capital. She was part of the communications team for Martha Stewart Living/ Omnicom during the initial breaking news and several months proceeding. She was highly involved in the mutual funds scandals in New York, working closely with journalists at most New York top-tier publications. Other clients have included General Motors and Ameriquest Mortgage Company. She was also part of a complex communications team during the buy out of Global Crossing. Earlier, Ms. Reams was a vice president of a legal public affairs firm, working specifically on high-profile litigation cases. She was a communications advisor to General Motors on complex litigation matters, as well as an advisor to several automotive companies such as Chrysler and Suzuki. She managed a coalition of associations and business leaders in an effort to squash federal legislation as a result of the Ford/Firestone debacle. Ms. Reams also worked with a firm-wide team working for Oracle, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems during the US government’s antitrust case against Microsoft. Ms. Reams has extensive experience in media training – having worked with CEOs, board members, general counsels, outside counsel and other spokespersons. She often speaks at conferences about effective media strategies as well as the non-union education movement. Ms. Reams is a graduate of the University of Washington. She and her husband, Chris, reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with their daughter, Caroline. Colin Sharkey Director of National Projects Colin Sharkey is director of national projects for the Association of American Educators. In this capacity, Colin develops, cultivates, and oversees new AAE state chapters while also working with state partners in their development of new programs. He also works with like-minded educators, policy makers and organizations to expand the non-union educators’ movement. Colin recently served as the project coordinator for the coalition relations department at The Heritage Foundation, one of the most prominent think tanks in the country, where he managed and supervised many projects, including publishing the biennial Policy Experts guide and coordinating the annual Resource Bank Meeting. As part of Heritage’s Leadership for America campaign, Colin handled coalition relations outreach for education policy, including building a network of education policy movement leaders, attending conferences and briefings, and coordinating outreach with Heritage education policy staff. Earlier, Colin worked at the Collegiate Network as a program officer providing financial and technical assistance to nearly one hundred independent college newspapers. While he was at the Collegiate Network, a program of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Colin served as Managing Editor of CAMPUS Magazine Online, created and directed the National Security Online Resource Center, and blogged for National Review Online. Colin was born and raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, recently named one of Money magazine’s top 25 places to live. Colin is a proud product of the award-winning Abington public school district. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Before attending Notre Dame, Colin completed a two-year honors program at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, formerly Shippensburg State Teachers College. Colin and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Arlington, Virginia. |
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