Board Chair | Academic Working Group Chair

Contact Information: board@steelcityacademy.org

Chief Academic Officer - Accelerate Institute

A Midwesterner at heart, Catherine grew up in Chicago’s south suburbs and stayed in the region to earn her undergrad and graduate degrees. She started her 20-year career as a high school history teacher and coach, but over the years grew to know and love the middle school and elementary school teachers and students, even her kindergarteners’ milk mustaches at breakfast. Catherine founded a successful charter school in Pilsen, a near southside neighborhood, forging its foundation in the culture of the community where she fostered a school climate where students and teachers loved to be and could learn and grow. Under her leadership, she accelerated student achievement +43% in 4 years in reading and math as measured by NWEA. In the 4th year of operation, the 4th and 5th grade students were 90/90/90 classrooms, demonstrating that after 3 years of instruction at BDLC the opportunity gap would be closed.

Catherine leads the Curriculum and Assessment Team at the Accelerate Institute and is a thought leader on leadership development, executive coaching, and team management. In addition to her tireless work on behalf of students, Catherine is dedicated to her family, friends, and beloved Boxer, Bosco. Catherine, her husband, Ken, and son Logan love travel, baseball, superheroes and if you have questions about dinosaurs or sinkholes, she might have the answer.

Contact the Steel City Academy Board of Directors at board@steelcityacademy.org

Board Vice Chair | Finance Working Group Member

Senior Advisory Partner - Ernst & Young Business Consulting

Anthony Washington is a finance and accounting professional with more than 25 years of work experience and a proven track record of serving large, complex global accounts. Anthony works as a Senior Advisory Partner for EY with senior client executives across multiple sectors to define, architect, and implement transformational initiatives that enable their vision and strategy and address their unique business challenges. He brings a combination of management consulting, risk management, and industry experience to his clients and a global perspective, with extensive past professional experiences in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. His primary focus has been on the delivery of large-scale transformations through business process change and technology enablement. He has a wealth of experience in Lean, Six Sigma, finance process improvement, supply chain optimization, inventory management, and digital transformations.

One of the first 15 partners to join the EY Advisory practice in 2007, he has been a key member of that leadership team ever since, including serving as the Advisory Account Leader (AAL) for several high-profile EY clients. He is accountable for the planning, coordination and delivery of all Advisory Services across his accounts globally as well as building client relationships and working with client executives to understand their businesses and strategic priorities and aligning them with EY investments, talent, and services appropriately.

Founding Board Member | Treasurer, Finance Working Group Chair

Director of Financial Strategy - The Latin School of Chicago

Katherine Pohlkamp brings over 15 years of extensive accounting and finance expertise to her roles as a founding board member of Steel City Academy and as the Director of Financial Strategy at the Latin School of Chicago.

With a strong background in financial reporting and budgeting, Katherine has made significant contributions to the Latin School of Chicago, a prestigious K-12 independent private school located in Chicago, IL. In her capacity as Director of Financial Strategy, she oversees crucial financial operations, ensuring the school's fiscal health and sustainability.

Prior to her current position, Katherine held various senior roles in accounting and finance, honing her skills and expertise. Her dedication to financial stewardship and strategic planning has been instrumental in driving organizational success and growth throughout her career.

As a founding board member of Steel City Academy, Katherine demonstrates her commitment to education and community development. She leverages her financial acumen to support the academy's mission of providing quality education and opportunities to students in the Steel City area.

Katherine is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a respected leader in her field. Her passion for financial management and her unwavering dedication to educational excellence continue to make a positive impact in both the public and private sectors.

Board Secretary | Governance Working Group Member | Parent Liaison

Ashley O'Neal is a dedicated wife and mother of three, passionate about making a difference in her community. As the Board Secretary and Parent Liaison at Steel City Academy, she ensures effective communication and support between the school and families. With a focus on advocating for special needs, particularly autism, Ashley serves as a coach and liaison, providing invaluable guidance and resources. Previously, she excelled as an executive administrative assistant at Nozzle Nolen in West Palm Beach, Florida. A South Florida native with Jamaican heritage, Ashley is now proud to call Northwest Indiana home as she continues to plant roots and positively impact those around her.

Governance Working Group Chair

Labor and Employment Associate - Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Erica Young is a dedicated labor and employment defense attorney focused on assisting employers and schools with employment litigation prevention and defense. She has represented employers and schools in state and federal courts and before various administrative agencies in litigation involving claims arising from state and federal laws that govern the employment relationship. Additionally, Erica has extensive experience with workplace investigations, conducting investigations for Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, and public sector employers concerning claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, discrimination, and other inappropriate conduct.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Erica taught high school world history and led the 9th grade team as an Academic Advisor at Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy located in Gary, IN. Throughout her time in Gary, Erica focused on developing her students both inside and outside of the classroom and provided a safe space for all students to learn, grow, adapt, and impact their community. As such, Erica also coached the Girls and Boys Track and Field and Varsity Cheerleading teams at Lighthouse.

Erica holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Urban Studies from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. She is the author of a published article focused on explaining the intersection between the law and education titled, “Black Girl Magic: Due Process and the Disappearance of Black Girls in Public Education.” In 2023, she was recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 Black Lawyer in Illinois by the National Association of Black Lawyers.

Outside of work, Erica enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews, binge watching movies with her dog Legend, and testing out great food at local restaurants. Erica is also an avid Michigan football fan.

Academic Working Group Member

Retired Gary Community School Principal, Counselor and Teacher

Michael Collins has had the privilege of serving the students and families of Gary, Indiana for his entire professional career. Michael attended the University of Indiana Bloomington for his undergrad and immediately afterwards began his journey in the education field. Throughout his time in education, Michael has held many different positions including serving as a teacher for numerous grade levels, school counselor, assistant principal, high school dean of students and principal for Ivanhoe Elementary, Pulaski Middle School, Bernard C. Watson Boy’s Academy, and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy.

Throughout his career Michael has been focused on ensuring that scholars educated in Gary schools have had the highest quality education possible available to them, allowing them to be competitive in the global workforce and make a difference in their communities.

Michael has also earned his Masters Degree in Education and a Certificate in School Administration from Indiana University Northwest and a certification in counseling from Purdue University Northwest. When he’s not busy working to improve the education landscape in Gary, Michael enjoys jogging, playing basketball and ping pong, shooting pool, playing guitar, chess, swimming, and dining out.

Academic Working Group Member

National Louis University School of Education

Dr. Gloria McDaniel-Hall has a tenure of nearly 40 years as an educator. She currently serves as an associate professor in the Educational Leadership Department at National Louis University in Chicago. She has served as a principal, director of school quality and senior curriculum and instruction specialist with National Heritage Academies. She holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois (UIC) in Elementary Education, an M.B.A. from UIC, an M.A. from Concordia University (CU) in Ed. Leadership and an Ed.D. in Ed. Leadership. She is the author of two children’s books as part of her series devoted to social-emotional learning. Additionally, she is the founder of the Urban Legends podcast which celebrates the outstanding work taking place in our schools:

Ex-Officio Board Member

Executive Director - Steel City Academy

Katie Kirley’s love for Gary, Indiana began in 2007 when she was placed in the first cohort of Teach For America corps members in Northwest Indiana.  She has lived and worked in Gary ever since.  From 2007 to 2011, Katie taught middle and high school math at Lighthouse Academies before serving as the Director of Instruction and ultimately the Assistant Principal at Lighthouse.  From 2014 to 2016 Katie served as the National Director of School Leadership for Teach For America, a role in which she learned from many of the best schools around the nation while envisioning the school she would build in Gary.  Katie partnered with three other leaders to engage in a year-long community listening tour to design the model and education program for what would eventually become Steel City Academy.  From 2016-2017, Katie served as the school’s Founding Principal.  In 2018, she took on the role of Executive Director.  Under Katie’s leadership, Steel City Academy has grown into the only “A” school in Gary, Indiana and a place of joy, learning and love amongst staff, students and families.

Katie holds a BS in Psychology and Women’s Studies from Loyola University, an MA in Teaching and Curriculum from Indiana Wesleyan, and a Master of Education Leadership with a concentration in School Building Leadership from Columbia University.  She also completed the school leadership Accelerate Institute in Chicago from 2016-2019.  

Katie was honored as the Teach For America Chicago Northwest Indiana Inaugural School Leader of the Year in 2017.  Teach For All profiled Katie as a leader and Steel City Academy as a model school for their worldwide network in 2018.  BES will be partnering with Steel City as a model school for community co-design for future BES Fellows starting in the upcoming year.

Katie enjoys spending her time outside of work coaching basketball, exploring new restaurants and exploring the Indiana Dunes and beautiful beaches of Gary with her friends and family.