Meet Our Team

Melina Wright is the Assistant Director for P-20 Engagement. She also serves as the Director of the Illinois CTE Project and the Migrant Education Program within NIU’s Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. In this role, Melina coordinates and collaborates with the field, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) team members and others to execute professional development, resource creation and ongoing improvement efforts for educators and students within Illinois.

Previously, Melina was the Project Manager and Outreach Coordinator in the Illinois Interactive Report Cards Office at NIU. In that role, she managed several projects, including redesigning the My Data Dashboard tool, previously Ed360, that assists districts in better using and understanding their data to improve decision-making. Before joining NIU, Melina worked with the Chicago area Illinois Regional Education offices as Director of Implementation and Advocacy. She spent 10 years with ISBE as the Division Administrator and Federal Liaison. There, she oversaw the creation of the ESSA State Plan and managed the Title I Department, which provided over a billion dollars in grants to districts across Illinois.

Melina considers herself a public servant and strives to ensure data and stakeholder feedback drives programmatic decisions. In all aspects of her work, she seeks to make the work being done at the local level easier and thereby improve outcomes for students. She earned her law degree and a master's degree in Education Law from Franklin Pierce Law School in New Hampshire and subsequently worked as a lobbyist for the National PTA in Washington, DC. Melina’s diverse experiences with education law and policy make her a skilled educational advocate and program leader in supporting students and educators in the state of Illinois.

Jason Klein is the Senior Director of Learning Partnerships at Northern Illinois University (NIU). This role includes work in both the NIU College of Education and the NIU Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. In this role, Jason co-facilitates the Illinois P-20 Network and coordinates partnerships with school districts, community colleges and other organizations for both degree programs and other professional learning. Additionally, at NIU, Jason has worked as a member of the P-20 Research and Data Collaborative and with the Illinois Interactive Report Cards office.

Prior to working at NIU, Jason served for nearly 25 years in demographically diverse Illinois public school districts as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent. His instructional focus has been on transforming learning opportunities for all students so that they benefit from differentiated and challenging authentic problem-based learning. Jason has focused on implementing democratic models of school improvement informed by modern principles of project management, and he has been a leader in using technology to innovate assessment and instruction. Jason has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree and Ph.D. in educational administration from Illinois State University, and an Ed.S. in educational administration from NIU.

Kristin is the director of NIU STEAM. She leads efforts to support interdisciplinary STEAM education and technology integration through regional and statewide professional development programs and annual events such as the STEAMing It Up Conference.

Kristin also works with state partners to support educators as they use data, technology and open educational resources to support student success. For over 15 years, Kristin has enjoyed helping in-service and pre-service teachers become fearless with technology while they explore innovative ways to impact student learning. She is a former industrial engineer with a M.S. in engineering and an Ed.D. in instructional technology from NIU.

Pettee Borissova is a graduate of NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Department of Engineering Technology where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial management. She is the director of Continuing and Professional Education at NIU. She has extensive experience in customer relations and program management. Pettee also serves as the director of the National Safety Education Center at NIU, a non-profit organization authorized by OSHA to deliver occupational safety and health training to public and private sector workers, supervisors and employers.

As the former STEM Outreach Program Coordinator of NIU’s Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development division, she managed the operations of over 500 STEM summer campers and over 5000 school program participants on an annual basis. Borissova was the program manager for the largest STEM festival in the Midwest – STEM Fest - planning the coordination and logistics for over 200 exhibitors, 800 volunteers and 7000 visitors from around the country.