Education Task Force: Ohio Forum Panelist Biographies

Ohio Panelist Bios

Michael B. Coleman
Mayor, City of Columbus

Mayor Michael B. Coleman took office on January 1, 2000.  In the first year of his second term, Mayor Coleman continues to focus on clear neighborhood priorities and is getting results in his effort to build up Columbus as America's 21st Century City.  Committed to improving safety and quality of life in neighborhoods, bringing new vibrancy to downtown, creating and retaining jobs, and building partnerships to solve community challenges, the mayor is focused on making Columbus the best city in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.  Some top accomplishments of his tenure include: the creation of the Cap City Kids after-school program, which serves nearly 2,500 children; driving investment to create more than 6,600 new neighborhood homes and 3,000 new downtown housing units; engaging financial institutions to commit $3.5 billion in capital for urban redevelopment; and efforts to bring thousands of jobs to Columbus.  Prior to becoming mayor, Coleman served as president of Columbus City Council from January 1997 to November 1999, and as a Council member from February 1992 to December 1999.  Michael Coleman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1977, and earned his law degree from the University of Dayton Law School in 1980. 

Barbara Haxton
Executive Director, Ohio Head Start Association

Barbara Haxton is the executive director of the Ohio Head Start Association, a position she has held for eighteen years.  She has 28 years of experience working with Head Start. A former director of Head Start programs, Haxton is an expert in the fields of Human Resource Development, Organizational Development, Systems and Training Development and Design, and works with Head Start grantees across the nation in management systems and program enhancement. She is a partner with Dr. Timothy Nolan in the Academy for Leadership Effectiveness, which offers the prestigious Leadership Laboratory each summer in Vail, Colorado, sponsored by ChildCraft. Haxton holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in human resource development and is a certified trainer for The Human ElementÔ, based on the work of Dr. Will Schutz, and the Ned Herrmann Brain DominanceÔ theory.

Michelle Katona
Interim Coordinator, Early Childhood Initiative

Michelle Katona is the interim coordinator of the Cuyahoga County Family and Children First Council's Early Childhood Initiative.  Prior to this position, Katona served as program officer with the Council, adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and worked at Case Western's Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change.  Katona received a bachelor's degree in psychology and social work from Miami University and a master's in social science administration from the Mandel School of Applied Social Services, Case Western Reserve University.

Chris Stoneburner
Project Director, Build Ohio

Chris Stoneburner has worked in the field of early care and education for 30 years.  She holds a master's degree in child care administration and began her career as a child care center director.  From 1979 to 1988, she directed the Muskingum County Head Start Program.  Stoneburner has held several positions in state government, including work in child care licensing, in the publicly funded child care program, and as the first director of the Head Start Collaboration Project in the Office of Governor George Voinovich.  In 1993, she moved to the private sector, working on state-level early childhood policy and advocacy for the Children's Defense Fund-Ohio and KidsOhio.org.  In 2003, Stoneburner became the project director for Build Ohio, an alliance of groups and individuals working collaboratively on behalf of young children and their families.  Together, members work to design and implement a comprehensive, well-integrated early care and education system, available to all Ohio children from birth to five years.  The initial work of Build Ohio focuses on developing and communicating system innovations and advancing infrastructure improvements in professional development, standards and accountability, and building public will.

Charleta Tavares
Councilwoman, Columbus City Council

Charleta Bell Tavares is a committed public servant who has served as a member of Columbus City Council since 1999.  She has been elected to the Council twice. Prior to joining the Council, Tavares served a five-and-a-half year tenure in the Ohio General Assembly as the state representative in the 22nd House District.  Tavares was the first African-American female to serve in the state legislature from Franklin County, and the first African-American woman ever to hold a leadership position in the Ohio General Assembly (Minority Whip).  Prior to her terms in the legislature, she served as the chief of the Children's Protection Section in the Ohio Attorney General's Office. She also served four years as associate director of the Public Children Services Association of Ohio and as a legislative assistant and chief staff person to the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Ohio House Finance-Appropriations Committee.  Tavares is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and The Ohio State University.

John T. Taylor
Regional President, PNC Bank

John T. Taylor is president of the Ohio/Northern Kentucky region of PNC Bank, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group.  Taylor joined PNC Bank in 1984 in commercial banking.  Since that time, he has served in various management positions in credit and commercial lending, including as president of the bank's former Dayton Division and manager of corporate banking for the Ohio/Northern Kentucky region.  He was named to his current position in 2001.  Active in each of the communities where he has served, Taylor is currently board chair of the Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau, a member of the Steering Council and chair of the Strategy One Task Force of SUCCESS BY 6®, the Leadership Council of the Minority Business Accelerator, and the Board of Governors of The Metropolitan Club and the Tournament Players Club at River's Bend.  He is a member of the Cincinnati Business Committee, The Commercial Club, the board of trustees of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati Art Museum, and Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, and Chairman Elect of the United Way Board of Trustees.  Taylor is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he received both a bachelor's and a master's degree in business administration.

Susan Tave Zelman
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ohio Department of Education

Susan Tave Zelman has been the superintendent of public instruction for Ohio since 1999.  Under Dr. Zelman's leadership, the Ohio Department of Education created a mission for the state's educational system that has brought sweeping change through standards-based reform.  Zelman is working to raise expectations for all students by setting clear and high academic standards, strengthening schools and school districts with fiscal and human resources, and improving student performance through accountability. Before coming to Ohio, Zelman was deputy commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She served for six years in the Massachusetts Department of Education as associate commissioner of the Department of Education Personnel. She was an associate professor of education and chair of the Department of Education at Emmanuel College in Boston, while simultaneously holding a five-year appointment with the Education Technology Center of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Zelman received the National Science Research Opportunity Award for Women through Columbus Teachers College and has a doctorate in education, as well as honorary doctoral degrees in public education and the humanities.