The Advisory Board

The Final Mile Project Advisory Board members freely dedicate their time and energy to serving our community. Arizona students will always come first, and we make every decision with their best interests in mind.

Meet the Advisory Board

Wes Brownfield
Arizona Rural Schools Association
Biography

About Wes Brownfield

Wes Brownfield is a retired principal. He and his wife Cristina, the program specialist of OELSA at the Arizona Department of Education, have been active in Arizona Rural Schools Association for years and are deeply committed to helping in any way they can to support rural schools and teachers. Wes began his career teaching in Ajo, Arizona, and Saint Johns, Arizona. He became the principal at Coronado Elementary in St. Johns in 2000 where he remained until 2006. He became the educational services director at Lake Havasu USD and then principal at Chino Valley High School in 2011. Wes will tell anyone who listens that CVHS and ARSA are the two best experiences he has had in education. He and Cristina have five children and four cats!
Close

Tim Carter
Yavapai County School Superintendent
Biography

About Tim Carter

Tim Carter grew up in southern Arizona. He graduated from Tombstone High School, and he attended Glendale Community College prior to receiving a bachelor of science degree from Grand Canyon College and a master of arts in secondary educational leadership from Northern Arizona University. Tim completed the requirement for an Arizona Superintendent Certificate at the University of Phoenix.

Tim started teaching and coaching in 1973 at Alchesay High School in the White Mountains. In 1977, he and his wife Linda moved to southwestern Arizona where he taught and coached at Antelope High School. The Carters moved to Prescott in 1979, where Tim taught American government and introduction to law at Prescott High School while coaching track, cross country, and the mock trial team. Tim went on to become the principal at Prescott High School.

The board of supervisors unanimously appointed Tim as the Yavapai County School superintendent, effective July 1, 2005. He ran successfully for the position in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2016. He is currently a candidate for re-election in 2020.

 In 2020, the Arizona Rural Schools Association inducted Tim into the hall of fame.

Close

Dick Foreman
ABEC Executive Director
Biography

About Dick Foreman

Dick Foreman brings to ABEC unprecedented knowledge, expertise, and credibility that he has built during his much-accomplished, 37-year career in public affairs and in developing public policy. He also brings a wide array of experiences, having served on business, education, and community governing and advisory boards throughout his career. His passion, however, is and always has been public education. 

After 27 years, Dick left a very successful career with Southwest Gas Corporation where he was the director of corporate public affairs—his “dream job”—to lead ABEC. At Southwest Gas, he was responsible for state and federal legislative affairs, special corporate and regulatory initiatives, franchise negotiations, state and municipal relations, and consumer and community affairs. Prior to Southwest Gas, he led the state legislative affairs for Salt River Project and also served as a research analyst for the Arizona House of Representatives, where he began his career in public policy. Throughout his distinguished career, Dick has created professional relationships with countless elected officials, as well as business and civic leaders at the local, state, and national levels.

No stranger to education, Dick served ten years as a governing board member for the Tempe Union High School District, and he also served on the school boards of two charter schools—Tempe Preparatory Academy and Great Hearts Academies. He understands that Arizona public schools need resources, and as such, has chaired/co-chaired 11 public school finance campaign initiatives (i.e. school bonds, M&O overrides) over the span of 25 years.

He is also an active leader in the business community, having served on the boards of the Arizona Tax Research Association and its foundation, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its foundation, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. He is a proven leader, respected by the business and education communities alike.

Dick graduated twice magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a bachelor of arts degree in history and a master of public administration degree. In his spare time, he is a community and contributing columnist for several local newspapers and has even authored and published a contemporary western novel, A Distant Fire. He enjoys basketball, writing children's short stories, hiking the White Mountains of Greer, Arizona, and exploring the coastline of Oregon with his wife Kate, three children, and four grandchildren.

Close

Glen Lineberry
Vice-Chair
Biography

About Glen Lineberry

Glen Lineberry is a second-career educator committed to reducing the gaps in rural education. He holds master's degrees in instruction and leadership and is ABD on his doctorate. Glen serves as principal and CTE director at Miami Junior-Senior High School and as director of the Arizona Student Opportunity Collaborative (AzSOC), a project connecting rural Arizona students with highly qualified teachers who can provide them with the courses needed for successful university matriculation. 

Close

Sean Rickert
Chair of the Consortium Board
Biography

About Sean Rickert

Sean is the superintendent of the Pima Unified School District and has been very active in ARSA for many years. He brings strength, leadership, and the perspective of eastern rural Arizona to the table. Sean's whole life has been about finding ways to help others learn. As a teenager, Sean started teaching swim lessons to toddlers. He would later teach youth to sail and adults to drive horses. It comes as no surprise that he found many ways to develop his love for education; first, he developed it as a teacher, later as an alternative school director, and now as a superintendent. Nothing gives Sean greater pleasure than watching others grasp new ideas that will help them become successful.
Close

Melissa Sadorf
Stanfield Elementary School District Superintendent
Biography

About Melissa Sadorf

Dr. Melissa Sadorf has been an educator for 30 years and is currently the superintendent of the Stanfield Elementary School District. Previously, she worked as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal in the Sierra Vista Unified School District. Melissa is an adjunct instructor for Northern Arizona University and for Central Arizona College. She serves on the Arizona State Board of Education's Professional Practices Advisory Committee and has held various leadership positions in a variety of organizations: Arizona Schools Administrators, AZ ASCD, Western Heritage Educational Program, and the Pinal County Schools Administration Association. Recently, Dr. Sadorf has begun to produce the Rural Scoop podcast, highlighting what is working in rural schools and communities. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband and spending time with her three grandchildren.
Close

Kristin Turner
Paloma Elementary School District Superintendent
Biography

About Kristin Turner

Kristin Turner is the superintendent of Paloma School District near Gila Bend, Arizona. She received her masters of education in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and her bachelors of science in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her time as superintendent of Paloma, she started a grant-funded preschool, won two blended learning grants, increased school enrollment and student achievement, developed community space on campus, and has started construction of a new school. She enjoys spending time with her husband, her two children and her pets, and tackling home remodeling projects.
Close

Nan Williams
Arizona Technology in Education (AZtea) Executive Director
Biography

About Nan Williams

Over the past 30 plus years, Nan has been a classroom teacher, an instructional technology coach, the director of educational technology for the Arizona Department of Education, director of technology for two urban school districts in the Phoenix area, and now fulfills the role of executive director for AzTEA. She also serves on the on the Arizona State Board of Education's Professional Practices Advisory Committee and the Arizona Department of Education Technology Task Force, Ed Tech Standard Revision, and Arizona Content-Area Organizations Committees. She believes that education is the great equalizer in our country and that it is our responsibility to prepare our students for any opportunity they wish to pursue.

Close