Our Lead Founder

Kayleigh Colombero, Lead Founder and Superintendent
Kayleigh Colombero is the Superintendent of Étoile Academy Charter School. She was part of the 2016 Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a rigorous, yearlong, comprehensive training program in urban charter school creation and leadership.
Growing up in a financially unstable home, Kayleigh experienced many personal challenges on her path to college. Luckily, Kayleigh had a few mentors that pushed her to succeed in the face of much adversity. She set her sights on Smith College, an elite private college, which she eventually attended on a scholarship.
Kayleigh has eight years of experience in education as a middle school and high school teacher, an instructional coach, a department chair, a team leader, and as the executive director of a youth-development nonprofit.
Our Board of Directors

Michelle He, Treasurer
Co-founder & College Admissions Director at To The Top International LLC
Michelle He (何瓯) is the co-founder and College Admissions Director of To The Top International LLC, an admissions consulting firm headquartered in Houston, TX, specializing in helping students from China to study at American high schools and colleges.

Emmanuel Enriquez
Community Liaison at Houston Health Department
Emmanuel Enriquez is the site administrator for a community center in the Gulfton area. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Rice University in Cognitive Science. Emmanuel is the first college graduate in his family and is the proud father of an Étoile student.

Alim Adatia
Director of Outreach at Strategists, LLC
Alim Adatia is the Director of Outreach Strategists, LLC, a global communications and public relations firm in Houston. He is also a partner at Outreach Cultural Intelligence training law enforcement to engage in communities and work towards better outcomes.
Rebekah Stone Guill
Director of Community Engagement at Smith Restaurant Group
Rebekah has over a decade of experience working in education in a variety of contexts, including teaching, curriculum design, instructional coaching, and professional development. She previously worked for KIPP Houston and led the expansion of Niroga Institute’s stress resilience programs into schools in Texas.