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
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 two Étoile students.
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.
Noor Iqbal
Director of Analytics at City Fund
Noor has over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, with a focus on education philanthropy, policy, research, and program evaluation. She has previously worked at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Houston and the Jameel Poverty Action Lab in Cambridge, MA. She is a graduate of Harvard University and the London School of Economics.
Jasmine Lynch
Founder of Come Bee Enterprises & Alternative Teacher Certification Training Mentor for Houston Community College
In her current role at Houston Community College, she mentors and prepares teacher interns to successfully obtain a Texas standard teacher certification. Jasmine is also the Founder of Come Bee, a wellness community that provides holistic health resources to adults and children. She holds a Master of Arts in Counseling from Prairie View A&M University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Southern University A & M College.
Lia Vallone
Executive Director at Spindletop Community Impact Partners, Inc.
