Jane Shirley has twenty-five years of experience in business, education and the arts, holding a master’s degree in education with extensive post-graduate work in systems thinking and structural consulting. Currently, she is a partner with Team Tipton, a consulting firm that works with teams and organizations to design and implement future-focused strategy.

Jane and her husband Dave are co-founders of Rattlebrain, the creative team that envisioned and opened a cabaret theater in the historic D & F Clocktower. They have one son who is currently in film school and who sometimes gets roped into running tech for one of their shows.

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Elise Topliss is a Policy and Performance Manager with the State of Colorado, Office of Economic Security. Elise earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services – High Risk Youth from Metropolitan State University of Denver, and earned a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. Elise is passionate about education and ensuring all children have access to safe and quality schooling, which includes minimizing the nutritional disparities among varying populations. Additionally, Elise is committed to ensuring professionals in the education field have resources and supports to be effective in their chosen field as well as have job satisfaction. Elise and her husband Jesse are the proud parents of two High Point Academy students.

Marcus Bratton is a Denver native with over a decade of experience in K-12 public education. Before joining the Colorado Education Initiative earlier this year as Director of Implementation and Partnerships, Marcus was a school administrator at a K-8 in Denver, and prior to that, a high school teacher in Aurora. His work has always been guided by his belief that public education should give every student the opportunity to create the lives they want for themselves. Marcus has been married for 14 years to his wife Krista, who is a Seventh Grade Teacher, they have a son (7) and a daughter (3).

Mirela Phillips has been living in the High Point (HP) community since 2014 with her husband and two children. She is a Healthcare IT professional for Cognizant Technology Solutions with over twelve years of consulting experience. Mirela enjoys welcoming new neighbors to HP and loves helping the families settle into their new community including highly recommending High Point Academy for preschool through 8th grade.