Erin Weierbach
Youth Empowerment Coordinator
Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership (PEAL) Center
Erin Weierbach is the Youth Empowerment Coordinator for the PEAL Center. Erin facilitates connections and relationship building through the Transition Discoveries Initiative and helps to empower young people, families and stakeholders through interactive learning opportunities and technical assistance. Ms. Weierbach has worked with people with disabilities for more than 15 years to support them in achieving their goals and discovering their potential for success. Erin has been a champion for the youth-led, youth-driven model and has developed and facilitated youth programming in various roles in her career. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Community on Transition leadership team and contributes to planning and facilitating transition related activities including the Pennsylvania Community of Practice Transition Conference. What she loves most about the work she does with Transition Discoveries is providing interactive opportunities for young people to learn how to discover the skills and tools they already have to create sustainable change in their communities.
Hillary Mangis
Educational Consultant
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistant Network (PaTTAN)
Hillary Mangis is an Educational Consultant at PaTTAN Pittsburgh, where she co-leads the Secondary Transition initiative for the state. She also serves on the School Psychology, and Intensive interagency initiatives. Dr. Mangis’ previous work experiences include serving as psychologist for Early Intervention/DART at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. In addition, she served as contracted school psychologist for West Allegheny and district school psychologist for Carlynton. Dr. Mangis joined the team at PaTTAN in 2017, following service as the Coordinator of Special Education and Student Services for the Carlynton School District.
Jacki Lyster
Educational Consultant
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistant Network (PaTTAN)
Jacki Lyster is an Educational Consultant at PaTTAN with over 30 years of educational experience. She co-leads Secondary Transition in Pennsylvania as well as the State Personnel Development Grant, Middle School Success: The Path to Graduation. Through her involvement supporting educational leaders, youth and young adults, teachers, families and caregivers, she has developed a unique expertise in creating interactive learning experiences that lead to lasting change. Jacki has been a part of the Transition Discoveries team since 2018 but also participated in the action research at the beginning of the project.
Joan Kester, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Special Education & Disability Studies
The George Washington University
Dr. Joan Kester is an Assistant Professor of Special Education & Disability Studies at the George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Development. She is the Director of the Interdisciplinary Secondary Transition Program, where scholarly practitioners learn evidence-based practices to become leaders. She is the Principal Investigator of the Transition Discoveries Initiative. Her research focus has been communities of practice, as well as action research, where youth, families, and stakeholders are engaged in action planning to improve transition practices. Joan receives national recognition for her work in the field of secondary transition.
Matthew Flanagan
Statewide Lead Data Scientist and an Educational Consultant
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistant Network (PaTTAN)
Matthew Flanagan is the Statewide Lead Data Scientist and an Educational Consultant for the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistant Network (PaTTAN). Prior to his work at PaTTAN, Matthew was a Senior Research Associate for the Transition Discoveries Initiative at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Within PaTTAN, Matthew serves as the project lead for the Transition Discoveries: Pathways to Competitive Integrated Employment Grant. Through direct collaboration with Dr. Joan Kester and the George Washington University, as well as state partners, this grant provided by the PA Bureau of Special Education and coordinated by PaTTAN, seeks to scale up the Transition Discoveries Initiative’s model of community-led, data-driven improvement to transition programs and services across the commonwealth.
