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Carol Quirk, Ed.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Carol is one of the founders and the CEO of MCIE. Prior to MCIE, Carol was the Executive Director of an adult services agency in Baltimore City, consultant to Philadelphia Public Schools, Early Intervention Specialist for MSDE, Director of Technical Assistance to Early Intervention Programs in North Carolina, and special education teacher in Connecticut. Carol served on the Board of Directors for TASH, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, and was appointed to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. She also served on the Executive Team for the SWIFT Center. She is the recipient of the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumna Award, the Top 100 Mid-Atlantic MBE Entrepreneurs, and the Brava! Award for Baltimore area executives who give to their community. Carol has brought MCIE’s practices to promote inclusive education to Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Viet Nam.
Email Carol: cqurik@mcie.org
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Barb Gruber, Ph.D.
Project Coordinator
Barb has worked at MCIE for over 25 years with a focus on systems change and building the capacity of school-based staff to include all learners. She also is currently a lecturer in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she teaches an inclusive practices course. Barb has brought several projects to MCIE, including training and technical assistance for schools and districts in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, and Arkansas, as well as a 5-year national technical assistance project for the Professional Development in Autism Center with the University of Washington.
Email Barb: barb@mcie.org
Sarah O'Rourke, MALS
Professional Learning Coordinator
Sarah supports MCIE’s professional learning through workshops for educators, data analysis, and research projects. Prior to joining MCIE, Sarah worked with the UNH Institute on Disability, supporting several federal and state grants with a focus on learners with emotional and behavioral challenges. She coordinated a randomized controlled study of an intervention called RENEW (Rehabilitation for Empowerment, Natural Supports, Education and Work) in high schools in Maryland, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Institutes for Educational Sciences (IES). Sarah’s deftness in data organization has been a gift to MCIE’s Self-Determination project with the University of Kansas, as well as many other projects.
Email Sarah: sorourke@mcie.org
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Betsy Tornquist, Ph.D
Secondary Transition Project Coordinator
Betsy coordinates the technical assistance on secondary transition services for youth with disabilities provided to local school systems in Maryland by MCIE. Before coming to MCIE, Betsy worked as a transition specialist in two school districts in the Washington Metropolitan area. She also was a Professional Development School Coordinator at the University of Maryland, where she taught in the College of Education and supervised University of Maryland students in their internships in local school districts. Through her work to support MSDE, Betsy’s emphasis has been on assessing and developing transition practices, inclusive higher education programs, transportation needs for youth, and training materials.
Email Betsy: etornquist@mcie.org
Mary Barnard
Accountant and Director of Finance
Mary joined MCIE in 2004. In conjunction with the CEO, she oversees and manages all aspects of MCIE’s financial functions, including the day-to-day accounting, budget development and management, and financial statement preparation. In addition, she helps manage and oversee daily operations and some aspects of human resources. Starting in public accounting at Ernst & Young, Mary has more than 36 years of accounting and financial management experience, with the last 22 years solely in the nonprofit sector.
Email Mary: accounting@mcie.org
Salimah Jasani, MS.Ed, MPAff
Professional Learning Facilitator; MSDE Performance Specialist
Salimah supports the Maryland State Department of Education as a member of the Access, Equity, and Progress team. In that capacity, she works with local school systems. She previously worked as a special education secondary English teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools, where she received Phi Delta Kappa’s Outstanding Early Career Educator award. She also served as an Education Policy Fellow in the Office of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, an Educational Equity Fellow in the Baltimore City Council, and a Strategy Team Leader in Baltimoreans for Educational Equity.
Email Salimah: sjasani@mcie.org
Steve Smith, Ed.D.
Project Coordinator
Steve coordinates the MCIE research partnership on the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) with the University of Kansas, conducts professional learning workshops, and provides technical assistance to schools in Maryland and Delaware. Previously, Steve was a special education paraprofessional, special education teacher, behavior specialist, and instructional coach. He is a member of the CAST National UDL Cadre. As a result of MCIE’s partnership with the Professional Fellows Program for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Steve provided training to university and school staff on inclusive education across several cities in China.
Email Steve: ssmith@mcie.org
Tim Villegas, B.A.
Director of Communications
Tim joined MCIE’s communications team in 2020, implementing MCIE’s communications and marketing plan, and leading MCIE communications through blogs, podcasts, social media, webinars, and product development. Throughout his prior sixteen-year career as a special education teacher, Tim advocated for the inclusion of learners with significant disabilities in general education classrooms and systems change in schools and districts; and spent three years as a district-level program specialist supporting learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional and behavioral needs, and intellectual disabilities. He founded Think Inclusive, now MCIE’s official blog.
Email Tim: tvillegas@mcie.org
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Kathi Foley, M.Ed.
Professional Learning Facilitator
Kathi first joined MCIE in its early years before leaving to work in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. She served on the MCIE Board of Directors from 2019-2020 and was glad to return to MCIE’s staff in 2020, where she has been leading professional learning workshops, consulting with school teams, and conducting an action research project related to provided specially designed instruction in virtual and hybrid classroom environments. Kathi taught at both the high school and elementary levels with a broad range of learners. She also served as a district resource teacher in two school districts with a focus on building the capacity of school staff to successfully plan for and include learners with significant disabilities.
Email Kathi: kfoley@mcie.org
Kayla Kingston, B.A.
Communications Specialist
Kayla joined MCIE's communications team in 2020, assisting with MCIE’s creative side by working on its social media presence and official blog, Think Inclusive. Before joining MCIE, Kayla interned with the National Conference for Community and Justice of Greater Dayton, the Council on Social Work Education, and Project EverGreen. Kayla's experiences have taught her the importance of inclusion, the beauty in building a diverse community, and the power in being a catalyst for intentional social change.
Email Kayla: kkingston@mcie.org
Nolan Taylor, M.Ed
Project Coordinator
Nolan coordinates MCIE’s online teaching and learning coursework, conducts workshops on inclusive education, and works on projects with the Maryland State Department of Education to advance the capacity of educators in Maryland to include children with disabilities. Before joining MCIE, Nolan was an elementary teacher in rural Oregon where he included learners with disabilities and provided training and support to other teachers in his district. He prides himself on dynamic student-led environments, equity in all discussions, humor, and supporting educators to be their best.
Email Nolan: ntaylor@mcie.org
Jeffrey Wyatt, M.Ed.
Secondary Transition Facilitator
Jeff joined MCIE to support the Maryland State Department of Education’s Secondary Transition priority, and through that work offers resources and technical assistance on secondary transition services to Maryland public schools. Prior to coming to MCIE, Jeff was an educational/transition specialist. Jeff is a strong advocate for individuals with disabilities achieving successful outcomes in areas of employment, education, training, and independent living.
Email Jeffrey: jwyatt@mcie.org