Who We Are

The Director of the Institute is Richard Lee Colvin. He joined the Institute in 2002 after many years writing about education for newspapers in California, including the Los Angeles Times, where he was the lead education writer. Before that he worked for the Oakland Tribune, the Hayward Daily Review and the Associated Press. He has a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. He has been a media fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University and in 2000 won a Knight-Wallace fellowship for mid-career journalists at the University of Michigan. He became director of the Institute in May 2003.

The Hechinger Institute's Associate Director is Liz Willen, who joined the  Institute in March 2006 form Bloomberg Markets magazine, where she was a senior writer focusing on higher education. Liz spent the bulk of her career covering the New York City public school system for Newsday, where she was a reporter for 11 years. She has won numerous prizes for education coverage, including a first place award for magazine writing in 2005 from the Education Writers Association. She also shared the 2005 George Polk Award for health reporting with two Bloomberg colleagues and took first place for beat writing in education from the New York Newswoman's Club in 2005. She is a graduate of Tufts University and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and an active New York City public school parent.

The Institute's Web Producer is Davin McHenry, who managed the web presence for The Bakersfield Californian for several years. As web editor he led The Californian's newsroom in changing to a web-first approach, and launched the breaking news blog that became one of the most popular parts of the paper's site. McHenry also served as assistant city editor and covered county government for The Californian. Prior to that he was a reported for The Hanford (CA) Sentinel. McHenry earned a B.A. in dramatic arts from University of California Santa Barbara.

Sarah Garland is the Institute's Education Reporter. Sarah has written for The New York Times, Newsweek, Newsday, The New York Sun, The New York Post, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, and Marie Claire. She was a 2009 recipient of the Spencer Fellowship in Education Reporting at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and received her master’s degree from New York University as a Henry M. MacCracken fellow. Her first book, Gangs in Garden City: How Immigration, Segregation and Youth Violence Are Changing America’s Suburbs, was published by Nation Books in July.

Matt Bruderle,Program Manager, joined Hechinger in January 2007. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Matt has eight years of experience in higher education administration, most recently as director of campus events at SUNY Purchase. Matt hasa master's degree in education from Colorado State University and earned his bachelor's degree in public relations and communications from Virginia Tech.

Salina Sanchez, Events and Operations Associate, joined the Hechinger Institute in August 2007 after graduating from SUNY Purchase. She majored in literature and founded a literary magazine while at Purchase. A native of the Bronx, Salina is the primary contact person for journalists and presenters, handling everything from travel arrangements to reimbursement checks.

Justin Snider, Research Fellow, began his work at the Hechinger Institute in September 2007. Justin teaches undergraduate writing at Columbia University, where he is also a Ph.D. candidate in Politics and Education. His research interests include school reform, press coverage of education, urban politics and transatlantic relations. Previously, Justin taught high school English and advised student publications in the United States, Austria and Hong Kong. A California native, Justin is a graduate of Amherst College, the University of Chicago, the University of Vienna and Harvard.

Janet Ellis, Assistant to the Director, has over 15 years experience supporting principals in investment banks, arts organizations and start-ups. She is also an well-respected classical voice teacher and coach, and performs regularly around the New York metro area. A native of Austin, Tex., Janet holds degrees from Southwest Texas State University and the University of North Texas.