Our Leadership Staff

Jamal Berry is Educare DC’s President and CEO. In 2013, Mr. Berry began his career with Educare DC as an infant and toddler Mentor Teacher, later becoming the school director and then vice president of programs. Over the years, he has applied his knowledge of leadership and early childhood development to steer Educare DC to earning high quality program ratings and to earning accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Mr. Berry is an advocate for young children as well as for early childhood educators.

Mr. Berry earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pedology from Bowie State University. At George Washington University, he earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and a Specialist of Education degree in Leadership and Early Childhood Special Education. Mr. Berry currently serves as the vice president of the Region III Head Start Association and the chair of the DC Head Start Association. In 2018, Mr. Berry was named a PBS Early Learning Champion, and he is a 2019 UCLA Head Start Management Fellow. Also in 2018, he presented on The Importance of Leadership at the Annual International Education Exhibition and Forum in Saudi Arabia. He is a contributor to New America’s blog Moving Beyond False Choices for Early Childhood Educators and most recently was featured on Gloria Riviera’s Podcast No One is Coming to Save Us. Mr. Berry believes wholeheartedly that if everyone does a little, no one has to do a lot. He is passionate about the future of early childhood education and is focused on having a lasting impact on the lives of early childhood professionals and families with young children. Educare DC is proud to have such passionate leadership, which allows us to inspire, create, and grow professionals and programs.

Barbara Ledyard joined Educare DC in August 2020 as vice president of finance and administration. In this role she serves on the senior leadership team with direct responsibility for finance, human resources, procurement and compliance management. With 20 years of experience in nonprofit administration, Ms. Ledyard brings non-profit expertise in administering federal contracts, fiscal oversight, outcomes measurement, capacity building, operational processes, training and technical assistance. Her work has intentionally centered around anti-poverty programming and she is an advocate of two-generational approaches to reducing poverty. Prior to her current position, Ms. Ledyard served as senior program manager with the Housing and Homeless Division of Catholic Charites, ensuring fiscal, operational, and administrative program compliance of permanent supportive housing programs.  Prior to Catholic Charities, she served as project director at the Community Action Partnership providing fiscal oversight of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program which focused on housing homeless veterans and their families.  As part of this role, she also assisted with the coordination and provision of training and technical assistance to a national network of over 1,000 Community Action Agencies.  Ms. Ledyard also previously served as senior support manager with Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency where she ensured Head Start program compliance with Federal Performance Standards.  Her past experiences also include leading agency-wide initiatives centered on community needs assessments, program evaluations, racial equity, community collaborations, and strategic planning.  Ms. Ledyard earned both a Master of Science in Public Policy and Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Jackson State University, Jackson, MS.   

Ronnell Nathaniel joined Educare DC as our vice president of programs in December 2022. Previously, she served as vice president of early learning support and transitions for Acelero Learning and was instrumental in shaping the Perth Amboy, NJ site into a flagship center. In 2013, Ms. Nathaniel was promoted to director of education, supporting the program’s District Collaboration Centers. While working at Acelero Learning, she worked in diverse roles ranging from director of monitoring and compliance to interim co-executive director that provided her with a comprehensive perspective on Head Start programs. In 2015, Ms. Nathaniel transitioned to the Shine Implement Team as director of early learning support and transitions and was later promoted to the senior director of early learning support and transitions. That experience honed her belief that high-quality early childhood education is critical for every child. With Shine Early Learning, she assisted with several startups and mentored several Implement Partners to successfully CLASS reviews. Given her proven knowledge and expertise, Ms. Nathaniel was appointed as the vice president of early learning support and transitions. She has presented at National Head Start Association conferences and the Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) panel Preschool: From the Capital to the Classroom. Ms. Nathaniel was also the recipient of the City College of New York’s early childhood education program award for “Outstanding Professionalism and Leadership” and “Excellence in Early Childhood Education.” Ms. Nathaniel holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Delaware State University and a master’s degree in early childhood education from the City College of New York.

Richard Nduma joined Educare DC as the Finance Director in September 2022. He brings over 18 years of demonstrated experience in non-profit financial management, including auditing, internal controls, fiscal operations, and budget management.  In his current role, Richard oversees internal financial operations for the organization and plays a critical role in partnering with the Executive Leadership Team in strategic decision making. 

Prior to joining Educare DC, Richard worked as a Senior Project Finance Manager at World Learning where he was the financial point person for various Education and Exchange projects totaling over $40 million. Richard oversaw the comprehensive execution of financial awards from proposal development to closeout.  His duties also included developing fiscal policies and procedures for new programs, financial reporting to donors, budget preparation for new awards and modifications to existing awards.  Additionally, Richard was responsible for review of project expenditures to ensure compliance and led program audits.  He also supervised, trained, and guided various levels of finance staff. 

Prior to his position at World Learning, Richard served as Finance Director at Counterpart International, a USDA funded Food for Education project in his native country of Cameroon.  He also previously served as Project Accountant at Counterpart International, Accountant at Heifer International, and Senior auditor at Otis & Associates, PC, Certified Public Accountant & Management Consultants.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Buea and a Master’s Degree in Accounting from Strayer University.