Tatiana is the Co-Founder of Catalyst Public Schools. Prior to launching Catalyst, Tatiana was the Head of Program at School Leader Lab, a school leadership development program in DC which she also co-founded. Tatiana served as the Bay Area Regional Superintendent for Aspire Public Schools for four years where she supported twelve schools in East Palo Alto and Oakland. As principal, her school increased its academic performance index by 150 points, more than three times the state average increase. She was awarded the National Title I Distinguished School Award for closing the achievement gap, an honor bestowed upon only 1 out of over 9,600 schools in the state. She began her teaching career with Teach for America in New Orleans and has also served as a social worker in Contra Costa County working on intensive family preservation cases. She is driven by her passion for justice in our country and how we can make individual contributions to change in our local context. She believes we each have a critical role to play, and that anything is possible in Washington––a state full of innovation and creativity. In her free time, she loves exploring the Puget Sound region with her family.