ELITE Co-Founders

  • Dr. Ramona Bishop, a Bay Area native, is a dedicated administrator, scholar, and activist with over two decades of experience in education. She is the visionary/owner/CEO of ELITE Public Schools, a charter school network founded in 2019 to bridge the opportunity gap for black and brown students. Bishop holds degrees from UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, Cal State East Bay, and University of the Pacific. Her research and publications primarily focus on improving educational outcomes for marginalized students, with a dissertation on leadership strategies for enhancing academic achievement among African-American students.

    Bishop is a distinguished advocate who has held leadership roles on various boards and commissions. She is a past president of the California Association of African-American Superintendents and Administrators, where she received prestigious awards for her efforts in rebuilding the organization. Notably, she was appointed by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to a task force focused on addressing equity issues in school attendance, alongside esteemed judges, educators, and community leaders. Currently, Dr. Bishop serves as the Vice-President of the Black in Schools Coalition, working to ensure academic success for Black students in California. Moreover, she was recently elected President of the Community Democratic Club in Solano County, one of the largest democratic clubs in the area. Throughout her career, Dr. Bishop has been recognized with several awards, including Runner-Up for District Teacher of the Year in the Oakland Unified School District, Regional Superintendent of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators, National Administrator of the Year by the Coalition of Community Schools, and the Ida B. Wells Risk-taker Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators.

    Dr. Bishop's exceptional achievements in serving predominantly Black, Brown, and low-income communities are a testament to her impactful work. From receiving the Governor's Performance Award for driving a significant academic improvement (122 point increase) at Anna Yates-Emeryville, her first principal position, resulting in $10,000 bonuses for each staff member, to achieving notable increases in enrollment, attendance, graduation rates, academic performance, and college acceptance, while reducing suspensions, expulsions, and chronic absenteeism in the Vallejo City Unified School District (her second superintendent position), as evidenced by the California State Dashboard.

    Dr. Bishop leads a groundbreaking institution dedicated to closing the achievement gap for historically underserved, particularly, Black and Brown students. ELITE stands out as the first charter school approved by the Solano County Office of Education and the first black-owned and operated charter school in the county. In addition  to founding ELITE, Dr. Bishop is a renowned educator who has taught at UC Davis and Sacramento State, engaging students at both the undergraduate and doctoral levels. She is a sought-after speaker, having presented at prestigious events such as summer institutes at Georgetown University, the Parent Teachers Association conference, and the Association of California School Administrators Superintendents Academy. Her expertise led her to be a featured speaker at the White House during the Obama administration, addressing national leaders on issues related to disproportionate school discipline.

    Beyond her professional accomplishments, Dr. Bishop cherishes her role as a wife and mother of two daughters. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading, writing, traveling, spending quality time with loved ones, and unwinding by the water.

  • Alana J. Shackelford is an educational leader. Professionally, she has worked in the field of education since 1997. She has over 20 years of specialized experience and expertise in teaching and school-site administration.

    She is and has been the President/Chief Executive Officer of Ms. A’s Tutoring Service, Inc. Her company is the solution to building children’s self confidence through literacy and mathematics. Ms. A’s ensures that each student has a personalized learning plan that ultimately leads to student success.

    During her tenure at the Vallejo City Unified School District, Dr. Shackelford was promoted to the position of Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement. As a director, she was responsible for the district-wide implementation of Full Service Community Schools (FSCS), in addition to overseeing the structure and development of the Wall-to-Wall Academies (W2W) at each of the comprehensive high schools.

    She also developed partnerships with parents, the business community, and relevant government agencies in order to provide school sites with the support they need. Dr. Shackelford was also responsible for supporting school sites in building positive school cultures. She lead the school district in implementing their Integrated Intervention System-which includes Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, Restorative Justice and Trauma Informed Care.

    Dr. Shackelford is a graduate of St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School. After high school she attended Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma; where she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology/Pre-Med.

    She continued her education receiving a Master’s Degree in Education & Administration and Policy Studies from California State University, Sacramento.

    Dr. Shackelford graduated from St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California with a Doctorate in Educational Leadership.

  • Ms. Reyes has over a decade of experience working in close partnership with various community and youth adult partnerships. She brings a host of facilitation skills and leadership in developing community and school partnerships, and innovative design of new programs. Ms. Reyes has extensive experience working with community-­based organizations to strengthen their capacity to support young leaders, engage boards of directors/administrators, develop and implement strategic plans, design and implement effective leadership, and provide training in fundraising, staff development, program evaluation and planning.

    Ms. Reyes previously served as the Program Director of Community School Partnerships for the UC Davis School of Education. She has the proven ability to develop strategically effective professional development and technical assistance for diverse communities and stakeholders. In addition to her experience working with schools, bel has also presented at numerous national conferences, led various diverse and well experienced teams around various research-­focus efforts, and dedicated time toward juvenile justice efforts and systems change initiative both at a local and statewide level.

    Having been born in Sacramento, California, bel brings her unique dedication to working with communities of color, schools, families and youth throughout the Sacramento Region. One of bel’s special core values is working with the Spanish Speaking families, communities and youth, developing their capacity to be educational advocates. Born to immigrant parents from Guanajuato, Mexico, and a mother herself, bel values the contributions that culture, language, and identity have on education and community.

    bel earned a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento with a concentration in Chicano/a Studies. She is currently in process of earning a Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California, School of Education Rossier program in Organizational Leadership.