Blueprint Team
Laura Koenig
Senior Director of Community Solutions
For over 20 years, Laura Koenig has worked with families through direct child care, parent education, provider education, public policy, and advocacy. In her early career, Laura worked in child care as an infant teacher. She was also a Policy and Education Specialist through the Institute for Child Care Excellence, a community-wide initiative to improve access to quality, affordable child care. Before joining E3 Alliance, Laura coordinated the Parents of Newborns project at Family Connections, providing education and outreach to over 7,800 new families annually.
Laura holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School at The University of Texas, where she focused on child and family policy. She also earned a bachelor’s degree, Plan II, Cum Laude, from The University of Texas of Austin with a concentration in Psychology.
Naya Brown
Collective Impact Associate
With a background in Internal Communications and Social Media Management, Naya brings a dynamic perspective to the E3 Alliance team.
Naya holds a master’s degree in Global Communications from The American University of Paris and a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Sam Houston State University.
Nwando Clyburn
Blueprint Specialist
Nwando has nearly 20 years of experience in the field of education. She began her career as a primary grade teacher and continued to serve in a variety of roles throughout her career. Nwando has served as a secondary Master Reading Teacher, elementary Reading Specialist, literacy coach, a Reading Academies Cohort Leader, district level early literacy specialist, and a director at the Texas Education Agency. She brings in-depth knowledge of the Science of Teaching Reading and Early Childhood to this position. Nwando earned a Bachelor of Science Interdisciplinary Studies from Prairie View A&M University. She also holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction-Literacy Studies from the University of Texas Arlington.
Heather Salaz
Director of Strong Foundations
Heather brings more than 20 years of experience to the E3 Alliance team as an effective instructional leader in managing teams, programming, professional development, and training, as well as mentoring, coaching, and teaching.
Her seasoned career in public education spans from Central Texas school districts to regional- and state-level administration. She served at the Texas Education Agency and Education Service Center Region 13 in various statewide initiatives focused on transforming systems to ensure equity and excellence for all students.
She holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education with a focus on second language acquisition from Texas State University and a Principal Certificate from Region 13.
Lauren Thomas
Director of Collaborative Action
Lauren first started working in education as a High School Programs Coordinator at Austin Community College. Her role was part of a nationwide initiative funded by the Department of Labor to increase the local workforce. In this role, she helped expand these workforce efforts into the local area high schools to train students in information technology, health sciences, and building trades.
Previously, she served three years as the Director of Business Development for a small business.
She holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma.