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Meet Our Staff
Our work is currently fueled by the passion of our qualified, dedicated staff, including:
• Kameron Holloway Perez-Verdia, CEO
• Anishia Elbie, Program Coordinator
• Annette R. Erickson, Executive Assistant/Board Liaison
• Nicole Lebo, Director of Education Programs
• Lindsay Neenan, Career Explorations Program Coordinator
• Tonio Verzone, Training and Development Manager
Kameron Holloway Perez-Verdia, CEO
Kameron Holloway Perez-Verdia was born in Alaska and raised in the Inupiat village of Point Barrow. He graduated from Barrow High School, and then went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in communications, with an emphasis in human resource management and professional training, from the University of Puget Sound. He also holds a master’s of business administration, with an emphasis in executive leadership, from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
Perez-Verdia brings 16 years of experience in the nonprofit and educational field to Avant-Garde. He has held senior leadership positions for Alaska-based organizations including Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Catholic Social Services, Charter College and Alaska Pacific University. Perez-Verdia is also the former executive director for the Family and Intercultural Resource Center in Dillon, Colo., and former senior vice president for Girl Scouts of Colorado. Perez-Verdia, along with his wife Monica and daughter Isa, recently returned to Alaska to assume the CEO position at Avant-Garde.
Anishia Angasan Elbie, Program Coordinator
Learning is life-long – that is one the core principles passed down to Anishia Angasan Elbie from her parents, Trefon Angasan, Sr. and Vera Kie Angasan. That philosophy has been Elbie’s driving force, even as it took 30 years after high school graduation for her to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska.
The desire to learn more, this time in pursuit of a master’s degree in rural development, will continue to enable Elbie to practice good citizenship, while remaining a strong advocate for the protection of her indigenous Sugpiaq Aleut values.
Elbie lives in her home village of South Naknek with her husband, Jeff. They are the proud parents of Jeff, Jr., in whose footsteps Elbie followed when earning her bachelor’s degree.
Annette R. Erickson, Executive Assistant/Board Liaison
Annette Ruthkoutchak Erickson is a proud Inupiaq, and was raised in Unalakleet, Alaska, a coastal village of around 800 people. She earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2007.
From the age of 18, Erickson has focused her career exclusively on nonprofits, serving in the public assistance and public health fields. She has worked for many organizations, including Rural Student Services, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, and the State of Alaska. She is happy to be utilizing her experiences to benefit Avant-Garde and its mission of improving education in rural Alaska.
Erickson enjoys reading, writing and listening to the sounds of the ocean. She married her best friend Ryder in 2006, and they have two perfect dogs. Their family will soon include a little baby girl.
Nicole Lebo, Director of Education Programs
Originally from New Jersey, Nicole Lebo most recently lived in New York City, where she headed teams in more than a dozen international offices for the Knopf Doubleday Group, a division of Random House.
Primarily, though, Lebo joined Avant-Garde as an educator. She earned her master’s in English education through the New York City Teaching Fellowship, with funding from Teach for America. There, she taught high school English in the South Bronx, with a focus on preparing underperforming students for the Regents Exam – New York’s equivalent to the HSGQE. Lebo also taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in the U.S., South Korea and the Czech Republic. Additionally, Lebo chaired the English and ESL departments at a boarding school in New York state, where she aligned the school’s writing curriculum with state standards.
She is thrilled to be here in Anchorage and enjoys cooking, charcoal drawing, reading, watching movies and hiking.
Lindsay Neenan, Career Explorations Program Coordinator
Lindsay Neenan was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colo. She graduated from the University of San Diego in California with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Neenan earned her teaching credentials specializing in cross-cultural, language and academic development (CLAD) and English as a second language (ESL).
After teaching in a literacy program at an inter-city high school in San Diego, Calif., Neenan joined the U.S. Peace Corps. She served two years in the Republic of Kiribati (Pacific Islands) as an ESL teacher and primary school teacher trainer. After completing her service, she traveled the world extensively, and later moved back to Colorado to earn her master’s degree in global social and sustainable enterprises at Colorado State University.
Neenan was the associate director at an early education facility in Girdwood, Alaska before becoming part of the team at Avant-Garde. She is excited to be working with Avant-Garde and loves Alaska!
Tonio Verzone, Training and Development Manager
“Education for life” sums up Tonio Verzone’s philosophy of education. He points to a childhood trip to visit his dad in Bethel, Alaska as a pivotal point in his development. Here, Verzone witnessed the strength of culture and community. He later realized the importance of connecting education with the lives and realities of students. He developed a passion for critical pedagogy, experiential learning, and traditional ways of knowledge sharing. His background is rooted in adult education, secondary language acquisition, community organizing, and international educational development.
Verzone’s formal education took place at Alaska Pacific University and Columbia University, but his primary education has come from sitting, listening and working with everyday people. He has spent the last 10 years as an education and social justice advocate in rural communities around the world.
Using popular education and participatory research methods, he supports communities to analyze and act on issues affecting their lives. While abroad, Verzone focused on developing environmental education projects, adapting and localizing curriculum, and facilitating participatory development workshops.
He has lived and worked in Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Lao, Mongolia, Iceland and Ecuador. Verzone’s domestic experience includes working on education in Alaska and Appalachia, as well as urban education in New York City and Washington, D.C. He has taught at the middle school, high school and adult education level. Verzone is thrilled to be home in Alaska.
