Carly Covic Ambler is the ESEA State Ombuds in Georgia and Senior Program Manager for Equitable Services and Consolidation of Funds. Carly was appointed Ombuds in February 2020. With 20 years in education, Carly has been with the GaDOE since 2012. Her work has focused primarily on school improvement and providing high-quality professional development to critical stakeholders.

Daphne Flentroy is the State Ombuds for Louisiana. She has over 20 years of experience in Federal Programs working with private schools. Daphne has been very successful in building effective equitable services programs and bridging the communication gap between LEAs and private schools. To date, the Louisiana Department of Education has not had any official informal or formal complaints regarding ESSA Act of 2015 equitable services program. As the State Ombuds, she created an Equitable Services Workgroup to assist with developing protocols for open communication/collaboration, as well as, a checklist and flexible timeline to promote workable and agreeable relationships between LEAs and private schools. As a part of the Federal Support Team for the Louisiana State Department of Education, she supports and provides federal guidance to both private schools and LEAs. Participants describe her presentations/sessions as informative, interactive, thought provoking, and passionate. Daphne serves on the National Ombuds Steering Committee.

Janette Newton has been the Private School Ombuds for the state of Oregon since January 2022. Over the last ten years, she has served in various roles in both public and private educational systems. Also included in her role at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), she serves as the state’s point of contact for private schools and facilitates the Private School Partnership, a working group of district coordinators, private school leaders and ODE officials. Janette is a member of the National Ombuds Steering Committee.