About Center NOVA
A partner for aligned advising systems
Center NOVA partners with districts and local organizations to strengthen postsecondary advising systems so guidance is clear, consistent, and shared across the people doing the work. We help teams clarify roles, coordinate partners, and use data to build simple routines that improve key milestones and reduce missed handoffs so more students graduate with a plan, a pathway, and real support to follow through.
AUDIT THE SYSTEM • ALIGN OWNERSHIP • BUILD ROUTINES THE LAST
F O R D I S T R I C T S + C O M M U N I T Y P A R T N E R S
Mission:
Center NOVA strengthens postsecondary advising systems by partnering with districts to align roles, coordinate partners, and build data-informed routines that make guidance consistent so more students meet key milestones and graduate with a plan they can act on.
Vision:
A future where every student graduates with a plan, a pathway, and coordinated support because the system around them is aligned and connected.
What Makes Us Different
Systems change
We don’t treat college and career advising as the role of any one person or group. We build leadership and shared ownership across teams so roles are clear, time is protected, and improvement is sustainable.
Data that
drives action
We turn messy data into clear visuals, priorities, and milestone routines teams actually use so leaders can see what’s working, where handoffs fail, and who is being missed.
Practical tools +
implementation
support
We don’t stop at recommendations. We equip teams with templates, facilitation, and routines that make follow-through possible so improvements show up in daily practice, not just plans.
Our Story
Center NOVA grew from years of partnering with school counselors, districts, and education networks. Across communities, we saw the same challenge: dedicated people doing meaningful work without a shared system to make guidance consistent.
When roles are clear, partners are coordinated, and data is usable, students experience coordinated messages and strong handoffs. Center NOVA exists to connect the dots. We help district teams map what’s happening now, identify the highest-leverage fixes, and build school counselor-led routines that improve key milestones so more students graduate with a plan and the support to follow through.
We help districts make guidance consistent—at scale.
Board of Directors
Diana Camilo
Erik Hines
Director
Director
Jim Larimore
Director
Jackie Nevarez
Director
Kim Oppelt
Secretary/Treasurer
Korynn Schooley
Director
Lezya Weglarz
Chair
Stakeholder Group Leads
David Ford
Statewide Partnerships
Bryan Howard
Community Based Organizations
Brian Kellison
Communication
Renae Mayes
School Counselor Educator Partnerships
Alicia Oglesby
School Counselor Partnerships
Andrew Schmitz
District Partnerships
Gregg Simmons
Career Education and Workforce Partnerships
Leadership Team
Cathy Longstreet
Chief Program Officer
Laura Owen
CEO and Founder
Partners
Tricia Hodge
Contractor, Research, Evaluation & Learning
Raeal Moore
Contractor, Systems Change and Improvement
Collaborators
Center NOVA works with a growing network of collaborators, including educators, researchers, and strategy partners, who support implementation, learning design, and tools development.
