“I want to focus on attendance, we are in the top 5 schools for attendance issues.”

Attendance affects test scores, grades, graduation rates, and anything else having to do with educating the students. Devon wants to focus on a competitive curriculum to bring students back to the district.

She wants to focus on our special education programs to further tighten how they are administered and also to provide opportunity for us to recognize that some characteristics of special education needs stem from trauma and what can we do to best assist our students in being able to learn in a healthy and safe environment.

Devon has always had a passion for housing and real estate. In 2000 she started her career issuing title and mortgage insurance policies and closing loans. When the mortgage industry collapsed in 2009, she found herself at a local non-profit working with individuals in foreclosure. It was here, where she was helping with some of the very loans that she had conducted the closing on, that she discovered her love for helping others. The transition from the complications of tangled titles and real estate transactions was an easy switch to the entanglements of mortgage foreclosure. As foreclosures began to taper, she found herself on another path, working in homeless services.

When Devon first started operating the homeless programs at Auberle she was the sole employee working with a single housing program. Under her leadership the department has grown to over 8 programs that serve nearly 300 families annually.

She has a Masters in Public Policy and is currently at the dissertation stage of her Doctorate degree. Devon also serves as the facilitator for the Penn Hills Partnership and its steering committee.

She is also a member of the Mon Valley Providers Council, the Allegheny County Local Housing Options Team, the Homeless Advisory Board, the Homeless Providers Council, and on the board of the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation.

After several years of teaching courses in the landlord series for Omicelo Cares, Devon also accepted a position at the organization as the Director of Education. Community development and engagement through collaboration are at the heart of each role she serves.