Team

100 Years’ Experience and We’re Still Learning

Learning Grove Solutions consultants have led in the education and workforce sectors for decades. We are school district superintendents, CEOs, and national presenters. We have the ear of Chambers of Commerce, local and state elected officials, and civic leaders. Though the most important role we play is as learners, from children, their families, and our robust set of workforce partners.

Dr. Kathy Burkhardt

Vice President, Workforce Development

I am fluent in the needs of the employer AND the employee!

Kathy Burkhardt

Dr. Kathy Burkhardt believes that people are best able to reach their full potential when they know their strengths and have access to the right supports to meet their goals. She is a natural convener of people, ideas, and resources, and she is at her best working together with others to solve sticky problems.

With 30 years of experience in top education and nonprofit leadership roles, including superintendent and Executive Director, Kathy leads NaviGo, Learning Grove’s college and career preparation program where she regularly partners with over 300 schools, businesses, and community organizations. Kathy brings expertise in workforce readiness, strategic planning, leadership development, and talent recruitment and retention. Kathy’s passion is cross-sector partnerships that align education and training with employers' needs. She is a recognized leader in education and workforce development.

Dr. Burkhardt holds a Doctor of Education from the University of Kentucky. She also serves as adjunct university faculty. Known for fostering partnerships and driving results, she strives to help organizations create sustainable talent pipelines, ensuring they remain competitive in a rapidly evolving workforce landscape.

What are Kathy’s superpowers?

Knowing the unique needs of the up-and-coming workforce.
Supporting businesses to find and keep talent.
Fostering productive relationships between schools and businesses.
Overcoming obstacles to be successful at work.
College and career coaching for youth and families.

Patti Craig

Vice President, Early Learning

I make sure the child and the family are at the center of effective program systems.

Patti Craig

Patti Craig approaches every dilemma with a balance of reflection and analytical thinking and she never forgets to take a learner’s mindset. For 35 years she has elevated early childhood education and mental health programs as a director, trainer, coach, presenter, and systems leader.

Patti earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Cincinnati and has completed graduate coursework in Leadership and Administration from the University of Dayton. Patti is the Vice President of Quality Improvement at Learning Grove.

Patti has seen it all. She began her career teaching preschool and kindergarten and advanced to become the director of non-profit and publicly funded early childhood programs. For the past 25 years, she has provided supervision and coaching to managers and directors of early childhood and school age programs in community partnerships with local school districts and mental health collaboratives. She has developed supervision plans for her own programs and has written and presented professional training in the area of supervision for the early childhood community in Ohio and throughout the country.

What are Patti’s superpowers?

Solving issues in talent and retention.
Implementing program and administrative systems that work.
Developing responsive approaches to support children’s social and emotional development.
Aligning classroom practice with curriculum and assessment systems.

Patricia Gleason

Chief Program Officer

Designing early learning environments is my thing!

Patricia Gleason

Patti Gleason is a major thinker and activist in early childhood education programs and systems. In the field for over 40 years, Patti began her journey at the University of Cincinnati, where she studied under accomplished researchers and authors June Sciarra and Ann Dorsey.

Patti began her career as a program director and was promoted over time to increasingly more senior level positions. For more than 30 years she led Cincinnati Early Learning Centers as the President & CEO before joining together with a longtime colleague to form the organization that is now Learning Grove. This move was bold and visionary and has unlocked new potential for the organization to refine core competencies in early learning and workforce development.

Patti is a known champion for children and is an expert in her understanding of child development, best practices, the business of early childhood education and advocacy on the state and local level. Patti is a member of the Cincinnati Preschool Promise Cost of Quality Committee, Groundwork Ohio, Solutions to End Homelessness’ Child and Youth Taskforce, and Southwest Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children. She is a founding member of the Consortium for Resilient Young Children, a community collaborative focused on early childhood mental health.

What are Patti’s superpowers?

Understanding what children need in their learning environment.
Placing families in the center of their child’s learning experience.
Leading through changing times.

Julie Witten Lloyd

Vice President, Advancement

I am a fundraising and strategic planning guru!

Julie Witten Lloyd

Julie Lloyd is known for asking the question behind the question because she never quite accepts the status quo. She blends analytical and relational styles and often employs her mantra “the greatest risk when faced with change is using yesterday’s logic.”

Julie has led education-based nonprofits for over 20 years, advancing organizations in complex and evolving environments. Her experience spans education, philanthropy, and public policy, and she excels at creating aligned relationship-based plans in those spaces.

Julie’s grit and resourcefulness were forged in the woods of Northern Michigan at a wilderness adventure camp. From there she led before and after school programs, created a professional development institute for child care providers, was Executive Director of a youth college preparation organization, and then raised over $15 million for nonprofit projects as a capital campaign consultant. In her current role at Learning Grove, Julie leads fundraising strategy and external consulting projects.

Julie is a student of her environment, but she comes with a BA in Psychology and Family Studies from the University of New Hampshire and a Graduate Certificate in Philanthropic Fundraising from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

What are Julie’s superpowers?

Making sense of sticky complicated problems.
Figuring out what to say when the stakes are high.
Developing the strategy that everyone feels good about and that wins.
Fund development for nonprofit organizations.

Learning Grove’s philosophy is influenced by major thought leaders in education and workforce. We credit the work of Dr. June Sciarra, Dr. Ann Dorsey, Anita Olds, Dr. Sally Moomaw, and the Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development as some of our greatest early learning influences. In the workforce arena, we use the works of YouScience and Karen Mapp of Harvard University’s Dual-Capacity Building Framework.