Leadership and Partners

Leon Aragon, LCSW

Leon has worked in state, medical, school based, and clinical outpatient & inpatient social work field since 2010 in urban, rural, and Tribal settings serving several populations to include: Native Americans, Hispanics, Immigrants, Children, Adolescents, Adults, Elders, Veterans, Developmentally Delayed, Individuals with TBI, and Reintegrated Citizens with individual, couple, family, and group therapies along with strategic community prevention work as a clinician, case manager, presenter, program director, and grant writer.

Cindy Myers, LCSW

Cindy has worked in residential, and clinical outpatient social work field since 2010 in urban, rural, and Tribal settings serving several populations to include: Native Americans, Hispanics, Immigrants, Children, Adolescents, Adults, Elders, Veterans and
Reintegrated Citizens with individual, couple, family, and group therapies along with strategic community prevention work as a clinician, case manager, presenter, program director, grant writer, deputy director.

Together with Leon Aragon, she has started, developed, and implemented intervention and prevention frameworks; implemented SAMHSA sponsored services for Indigenous and Native Elders, Children, and Families to address Trauma at varying levels; and written for and been awarded over 10 million dollars of program development.

Dirk A. Butler, MS

Dirk is the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Policing Equity. He has more than 20 years of strategic management and leadership experience within the public and private sectors, building successful and sustainable programs and policies for children, families, and communities throughout his career. Dirk joins CPE from the United Way, National Capital Area where, as Vice President of Community Engagement and Impact, he developed the organization’s overarching strategic vision and oversaw the management of programming. Prior to that, Dirk held a senior role at the Annie E. Casey Foundation and served as a senior policy director in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama Administration. Earlier in his career, Dirk founded The Opportunity Institute, a Chicago-based research and consulting firm that served as a conduit between academic research institutions and vulnerable communities.

Dirk is completing a Ph.D. in Social Service Administration and Research from the University of Chicago. He received his Master of Social Work degree from Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, and his bachelor’s degree from Hunter’s College, CUNY, in New York. He lives in Maryland with his three children.

Margaret Flynn-Khan, MS

Margaret is a founding partner of Mainspring Consulting, a national consulting firm that works with foundations, policymakers, and state and community leaders to design effective investments for families and communities. She has provided training and technical assistance to hundreds of public and private leaders around the country focused on financing and sustaining effective initiatives. To support this work, Margaret has conducted research and produced publications exploring funding sources and financing strategies to support education, youth development, prevention and child welfare initiatives. She is a former Practice Group Leader for Vulnerable Children and Youth at The Finance Project, a national policy research and technical assistance organization. Margaret holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut.

Roberto Gonzalez

Bitten by a Radioactive Spider, Roberto had to learn very early... With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. In Providence, Roberto uses his extra-ordinary powers to empower the youth. Roberto founded STEAM Box, where the youth are the boss. He develops STEAM programs based entirely on their interests. Their victories have reached outer space, ridden self-made hover-boards, developed apps, videos, websites and virtual reality, and kept their school open in the face of adversary. His favorite part: hiding the learning in all the fun. All this, and he smells like peaches.

Susan Follett Lusi, PhD

Sue has worked in both urban and suburban settings, and in practice, policy, and research, during her over 30-year career. She has led Mass Insight Education & Research for six years. Prior to joining Mass Insight, she most recently served as Superintendent of Schools in Providence, R.I., where she was credited with increasing student achievement and opportunity. Most notably, she improved graduation rates as well as reading proficiency scores for Grades 4 and 11, particularly among English Language Learners. Sue was a champion for Providence students. To enhance their college and career readiness, she and her team increased Advanced Placement, Career and Technical Education, and dual credit offerings in all high schools, as well as established partnerships with institutions of higher education. Sue also collaborated with the Providence School Board and Providence Teacher’s to develop board policy and teacher contract language supporting increased school autonomy.

Sue previously served as Superintendent of Schools in Portsmouth, R.I., Chief of Staff for Providence Schools and Assistant Commissioner for the Rhode Island Department of Education. She started her career at Brown University working for the Coalition of Essential Schools and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, as well as serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Taubman Center for Public Policy.

Sue is the author of The Role of State Departments of Education in Complex School Reform (Teachers College Press, 1997). She holds a B.A. in Economics and a M.A. in Teaching Social Studies from Brown University, and a M.P.P. and Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University.

Winsome Stone, MS

Winsome is a senior executive at the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families and a longtime resident of Providence. She works to ensure Rhode Island's most vulnerable families get the support and resources they deserve. Winsome has a BA in sociology and a minor in Criminal Justice from Clark University, in Worcester MA, and a MS in Administration of Justice from Salve Regina, in Newport RI.