Our Team
Allison O'Neill, Chief Operating Officer
Allison O’Neill is responsible for operations of Ombudsman Educational Services and Spectrum Center Schools and Programs. She previously served as COO of Ombudsman. Under her leadership, Ombudsman grew from 65 programs in eight states to 141 programs in 20 states, the number of students increased to 12,000 a year and Ombudsman became the first organization of its kind in the country to earn district/system level accreditation by AdvancED, the world’s largest education community. Allison joined Ombudsman as a certified teacher in 1997 and served as regional manager, director of center operations and senior vice president of operations.
Gail Henderson, Chief Instruction Officer
Gail Henderson provides oversight, leadership and direction for all academic and behavioral programs to ensure high rates of student growth and achievement. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer of ESA’s Spectrum Center Schools and Programs, where she managed multiple school district partnerships, and designed and implemented evidence-based programs for students with special needs. As CIO, Gail developed ESA’s instructional framework, which includes aligning systems, processes, professional development and progress monitoring of all classrooms to ensure fidelity of practices. Gail has more than 30 years of experience, including leadership in special education and juvenile justice alternative education.
Chris Holmes,Vice President of Operations
Chris Holmes holds a master of science in human resource management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and a bachelor of science in communication, with an emphasis on public relations and advertising, from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis. Holmes joined Spectrum Center in 2000 as the human resources quality assurance coordinator. During his service with Spectrum, he has been promoted to the roles of human resources director, director of operations, assistant vice president of operations and now serves as vice president of operations. He is responsible for daily operations, supervision of school directors and legislative policy.
Marilyn Coronado, Vice President of Programs
Marilyn Coronado holds a master of arts in rehabilitation administration from North Texas University in Denton, Texas, and a bachelor of arts in sociology, with an emphasis on research, from Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio. She joined Spectrum Center in 1987 as the vocational specialist to open a supported employment program. She has served in various roles, including program coordinator, assistant program director, program director, director of development, assistant vice president of integrity assurance and is now vice president of programs. Coronado is responsible for school certification and accreditation, support of schoo ldirectors and program quality monitoring.
Lisa Britton, Vice President of Clinical Services and Integrity Assurance
Lisa Britton obtained a bachelor of science in psychology from the University of North Dakota and both a master of arts in psychology and a Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis on behavior analysis from the University of Nevada-Reno. Britton joined the Spectrum Center team in 2000 as a senior clinician. Since then, she has served as the clinical director and is currently the vice president of clinical services and integrity assurance. Her responsibilities include quality assurance, training, research, dissemination, and outreach services.
Mary Lengel, Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction
Mary Lengel earned her master’s degree in special education from Kansas State University. She holds California credentials in several academic subjects, special education and administration. She began her career as a teacher and has more than 25 years of experience in the field of education. Lengel has taught all grade levels (K-12) of students with varying disabilities, including students who are emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, moderately/severely handicapped and have autism. She has also held several administrative and management positions at Spectrum, such as education coordinator, regional director and director of educational services. Her true educational passions include implementation of intervention programs for special needs learners and assessing student progress. She has presented on numerous educational topics at state and national conferences and currently serves as vice president of curriculum and instruction for Spectrum Schools.
Amy Crye, M.S., BCBA, Assistant Vice President of Autism Services
Amy Crye holds a master of science in behavior analysis from the University of North Texas. For more than a decade, she has used her training in behavior analysis to design and implement effective educational and behavioral programs for students. Crye joined Spectrum in September 2000 as a consultant, working with multiple school districts. She then began supervising some of Spectrum’s autism programs and working to develop collaborative classrooms. Crye currently oversees all of Spectrum’s autism programs, working with the program directors, senior clinicians (campus behavior analysts), education coordinators (classroom supervisors), teachers, and classroom staff to assure quality programs for all students enrolled in these classrooms. In addition to training and coaching Spectrum staff, she provides training workshops for education professionals (behavior analysts, teachers, speech pathologists, etc). As part of her outreach services, Crye also provides training to parents, serves on Mt. Diablo’s Adult Education Advisory Committee for the Transition Options Program for Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome, and served as Chair of the 2010 STAR Conference (Service, Teaching, Advocacy and Research).