Rural Schools Collaborative Welcomes Three New Board Members

Rural Schools Collaborative is honored and delighted to announce the appointment of three new members to the RSC Board of Directors. As a small, grassroots nonprofit, RSC’s Board of Directors has been crucial to RSC’s inception, development, and growth. Both staff and board are eager to welcome Motaz Attalla, Brad Bernatek, and Catharine (Cat) Biddle. The 2026-2027 board is led by Board Chair Cyrus Driver, alongside Brian Fogle, Melissa Harris, Mike Knutson, Nate McClennen, Andy Mink, Jan Miller, and Nancy Van Milligen. 

Motaz Attalla currently serves as Senior Program Officer for Public Engagement on the Gates Foundation's North America team, where he builds partnerships and coalitions to generate public support for bilateral and multilateral global health programs. He got his professional start documenting progressive schools and learning communities in rural Egypt, and has spent his career working at the intersection of systems change, civic engagement, and coalition building, and is practiced as a facilitator and leadership coach.

Attalla reflects that “from my first few conversations, it became clear to me that RSC was a special organization and one that embodied and really exemplifies how I personally think about schools, communities and how change can and should happen. I'm so excited for the opportunity to help support this amazing work.” 

Brad Bernatek serves as a Principal Consultant at Education First, bringing over 25 years of experience in helping education organizations move from strategy to execution. Previously, he served as a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation for nearly eight years, where he developed $85M in grants across multiple investment portfolios, including next generation student assessment, personalized learning, education technology, and social emotional learning. 

“Rural students have a fraction of the educational options their peers take for granted, and working alongside RSC's team showed me how seriously they treat that as the systemic challenge it is,” shares Bernatek. ”Joining the board lets me put my background in strategy and philanthropy behind an organization whose work I've already seen up close.”

Those familiar with RSC’s Regional Hub Network will recognize Dr. Cat Biddle as the lead for RSC’s New England Hub, which is anchored by the University of Maine. Cat is a Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Maine, located in Orono. Her research examines the way in which rural schools and communities respond to 21st century social and economic change. As part of this work, she co-leads the Rural Vitality Lab and the Rural Thrive Educator Resilience project. Dr. Biddle also currently serves as Co-Editor of the National Rural Education Association‘s scholarly journal, The Rural Educator and is a co-editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the United States.

On joining the board, Cat describes that "Rural Schools Collaborative has been such a force for good for rural schools. Their commitment to foregrounding the issues that really matter to rural and small schools, from educator recruitment and retention to curriculum that supports community vitality, is a mission I'm proud to support as a new board member.” 

"We are truly excited to welcome Motaz, Cat and Brad to the RSC board,” shares Cyrus. “They bring powerful and diverse perspectives on place-based learning, education systems and rural community development and philanthropy which sit at the heart of the Rural Schools Collaborative mission." Please join the RSC staff and board in welcoming Motaz, Cat, and Brad to the team!