Staff & Board of Directors
The teaching team at Collective Learning Academy guides students to take ownership of their own learning process and challenges them based on individual needs. Our staff consists of certified teachers with bachelor’s and master’s degrees with additional certifications in Autism Spectrum Disorders and training in social skills curriculums (such as Social Thinking by Michelle Garcia Winner) and the Orton Gillingham approach. Staff are also well trained in various communication devices such as the AAC and Letter Board and on the various neuro-technologies offered at The Collective Learning Academy.
Our Staff Members
Board Members
Meet the Team
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Christine Brown
Christine Brown serves as Board Secretary for the Collective Learning Academy (CLA). Her passion lies in supporting CLA's mission to nurture and empower students, fostering their growth and learning within a supportive environment. Christine firmly believes that every child deserves access to quality education, regardless of their abilities or challenges.
As an accomplished Human Resources professional with over two decades of experience, Christine has a strong focus on talent acquisition, employment branding, cultivating robust organizational cultures, and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies. She has held leadership roles in various large to mid-sized companies, including prominent global organizations such as Microsoft, State Street, and Turner Broadcasting. Christine earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Christine is a proud mother of two children and finds joy in spending quality time with her family, indulging in reading, and exploring new destinations through travel. Committed to making a difference, she actively engages in volunteer and fundraising activities, particularly advocating for causes related to education and disability awareness.
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Laura Deisley, CEO
Laura Deisley is Managing Consultant at Walker Deisley Strategic Consulting, an innovation thought partner and catalyst for schools and districts nationwide. She is also founder of Lab Atlanta, a non-profit startup in its second iteration designing equitable opportunities for youth to gain social innovation design skills and the agency and voice to bring about change.
Ms. Deisley brings to CLA many years of experience in small and large corporate environments, micro school development, and public and private school strategy and innovation. In addition to serving on CLA’s Board of Directors and as its CEO, she serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Hope Atlanta (a hunger and housing nonprofit serving metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia) and as founding partner in the consultancy Atlanta K12 Design Challenge. Ms. Deisley previously served on the Alumni Council and on the Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Council at Wake Forest University. She is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of Northside United Methodist Church where she and her family have been active for nearly 40 years.
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Walt Deriso, Board Chair and Founding Member
Walt Deriso is senior vice president and the director of strategic growth and family office solutions for Synovus. He has 25 years of experience in serving the banking and wealth management needs of family offices.
Before returning to The Family Office in late 2022, Walt was a founding shareholder at Atlantic Capital Bank where he served first as senior vice president of Private Financial Services, and finally as the head of Family Office Banking. Walt began his career at The Family Office of Synovus where he served as the director of relationship management.
Walt currently serves as president of The Westminster Schools Catbackers and as the chair of the board of directors of The Collective Learning Academy. He is a past president of Buckhead Baseball and continues to serve as Buddy Baseball commissioner. Walt recently served on the transition team for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickins and was a long-time member of the board of trustees of the Marcus Autism Center.
Walt received his Bachelor of the Arts at Vanderbilt University and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business. Walt and his wife, Anna, have two sons, Walt and Henry and live in Atlanta, GA.
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Jimbo Haneklau
Jimbo Haneklau is a new Board Member with a focus on Fundraising for CLA. His current professional experience is with Imagine Communications as the Account Director of the Sports & Live Events vertical in North America. In this role, he oversees the pursuit and strategic direction of broadcast technology solutions for professional and collegiate sports organizations. Before joining Imagine, Jimbo spent 2 years at Atlantix Global, where he supported major cloud providers in effectively managing and maximizing value of their data center assets. Prior to Atlantix, Jimbo began his career at PwC, where he specialized in Risk Management and Revenue Recognition consulting for Fortune 500 entities across the Industrial, Security and Healthcare spaces.
In his free time, Jimbo is an active community coach at both Northside Youth Organization and Frankie Allen Park, and has taken a leadership role in helping to organize the Buddy Baseball league for Buckhead Baseball and their competing parks. Additionally, Jimbo is a Board Representative for his alma mater, Marist School, which he attended prior to achieving a Bachelors Degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Alabama.
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Preston McDonald, Treasurer
As Senior Vice President with Synovus, Preston serves as a Relationship Manager for middle market businesses throughout the southeast, assisting with banking & financing needs across a variety of industries. In this role, Preston serves as a trusted advisor to owners and executive leadership teams.
Preston received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and is a graduate of the CADE Leadership Development Program.
Preston has been involved in numerous non-profit Boards and volunteering endeavors including serving on the Collective Learning Academy, University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business Young Alumni Board, volunteering for the First Tee of Metro Atlanta, and serving as a youth soccer coach for Top Hat and Tom Cat Soccer Clubs.
Preston and his wife Mary Lorraine reside in Buckhead with their three children: Bell (7), Mac (6), and Harrison (5).