System Leadership

Mark began his career in education as a 1999 corps member with Teach For America teaching 5th grade at Garcia Elementary in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Inspired by founder Chris Barbic’s vision, Mark left his position at HISD in 2001 to join YES Prep—at the time, a small charter school in southeast Houston. Four years later, Mark became the School Director of the first replication site—YES Prep North Central. Under Mark's leadership, YES Prep North Central earned the state's highest ranking of Exemplary every year, received the national EPIC award, and was named a National Blue Ribbon school. In 2010, Mark joined the YES Prep Head of Schools team to manage all YES Prep campuses. From 2011- 2013, he served as the Vice President of Operations and Growth before moving into the role of Superintendent for the next three years. During his time as Vice President and Superintendent, Mark executed YES Prep's growth strategy and surpassed their vision to serve 10,000 Houston children. For his unwavering commitment to educational equity and undeniable results, the Board of Directors named him Chief Executive Officer in April 2016. 

Mark is originally from Virginia and is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science and an MBA from Rice University. Mark and his wife, Erica, have been married since 1999, are active members of their church, City Church, and have two children, Emarie and Gavin.

Dana started as YES Prep’s Chief of Staff in August of 2022. In this role, Dana creates structure and opportunity to align the Executive team and ensures YES Prep’s Board of Directors governs through accurate, relevant data and educational context. In addition to this work, Dana steers YES Prep’s New School Launch work and summer student, adult, and facilities programming. She most recently served as the Managing Director of Program and School Initiatives and joined YES Prep in July 2017 as the Director of Program Initiatives.  

Prior to YES Prep, Dana served as a Region Manager of Professional Development at Catapult Learning; a District Coordinator of Professional Learning for Assessments at Fort Wayne Community Schools, a Founding Teacher and Asst. Principal at KIPP San Antonio; and a Grade 5 Reading Teacher in Edcouch-Elsa, TX during her 2 years as a Teach For America Corps Member.  

Dana has a Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership Studies from University of Texas San Antonio and a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from Texas Tech University.  

Dana is originally from Dallas but loves everything Houston has to offer and is a converted Astros fan. Outside of work you can find Dana with her husband, two kids, and pup-dog hanging out at parks and planning or going on their next National Park vacation.  

Isy leads YES Prep's advocacy efforts, oversees communications and marketing strategies, drives community and family engagement initiatives, spearheads development projects and strategizes student recruitment endeavors. 

Prior to joining YES Prep, Isy was a key leader designing integration strategies in school operations, transportation services, child nutrition, brand awareness, fundraising, donor stewardship, student support systems, board engagement and advocacy at KIPP Texas Public Schools from 2019 to 2024, where she also led the opening of new KIPP Texas elementary schools in Houston. 

Previously, Isy built a proven track record as a leader in community development while serving in a variety of roles — from developing programs for underserved communities in the East End and Southwest areas to directly managing community centers across Houston — at BakerRipley from 2008 to 2019.

Carmen is originally from right outside of Cleveland, Ohio and found her way to YES Prep in July 2015 as a Director of School Operations. She has served as the Managing Director of Talent Support, remaining focused on the organization’s traditional human resource functions while problem solving cross-functionally on a variety of projects that intersected with the Talent work stream. She most recently served of Chief of Staff.

Prior to YES, she served in Texas’s two largest ISDs leading aggressive human resources turnaround efforts. Her passion for the communities we serve has fueled important organizational change. Prior to that, she was a Recruitment Director for Teach For America in Chicago. Carmen graduated from Case Western Reserve University with degrees in English Literature and Communication Sciences, and received her graduate degree from University of Texas at Austin in Educational Leadership.

Besides being an avid sports fan, Carmen and her husband, Chris, are the parents to two kiddos – Rowan Axel and Cooper Phoenix.

Philip started at YES Prep in 2004 as a Middle School Language Arts teacher at the Southeast campus. After two years teaching at YES Prep he moved into campus leadership as the principal of the North Central campus. In this position he managed student culture and served on the campus leadership team.  In 2009, Phil returned to the Southeast campus to serve as School Director.  He directed a turnaround initiative at the first and largest YES Prep campus, which resulted in notably improved teacher satisfaction and the campus’s highest scores in standardized tests and AP exams. In 2012, he became Associate Head of Schools for YES Prep, during which he provided leadership coaching for school directors while leading the Southeast campus.  He was also appointed to the Human Capital Board Committee to analyze talent data and initiatives with YES Prep Board members. Phil became Head of Schools in 2013, managing school directors and the student support and special education departments. Now, as Chief Schools Officer, Phil leads the management of our schools.

Phil holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management and a Minor in Finance from Miami University, Ohio. He also holds a Master of Education in Administration from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville.  

Tony is a certified Human Resources leader with nearly 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors. As Chief Talent Officer for YES Prep, he oversees all aspects of talent work, including certification, evaluation, talent development, talent acquisition, employee relations and engagement, compensation, and benefits. He most recently served as Managing Director of Regional Human Assets for IDEA Public Schools in Tarrant County – a role he took on after spending two years in the private sector as Director of Human Resources for Le Meridian Hotel, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Aimbridge Hospitality. Tony’s career in education began in 1996 in Harlandale Independent School District, where he was a School Social Worker. He subsequently coordinated parent involvement for Grand Prairie public schools prior to joining Dallas ISD, where he spent 11 years working on talent development and acquisition via his roles as a Professional Development Specialist, Recruiting Coordinator, Staffing Manager, Talent Leader, and ultimately as Executive Director of Talent Management. Tony grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and is a first-generation college graduate with a Bachelor of Social Work from The University of Texas at Austin. Tony and his wife, Esther, have four children—Diego, Xoxi, Alejandro and Natalia.