Meet the Team
Gabriel Martinez Cabrera
Executive Director
Gabe joined C2C in August 2017. He has worked in under-served communities in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Over the years, his work evolved into workforce development, where he was in charge of a federally funded program that helped young returning citizens find family sustaining employment. He brings to his work a belief that education is more than teaching; it is an act of building community.
Nina Pashkina
Senior Director of Data Management
Nina Pashkina is a Data Analyst who has worked for non-profit organizations and marketing agencies. She has an analytical background that helped her to successfully accomplish developing of databases for Coca-Cola, Unilever and Audubon Naturalist Society.
Nina holds a Bachelor of Science in social psychology, and is a cat-lover and a passion mushroom hunter from Russia.
Charles Diemert
Director of Finance and Strategic Partnerships
After attending the University of Pittsburgh and achieving a Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering and spending nearly 10 years in the banking industry as a systems administrator, corporate trainer, business analyst, and project manager, Charlie switched careers to Adult Education. From 2009 - 2022 Charlie worked for Orleans/Niagara BOCES in Western New York.
Since joining Classroom 2 Community in July 2022, Charlie has been focused on helping the agency grow locally to bring more educational services to more marginalized populations while positioning C2C as a nationally recognized provider of curriculum and training.
Christopher Morphew
Assistant Director of Development
Chris began working at C2C in May of 2022 as the Assistant Director of Development. After finishing his B.A. and M.A. in Linguistics, Chris began working at an intensive English program, honing his skills in the classroom. He has worked with English language learners since 2013 at institutions such as the University of North Texas, Howard Community College, and now Classroom 2 Community.
Chris has studied Spanish, Italian, French, and most recently Russian. As a lover of all things language-related, Chris believes that learning another language opens a window into other cultures and ways of thinking. In his free time, Chris also enjoys music and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Kevin Ralph
Assistant Director of Academic Programming
Kevin joined C2C in 2021. He worked inside elementary and college classrooms as a Teaching Assistant and as a Drum Specialist in Washington, DC. He also brings experience working in government administration, government affairs, and financial technology. Kevin graduated from American University with an MA in Philosophy. His studies focused on equity and ethics, especially within the spheres of government, education, and the arts.
In his downtime, Kevin enjoys music, reading, and cooking.
Ashley France-Howell
Assistant Director of HR and Data Management
Serving and giving back has been an integral part of Ashley’s life for as long as she could remember. After receiving her B.A. in Strategic Communications from Elon University, Ashley’s first look into adult education began at a small literacy council in North Carolina where she served as an AmeriCorps member for two years. While there, she worked with the workplace literacy program, where she helped students with GED prep. She taught ESL classes. Seeing the positive impact that she had on the students fueled her desire to keep giving back. After Ashley’s AmeriCorps service terms were up, she moved back to Maryland in search of the next opportunity. She found C2C, and has been here since February of 2017.
Ruth Seidenspinner
Assistant Director of Training & Curriculum Design
Ruth began teaching ESL classes for Classroom 2 Commnity in the fall of 2015. She spent 2 concurrent years teaching at the International Language Institute of MD. In September of 2018, Ruth joined the C2C staff full-time as the Tutoring Program Manager.
Helping both English and Basic Literacy learners to share their stories, strengthen their communities and increase their opportunities in life has been one of the most personally rewarding experiences imaginable for Ruth.
Ruth obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Human Resources, and a Graduate TESOL Certificate. She is fascinated by human behavior, learning, cultures, language and communication.
Alec Beckham
Assistant Director of Learning Strategies
Alec joined C2C as an Instructor. His experience as an educator began in 2014 at the Intensive English Language Institute at The University of North Texas, which included an opportunity to teach at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. He moved to Maryland in 2019, where he continued his work as an educator at Howard Community College.
Dedicated to helping others achieve their goals and engaging with the community, Alec spends all of his time in and out of the classroom teaching in some fashion or another. In his spare time, he hosts and organizes role-playing games in his community and conventions around the country.
Alec has received both a B.A. and M.A. in Linguistics from the University of North Texas.