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U.S. Department of Education

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# U.S. Department of Education Announces More Biden-Harris Appointees 

# U.S. Department of Education Announces More Biden-Harris Appointees 

July 6, 2021

**Contact:  **press@ed.gov

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Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced more political appointees that will lead various parts of the agency. These diverse and accomplished individuals will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the agency, and work to quickly advance key education priorities for the Biden-Harris Administration.

**Katy  Neas, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and  Rehabilitative Services**Katy Neas previously served as senior vice president of public affairs at  APTA. In this role, she oversees APTA’s federal and state government public  policy activities, federal regulatory affairs, grassroots and political action  efforts, public relations along with payment and practice management  activities. Prior to joining APTA, Mrs. Neas spent 23 years at Easterseals, a  national nonprofit provider of direct services to children and adults with  disabilities and their families. Her roles at Easterseals included service on  the senior management team, federal and state government relations advocacy,  oversight of federal grants and contracts and management of the Easterseals  Office of Public Affairs. A long-time disability rights ally, she began her  career on the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy during the development  and enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  A graduate of  Georgetown University, she hails from Des Moines, Iowa.

**Toby  Merrill, Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel**Toby Merrill previously founded and directed the Project on Predatory  Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School and taught  the predatory lending and consumer protection clinic. The Project represents  low-income student loan borrowers in litigation against for-profit colleges and  against the policies that enable them. The Project brings cases that enforce  the rights of student loan borrowers and works closely with numerous state and  federal enforcement agencies. Toby has twice represented legal aid providers  and their clients in the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking  process. She also served on the Massachusetts Division of Professional  Licensure’s advisory board on private occupational schools. Toby joined the  Legal Services Center’s predatory lending practice as a Skadden Fellow, after a  federal clerkship. She graduated from Harvard Law School and Yale College.

**Hayley  Matz Meadvin, Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary**Hayley Matz Meadvin joins the U.S. Department of Education with broad  experience that spans the public and private sectors, and a career that has  focused on the intersection of public policy and communications. In the public  sector, Hayley served as chief communications officer for Chicago Public  Schools, communications director in the White House for Dr. Jill Biden, and as  press secretary and deputy communications director for the U.S. Small Business  Administration during the Obama administration. In the private sector, Hayley  was most recently a director at Precision Strategies, where she worked with  national advocacy campaigns, corporate, and non-profit clients to raise  awareness of key issues and effect positive change. Hayley, a graduate of  Tulane University and Penn State Law, lives in the Washington, DC area with her  husband, David, their two young children, and two dogs.

**Chris  Soto, Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary**Chris Soto joins the U.S. Department of Education after serving as the  director of innovation and partnerships at the Connecticut State Department of  Education. Chris held previous roles in state government as the Lamont  Administration’s director of legislative affairs and served as state  representative for New London, Connecticut, in the Connecticut General  Assembly. Following his active-duty service in the U.S. Coast Guard, Chris  founded and led Higher Edge, a college-access organization that serves  first-generation college-bound students on their postsecondary journeys. He  holds a master's degree in public administration from Brown University and a  bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

**Antoinette  Flores, Senior  Advisor for ARP Implementation, Office of Postsecondary Education**Antoinette Flores most recently served as the managing director for  Postsecondary Education at the Center for American Progress. While there, her  work focused on improving higher education quality, accountability, equity, and  data to ensure that all students could access, afford, and complete  high-quality degrees. Antoinette is a first-generation college graduate, Pell  recipient, and holds degrees from Amherst College and George Mason University.  She lives in Virginia and is a native of Chicago, Illinois.

**Deven  Comen, Chief of Staff, Office of Communications and Outreach**Deven Comen is an activator and strategist with experience serving in the  classroom, with federal government agencies, and across the national education  landscape. Most recently, Deven led external partnerships for College Board  Opportunity Scholarships, a $25 million digital product that guides ~1million  students annually through key college planning tasks such as completing the  FAFSA. Earlier, she was the founding chief of staff for the College Board’s  College & Career Access division. Deven previously advised public sector  clients including the Obama White House as a Deloitte consultant. Deven started  her career as a special education teacher at Anacostia Senior High School in  Washington, D.C., through Teach for America. A first-generation college  graduate and Pell recipient, Deven holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown  University and a master’s degree in education from George Mason University.

**Abel  McDaniels, Special Assistant, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education**Abel McDaniels most recently worked as a community school director in New  York City. In that role, he designed and implemented the community school  strategy in a public elementary school. Previously, he worked as a K-12  education research associate at the Center for American Progress. Abel began  his career as a social studies teacher in western Massachusetts. He is a  graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Harvard Graduate School of  Education.
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