Learning Lab Staff

 Ann prefers the title of “Chief Wonder Woman,” but with a different uniform than leotard and tights. As Executive Director, Ann flexes her muscles as a management geek, heads up meetings and fund hunting, and leads the charge in getting the word out to the Treasure Valley about the awesomeness of the Learning Lab.

Before she came to Learning Lab, Ann was the state HR director for 7 years. She was awarded a national fellowship for her leadership in state government and her work with the Governor and Legislature proved those late nights at BSU in grad school earning her MPA were worth it. Lucky for the Learning Lab, she magnanimously put all the glamour aside to work with improving literacy in our community.

Ann brags she was born and raised in Emmett, which lead to her condition as a horse nut, border collie aficionado, and ranchette – owner. Ann lives by the idea that you should dance whenever you can, which she does when she sees her husband and two beautiful daughters, and when BSU wins at any game.

Stephanie Larrondo Business Manager 

Stephanie joined the Learning Lab in July 1997. Sometime before that she earned a B.S. degree in Business Finance from the University of Idaho.

Her current duties include management of the Garden City facility, accounting, administrative support to the Executive Director and Board of Directors, supervision of the Admin Assistant, support of Learning Lab events and coordination of volunteers who help with facility maintenance and clerical activities.  She’s also excellent at asking for receipts and hunting down wayward timesheets.

Stephanie enjoys traveling, working out at the YMCA, reading, cooking, camping in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter. When she travels, she’s reminded of what a great place Boise is to live. She hopes to resurrect her golf game someday; She likes to spend one sunny winter day a year downhill skiing just because she can.

Christi Graff Education Director

 Christi discovered her passion for literacy while being a Learning Lab volunteer tutor and was hired as the Education Director in July 1992.Christi oversees the day-to-day operations of Learning Lab programs and technology at all sites.

Christi received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Human Ecology from the College of Idaho in 1975 and has taken post-graduate classes in teacher education at Boise State University.Christi has attended local, state and national training in family literacy, performance accountability and literacy provider professional development in math, reading and English.

Christi has two major accomplishments - she has forced the Learning Lab to live without her every Tuesday afternoon so she can go bowling, and she has convinced everyone that she knows something about technology when all she’s really good at is turning stuff off and turning it on again. Christi and her piano-playing husband like to camp, hike, canoe travel. They’ve visited places a little off the beaten path – Romania, Tanzania, Colombia and they are lucky to be grandparents of the smartest and most beautiful little girl in the universe. Complaints against the aforementioned sentence can be fielded by Christi.

Martha Strong Adult Education Coordinator

Martha has been associated with Learning Lab in several capacities since 1992. She was one of the Lab’s first volunteer tutors and, as chair of the Junior League of Boise’s literacy committee, helped transition the Lab from a Junior League project to an independent non-profit organization. She served as the first President of the Board of Directors in 1994, joining the staff as Adult Education Coordinator in 1999.

Martha received her degree in Bacteriology and Public Health from Washington State University in 1974 and a secondary teaching certificate from Boise State University in 1998. Helping adults reach their educational goals, from learning letter sounds to reading poetry, from memorizing multiplication tables to solving algebra problems, keeps her “creative juices flowing.” She believes there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a student’s eyes light up in understanding.

On the weekends, Martha indulges her passion for gardening, bringing color to her patch of the Boise landscape. She is particularly good at container planting and has become the Learning Lab’s resident green thumb. When the weather forces her indoors, she paints rooms, sews quilts, and tries new recipes from the latest cooking magazines.

Juana Nolasco Cedillo Family Literacy Coordinator

 Juana joined Learning Lab Inc. in 2007. She oversees the early childhood component of the Learning Lab program and brings her trilingual abilities in English, Spanish and Russian to the Learning Lab’s aid. More recently, as a proud mother of two boys, Juana’s professional experience has been enhanced by her own personal life. Preparing Michael, her eldest, to enter Kindergarten in fall 2009 has her combing through kindergarten readiness indicators and activities to support kindergarten preparation.

Juana’s formal education includes a dual bachelor’s degree in Communication and Spanish from Boise State University and an M.S. in Education Policy and Leadership from Iowa State University. Her continuing education includes: dates with her husband, meeting with other returned Peace Corps volunteers, knitting items to felt, battling weeds, and enjoying time building a library of new children’s classics for her boys.

Amy Binion Family Literacy Infant/Toddler Educator

 Amy joined Learning Lab in August 2008 as the Family Literacy Infant/Toddler Educator. She is exceptionally skilled at baby wrangling, getting toddlers to keep their shoes on, and preparing them for a life of learning through engaging enrichment activities.

In May 2008, Amy graduated with a Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Studies from Boise State University. Amy also has a Bachelor’s from New York University in Graphic Communications. And if that weren’t enough, she’s also gone to culinary school and makes some mean desserts. Amy moved to Boise from Seattle, where she did some sailboat racing, but is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her dog, Jackson, is a native Idahoan, and does his best to stay out of Amy’s vegetable garden.

Jenny Flint Administrative Assistant

 Jenny joined the Learning Lab in October 2007 as the part-time office assistant She is responsible for getting stuff done, from mailings to minutes, and she does it with impeccable grace.

 Jenny has a B.A. in History from Boise State University in 2002 and is finishing a B.A. in Visual Art and B.F.A. in Graphic Design at B.S.U. She also works as a freelance multimedia artist and “Jill of all Trades.” Some of those interesting trades are stationery designer, silversmith, cosmetologist, and impromptu world-traveler.

Joy Haffner Family Literacy Preschool Educator

Joy joined the Learning Lab staff in January 2006 as an intern from the University of Idaho. She went from copying to chasing five-year-olds in no time. Not only does she work hard to get little ones up to snuff for kindergarten, she also conducts PACT time (Parent and Child Togetherness) to strengthen the learning bond between adult students and their children.

In May 2006, Joy graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Idaho, earning a B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences, Child Development/Family Relations option, as well as a minor in Sociology. She recently obtained her Master’s in Education, Early Childhood Studies from BSU. She now walks the precarious line between being a Vandal and a Bronco. When Joy isn’t planning her wedding, fixing up her new house, or reading the Twilight series, she’ll be at the movies. Even though she’s never lived anywhere but Idaho, she’s got a wild side, having broken her arm twice by the age of seven.

MacKenzie Rodgers Director of Development

MacKenzie is the Learning Lab’s newest rookie, but she already understands more about funding development than some of the Learning Lab veterans. She resides in a back corner of the Learning Lab’s Garden City site, away from the hubbub of classes, so she appreciates visitors.

MacKenzie has a Business and Pre-Law degree from Oregon State University and also went to school at the University of New Orleans. She is married to a wonderful man whose only fault is that he is a die-hard University of Oregon fan. When she is not raising money for literacy, you can find her at home playing with her 3 pets, in her garden, or slalom skiing. Her favorite color is red, her favorite food is anything Mexican, and she is a Leo in every sense of the description.