Mackenzie Khan, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Mackenzie Khan has dedicated the majority of her professional career to the betterment of charter school authorizing in a variety of contexts. Beginning her career as a teacher, she quickly moved into a charter school authorizing role in Volusia County, Florida followed by St. Johns County, Florida. During her authorizing career in Florida, she also served as the Vice President of the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA) and was a contributing writer in Florida's Best Practices for Quality Charter School Authorizing. Before leaving Florida, she also graduated from Nova Southwestern University with a Master's in Charter School Leadership.
Since moving to Colorado in 2016, Mackenzie has worked as the Director of Charter Schools for Aurora Public Schools and Director of Choice Programming for Douglas County School District. She also assisted Aurora Public Schools in the implementation of their long-range facilities and educational plan, Blueprint APS, as a response to the state's declining student enrollment. Mackenzie was honored as a NACSA Leader in the National Association for Charter School Authorizers Leaders Program in 2019.
In 2022, Mackenzie graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a doctorate in Leadership for Equity in Education and began working as the Executive Director for CACSA. Prior to this role, Mackenzie also served on the CACSA Board from 2018-2020. She has presented at several state and national conferences on the topic of charter schools, specifically around the value of collaboration between charter schools and authorizers and successful school openings.
Email: mackenzie.khan@coauthorizers.org
Vanessa Glenn
Project Coordinator
Vanessa Glenn has been supporting CACSA since July 2021 while also serving as the Project Coordinator for the Florida Association of Charter School Authorizers (FACSA). In these dual roles, she provides administrative support to state executive directors and professional staff. Her work includes offering technical assistance and developing model materials to assist charter school authorizers.
In addition, Vanessa supports the Executive Director of the National Network for District Authorizing (NN4DA), contributing to web design, content updates, and event planning.
Vanessa’s involvement in public education began in 2013 with Polk County Public Schools in Bartow, Florida. There, she coordinated critical charter school functions, including high-stakes five-year reviews, contract renewals, and the application process—from applicant training through review team interviews. She also monitored compliance and academic performance for over 30 charter schools in the district.
Beyond charter oversight, Vanessa served as a Staffing Specialist, managing a wide array of human resources functions. Her responsibilities included processing ePAFs, conducting audits, assigning codes, reviewing school enrollments and staffing allocations, assessing organizational structures, and managing annual staff reappointments and position records.
From 2019 to 2021, she served as Board Treasurer for FACSA. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the Polk County Sheriff’s Advisory Council, contributing to community discussions on local issues. She also volunteered as President of the Winter Haven High School Band Boosters from 2021 to 2023, leading fundraising efforts and coordinating events to support student musicians.
Vanessa earned her Associate of Science in Business Administration from Polk State College in Winter Haven, Florida. Prior to her career in education, she worked in Virginia as an Implementation Coordinator in Information Technology at Ferguson Enterprises in Newport News, Virginia, where she supported operations for over 1,500 branch locations and distribution centers.
Originally from Virginia Beach, Vanessa now lives in Clayton, North Carolina with her husband, Steve. She is the proud mother of two sons, one of whom is currently attending the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Email: vanessa.glenn@coauthorizers.org
