Bio

Dr. Zachary L. Adams is the Executive Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania. He joined the Center in 2025 after serving as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Workforce Alignment at the Tennessee Board of Regents, where he led statewide initiatives focused on partnerships, programs, and policies designed to increase student success and strengthen workforce development. In this role, Dr. Adams established the TBR Center for Apprenticeship, developed new articulation agreements between technical and community colleges as well as with university partners, and secured millions in federal, state, and philanthropic funding to advance workforce training in key industry sectors, including healthcare, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and information technology. Before his tenure at the Tennessee Board of Regents, Dr. Adams held leadership positions at the Tennessee Department of Education, where he supported statewide college and career readiness initiatives and developed AP Access for All that expanded access and participation in AP coursework across the state. He began his career as a science educator and Teach For America corps member, teaching in both Mississippi and Tennessee. Dr. Adams holds a doctorate degree in education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a master's degree in public policy from Vanderbilt University. A native of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, he is dedicated to expanding opportunity across rural communities in the Commonwealth.

Michaela is the Center's Quantitative Data Analyst. She joined the Center in 2024, and provides data and analysis on rural policy issues, helps organize workshops on rural community development issues, reviews grant proposals for the Center and for state and federal agencies and nonprofit organizations, contributes to the Center's bimonthly newsletter and other statewide publications, and maintains and expands the Center's rural database. Michaela also represents the Center on various boards and commissions. Formerly, Michaela worked in state government as a Fiscal Analyst for the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office. Michaela has a bachelor's degree in Public Policy with a minor in Applied Economics from The Pennsylvania State University.

Stasik Winderbaum is the Center's Communications & Public Affairs Manager, having joined the staff in 2026. A native New Yorker, he previously led communications and public affairs for Caravanserai - Alliance for Entrepreneurs, a Southern California nonprofit focused on supporting small business owners from under-resourced communities. His background also includes electoral and advocacy work, most recently as Westchester Organizing Coordinator for Open New York. Winderbaum holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from SUNY New Paltz.

Linda primarily attends to the fiscal needs of the Center, including payroll, expense processing, and employee benefits. She also handles board meeting logistics, assists with conferences and special events planning, and manages the distribution of the Center's bimonthly newsletter and research reports. Linda joined the Center in December 2020. Before she joined the Center, Linda worked in higher education as a Program Assistant in several programs, including the Honors Program at Elizabethtown College. She has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College.

Kaitlyn is the Center's Data Visualization Specialist. She joined the Center in 2024, and provides data and analysis on rural policy issues, contributes to the Center's bimonthly newsletter and other statewide publications, and maintains and expands the Center's rural database and dashboards. Kaitlyn was born and raised in a small town in rural northwestern Pennsylvania, and she is happy to be able to provide support to communities all across rural Pennsylvania. Formerly, Kaitlyn worked as a STEM Educator for the Community Education Center of Elk and Cameron Counties, and she worked part-time as an Independent GIS Consultant. Kaitlyn holds a bachelor's degree in Meteorology and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Hazards/Emergency Management from Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and she has her master's degree in Geographic Information Systems from The Pennsylvania State University.