February 10-13, 2025
Decision-Making & Appeals Focus Week

Erin Agidius brings over 10 years of comprehensive experience in Title IX, Civil Rights, and Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity compliance and investigations in higher education.

Prior to joining TNG, Agidius led the Office of Civil Rights and Investigations at the University of Idaho where she coordinated and monitored institutional federal compliance under Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/504. She managed a strong team, conducted comprehensive civil rights investigations, and customized programming on related topics for audiences with varying skills, knowledge, and expertise. She’s also guided multiple committees and task forces on topics of threat assessment and management, security and compliance, DEI initiatives, and more.

Prior to her role as director, she built connections as the Interim Director and Deputy Director of the Human Rights Access and Inclusion office. Through those relationships she successfully campaigned for the university to invest in professional investigators and reorganize existing offices to create a more sustainable and effective culture of compliance. Her experience as a student conduct administrator forged her foundational understanding of relational connection and throughout her tenure in higher education, she’s raised awareness of resources by relying on those strong relationships to enhance university policies, practices, and programs.

Agidius is dedicated to advancing community-wide programs to prevent, reduce, and remediate all forms of discrimination. When not working tireless for equity at work, she does so in her spare time as a member of the Moscow Human Rights Commission, the Latah County Coordinated Community Response Task Force, and the Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse board of directors. She is a certified Greet Dot and Stop the Hate trainer and holds a certification in civil mediation from the Northwest Institute for Dispute Resolution. Compliance and equity are core to her ethos.

Agidius holds a J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law and a B.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Idaho with minors in Sociology, Business, and Spanish.

Kayleigh Baker is a Consultant with TNG and has extensive experience overseeing Title IX compliance and Civil Rights investigations. Baker has served in interim management roles for both higher education and K-12 institutions and frequently works with clients in need of short-term or long-term crisis management services.

Baker routinely delivers training to Title IX practitioners in the field while also managing her own caseload as an external Investigator and Decision-Maker for TNG clients. Prior to her work in higher education, Baker was an Assistant District Attorney and regularly instructed law enforcement officers on civil rights issues. Baker has continued to collaborate with law enforcement and District Attorneys on the intersection between their obligations and Title IX regulations.

Prior to working with TNG, Baker served as a Title IX Investigator at The University of Alabama and as the University of North Alabama’s first full-time Title IX Coordinator. While there, Baker served on the university’s CARE Team and Clery Committee while also being heavily involved in the institution’s transition to NCAA Division I athletics. In that role, Baker was responsible for primary prevention programming and has facilitated training opportunities for thousands of students and employees on Bystander Intervention, reporting obligations, consent, and more.

Baker holds a B.S. in Political Science and Business Economics from Ball State University in Muncie, IN, and a J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law.

Amelia Barbadoro brings over 15 years of experience working in the field of civil rights, with extensive knowledge related to Title VII and Title IX investigations, ADA compliance, and alternative dispute resolution in K-12 and postsecondary schools. Her passion for equal rights was sparked by a law school internship at the New York City Commission for Human Rights, followed by a second legal internship at the New York State Division of Human Rights, in their Office of Sexual Harassment Issues. Those experiences laid the foundation of her career.

Prior to joining TNG, Barbadoro served as the Director of Equity and Compliance at SUNY University at Albany, as well as the Title IX Coordinator, Clery Officer, and Domestic Violence Agency Liaison. She has also served as Assistant Legal Counsel at Cambridge College, Assistant Commissioner of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Development, and ADA Coordinator at the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. Before moving to Albany, NY, Barbadoro held several positions within the New York City Department of Education, including Investigator and Training Unit Chief in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management, Assistant Director of the Office of Special Investigations, and Chief of Staff to General Counsel.

Barbadoro has taught graduate and undergraduate-level courses at SUNY University at Albany, Northeastern University, Salve Regina University, and Brooklyn College. Courses have included Higher Education Law; Urban Education; Culture, Equity, Power & Influence; Education Law, Policy & Finance; and labor relations. She has also presented to thousands of students, faculty, and staff on topics related to Title IX and Title VII compliance.

Amelia was raised in Western Massachusetts, spent over a decade living in Brooklyn, NY, and is now settled in Albany, NY, with her husband and two children.

Dr. Sharon Perry Fantini is a Partner at TNG. She serves on the Advisory Board for ATIXA (The Association for Title IX Administrators). Dr. Perry Fantini is an experienced administrator with more than 20 years of service in higher education, with expertise in the areas of Title IX, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her progressive leadership experience and strategic planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion have aided her in creating campus-wide programs for prevention, awareness, bystander intervention, investigation, and response to discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. Additionally, she has worked on initiatives related to Section 504 and ADA compliance and policy development.

Dr. Perry Fantini has experience speaking, training, and consulting with local, regional, and national organizations regarding many diversity and inclusion topics and best practices. She has accepted invited speaking engagements, training, and consulting opportunities in diversity and inclusion, implicit bias, gender-based violence, cultural awareness, and Title IX. She has facilitated education and training aimed at Title IX coordinators, Civil Rights investigators, and educators teaching multicultural students.

In 2023, she presented at the Association of Public Land-grant Universities meeting on connecting and embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and research, and how to establish relationships to build capacity to thrive, not just survive. In 2022, she was selected to serve as a panelist for the Chronicle of Higher Education and University Innovation Alliance (UIA), to discuss socioeconomic burdens that can result in derailed college careers. In 2022, she was an invited speaker at an internal Congressional briefing on Title IX for the Association of Title IX Administrators. She was selected to present at the Ohio Department of Higher Education Statewide Title IX Coordinator Meeting, January 2021, on “Exploratory Look at Balancing the Current Era of Title IX: 34 CFR Part 106.45(b)(5)(vi).” She previously served as a Title IX expert for the College and University Professional Association in Higher Education (CUPA). In this role, higher education professionals can seek advice related to Title IX compliance and the impact on their respective campuses. She was selected by the Ohio Department of Higher Education to serve on the Chancellor’s Special Committee to review RFP proposals as it relates to services around the annual campus climate survey for colleges and universities in the State of Ohio to have the opportunity for campuses to focus in on underrepresented or marginalized communities on their campus. Dr. Perry Fantini served on the public policy committee of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, which is affiliated with the American Council of Education, and in this role submitted a briefing to Congress on the Fisher vs. University of Texas case.

She excelled in collaborating on prevention programming and cultural celebrations efforts with the Office of Athletics, including working with the Student Athletic Association Committee (SAAC), aided in earning an honorable mention during the 2021 Award for Diversity and Inclusion from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) for Creating a Culture of Shared Responsibility with Bringing in the Bystander training; student forums; revising the Peer-to-Peer Ambassador training and programming including Implicit Bias and Understanding Cultural Differences and for Creating a Culture of Shared Respect with Awareness Campaigns including These Hands Don’t Hurt, Spread the Word to End the Word, Black Lives Matter, Safe Zone training, Critical Conversations and Unheard Voices for a Cause Silent March.

Prior to joining TNG, she served as Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Iowa State University. As leader of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, she worked to foster unity and collaboration, modeled the university’s Principles of Community, and prepared students to thrive in a global community. She also served as the liaison between Iowa State and the University Innovation Alliance, the leading national coalition of public research universities committed to increasing the number and diversity of college graduates in the United States. She served as a member and the secretary of the Big 12 Conference Chapter of Diversity Officers, Inc. Prior, to joining Iowa State, she held several faculty and administrative positions at Tiffin University. Following a faculty appointment in the School of Business, she served as Tiffin’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and subsequently was named Tiffin’s Vice Provost for Equity, Access, and Opportunity and Title IX and 504 Coordinator. In that position, her primary responsibility included overseeing compliance related to Title IX, Title VI, VAWA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the Office for Disability Services. She also provided oversight to Deputy Title IX Coordinators, a team of Civil Rights investigators, the Civil Rights Advisory Council, and the Diversity Celebrations and Prevention Education Committee. In collaboration with the Office for Advancement & Public Affairs, aided in earning several grants which aided in the ability to foster a welcoming and safe environment, including a grant for assistive technology to help students with disabilities in the amount of $37,800.00; a grant in the amount of $116,500.00 to provide trauma-informed counseling, advocacy, and support services to student victims of sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking; and a grant in the amount of $300,000.00 to aid with strategic programming regarding sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.

Abra Francois currently serves as an Associate General Counsel at Tufts University, where she specializes in labor and employment as well as litigation, civil rights, athletics, and malpractice matters.  

Prior to this role, Abra worked as a Supervisory Civil Rights Attorney at the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, where she enforced civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age.  In this role, Abra investigated complaints of discrimination against colleges, universities, and K-12 school districts.  Abra also previously focused on civil rights and employment law at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New York City Law Department.  

Abra is also a part-time lecturer at Tufts University, where she teaches Exclusionary Education: Law & Policy. Abra is a graduate of Simmons College and Boston College Law School. 

Alisha Carter Harris is a Senior Consultant with TNG and has extensive experience in civil rights/equal opportunity compliance and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives. Her experience is based primarily in higher education but Carter Harris is also well-versed in the financial services industry.

Prior to her arrival at TNG, Carter Harris served as an Employee Relations Partner at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. where she investigated employment-related complaints made by employees of all levels across the firm. She has also served as Associate Director of Equal Opportunity/Deputy Title IX Coordinator at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas. As Associate Director, Carter Harris assisted with the administration of the nondiscrimination program for UNT, most notably by conducting workplace and education investigations of alleged discrimination and harassment. As Deputy Title IX Coordinator, she assisted with Title IX compliance through policy development, oversight of student investigations, training, and advising faculty, staff, and administrators on matters related to sexual misconduct. Carter Harris has held similar administrative positions at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and California University of Pennsylvania in California, Pennsylvania.

Carter Harris holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.S. in Legal Studies from the California University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a certificate in alternative dispute resolution from the University of North Texas.

Mikiba W. Morehead is a consultant with TNG and has extensive experience in Student Affairs as a Student Conduct practitioner specialized in the areas of Title IX, crisis management, and student advocacy.

Her expertise centers on cyber sexual abuse, informal resolution processes, specifically mediation and restorative justice, policy revision, and ADA/504 compliance. Morehead has developed and delivered numerous trainings for investigators, decision-makers, hearing boards, appeal officers, and support persons across public, private, and health science/medical education institutions. She provides effective and sustainable solutions for colleges, universities, and schools to care for the needs of students and campus communities with an eye towards social justice. She has served as an interim Title IX Coordinator for a college client.

Prior to joining TNG, Morehead served as Title IX Coordinator and Director of Student Disability Services at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, Director of Community Standards at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Program Coordinator for Student Conduct at Texas A& M University.

Morehead holds a B.A. in Communication and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Louisville, and an Ed.D. in Education, Ethical Leadership from the University of St. Thomas – Houston.

Ms. Schuster is a recognized expert in preventive and civil rights law for education, notably in the fields of harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct and violence, ADA and disability issues and the First Amendment. 

Ms. Schuster has extensive experience and expertise in, and routinely advises clients on, the First Amendment and campus access issues; risk management and liability; behavior intervention and threat assessment; student discipline and campus conduct; intellectual property and employment issues. Ms. Schuster provides assistance nationally to both public and private educational schools and colleges in policy development, faculty handbooks and employee manuals, and training for state and federal compliance. She has provided extensive consultation to and training for the U.S. Justice Department, Office of Violence Against Women, the White House Task Force on Sexual Assault and the Futures Without Violence organization. She also provides litigation consultation, expert witness support, and conducts civil rights-based investigation for educational institutions. She provided contraceptive support and rape crisis counseling and served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Butler County.

Lauren is a consultant with TNG who is passionate about solving problems and supporting clients. She has experience with Title IX and Civil Rights investigations and compliance. Lauren’s experience is wide-ranging, but primarily based in Title IX compliance in higher education, including in dual enrollment, nursing and allied health programs, and pregnant and parenting. Lauren also has experience with Section 504/ADA and Clery Act compliance.

Lauren enjoys training at every level. She has experience creating and presenting custom trainings on Title IX compliance, mandatory reporting, and Section 504/ADA compliance.

Prior to joining TNG, Lauren served as the Director of Institutional Equity at South Texas College, as well as the college’s Title IX Coordinator and Section 504/ADA Coordinator. During her tenure at South Texas College, Lauren served on the college’s Clery Committee, participated in Behavioral Intervention Team meetings as the Title IX and 504/ADA Coordinator, and served as a member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Negotiated Rulemaking Committee.

Before joining the higher education world, Lauren practiced law as a commercial litigation associate at Husch Blackwell, LLP. At Husch Blackwell, Lauren litigated a variety of cases ranging from breach of contract, trade secret disputes, and class action defense. Lauren also had a significant pro bono practice, representing clients in adoptions, post-conviction relief, and victims of human-trafficking. Before pursuing a legal career, Lauren taught middle school English at a private K-12 school.

Lauren holds a B.A. in English from Washington and Lee University. At W&L, Lauren was also a college-athlete all four years of her undergrad, competing as member of the women’s swim team. Lauren has a J.D. from the Tulane University Law School where she was an active member of the school’s moot court team and the domestic violence clinic.