Meet your founding board of ONE Academy in Stillwater
Our Founding Board
Emily Beers, M.Ed., Executive Director, President
Emily’s career in education began where it matters most, in the classroom. As a special education teacher at a Stillwater elementary school, she developed multi-tiered support systems, led professional development, and created curriculum designed specifically for students experiencing behavior issues. That foundation of deep, human-centered teaching has shaped everything she has built since. While completing her master's degree in counseling and mental health, Emily joined the state’s largest virtual charter school, where she taught as both a virtual and in-person special education teacher before completing a master’s degree in educational leadership and being promoted to principal. While leading one of the most successful teams as principal, she worked to develop the school’s first hybrid in-person inclusion program where she served as Director of Special Services for nearly 3 years. During her time there, the program grew to serve 4,000 students, 200 teachers, and 12 principals across the state. At its height, the innovations and programs Emily developed reached all 30,000 students enrolled.
Emily holds a master's degree in educational leadership and certifications in general education, special education, building-level leadership, and superintendency. She continues to present her work at national conferences including the SREB Conference, the CASE National Conference, and others across the country.
After nearly two decades of building, scaling, and leading some of Oklahoma's most innovative educational programs, Emily brings both the vision and the proven experience to launch ONE Academy, a school designed around what students have always needed most: genuine connection to themselves, to each other, and to the world around them.
Caryl Talley, Vice President
Caryl Talley brings nearly four decades of experience in public education to the ONE Academy community, experience earned not from the outside looking in, but from the classroom, the principal's office, and the district leadership table.
Over her 38-year career with Stillwater Public Schools, Caryl served as a special education teacher, principal of Lincoln Academy (the district's alternative high school), and Director of Special Services. Each role deepened her understanding of what it truly means to meet students where they are and what it takes to build systems that serve every learner, not just the ones who fit neatly into traditional models.
That commitment extends well beyond school walls. Caryl has been an active voice in Resilient Payne County, a community organization focused on strengthening the well-being of the region's families and youth. As the wife of a District 35 state representative, she also witnessed firsthand how policy decisions shape the communities and classrooms where real learning happens.
Caryl's passion is simple and enduring: every student deserves an education designed with them in mind. It's a belief ONE Academy was built around, and one Caryl has spent a career proving is possible.
Cory Williams | Secretary
Cory Williams is a lifelong Stillwater resident whose roots in the community run deep. A proud graduate of Stillwater High School, Cory has spent his career building, serving, and investing in the city he calls home.
Cory began his professional life as an attorney before answering a broader call to public service, representing District 34 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. In that role, he developed a reputation as a pragmatic leader and community-minded advocate; qualities that have defined every chapter of his career since.
Beyond the courtroom and the Capitol, Cory has emerged as one of Stillwater's most recognizable civic visionaries, playing an instrumental role in shaping the revitalization of downtown Stillwater and working to create a more vibrant, connected community for all its residents. That commitment to place-making and long-term thinking now extends into his work as owner of Look Property Management and as an active real estate investor, continuing to put his resources and energy into Stillwater's future.
Throughout his career in law, legislature, and business, Cory has been a consistent and vocal champion of public education. He understands that strong schools are the foundation of thriving communities, and he brings that conviction to his role as Secretary of ONE Academy's Board of Directors. His blend of legal expertise, legislative experience, civic leadership, and deep community ties makes him an invaluable voice as ONE Academy prepares to serve the families of Stillwater.
Dana Brunson, Treasurer
Dana Brunson is Executive Director of Research Engagement at Internet2, the national research and education network connecting universities, labs, and federal partners across the country. She leads a team supporting research computing, AI infrastructure, and community programs that reach hundreds of institutions, and she serves as Principal Investigator on several National Science Foundation awards. She is also the founding board chair of the Campus Research Computing Consortium, a national community of more than 2,200 members currently incorporating as a 501(c)(3), giving her direct experience with the legal, financial, and governance work of building a nonprofit from the ground up.
Before Internet2, Dana directed the High Performance Computing Center at Oklahoma State University. She holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and has spent her career working at the intersection of technology, education, and human community, asking how powerful tools can be put into people's hands in ways that genuinely serve them rather than overwhelm them.
That same question has shaped her life as a parent. Dana and her husband chose a self-directed, Sudbury-inspired path for their children, trusting that curiosity, real responsibility, and meaningful relationships with adults and peers are the foundation of learning. Watching her kids grow into confident, capable adults through that approach deepened her conviction that children flourish when they are met as whole people, given room to follow what interests them, and surrounded by a community that takes them seriously.
She is honored to bring both lenses to ONE Academy.
Catarina de Araújo, Member
Originally from Recife in northeast Brazil, Catarina de Araújo is an educator, art historian, and museum professional. She holds degrees in journalism (OSU), teaching and learning (DePaul University), and art history (OSU).
Her experience includes teaching high school students and working in education and leadership roles at the OSU Museum of Art and the Sam Noble Museum. She is currently the Executive Director of the Stillwater History Museum at the Sheerar, where she oversees operations, preservation, and public engagement.
Catarina’s approach to education is influenced by Paulo Freire and a commitment to accessible, community-centered learning. She is especially interested in informal education and believes diversity in education strengthens communities.
Mary Lau, Member
Mary Richelle Lau is an artist, nature-based educator, and mentor with over five years of experience guiding children and families through outdoor, place-based learning at Prairiewood Forest School.
She holds Level I and Level II certifications through the Association for Nature-Based Education (ANBE), with a focus on child-led learning, emotional attunement, and whole-child development.
Both personally and professionally, art has been a central thread in Mary’s life. She brings a deep understanding of creativity as a therapeutic and connective practice; one which supports self-expression, nervous system regulation, reflection, and healing. This perspective shapes the way she approaches education, relationship-building, and community care.
Her background also includes small-scale farming, including raising chickens and goats and tending gardens, which has deepened her values around stewardship, sustainability, and responsibility. She previously lived and worked in residency at St. Francis of the Woods, where she practiced a contemplative, land and community-based way of life.
Raised on 200 acres and shaped by a childhood spent largely in the woods, Mary carries a lifelong relationship with the natural world into her work. She is especially interested in how connection to land supports presence, deep noticing, and authentic self-connection in both children and adults.
Mary is committed to helping shape educational spaces that are grounded, creative, and responsive to the whole human experience.
Hilary Hunt, Member
Hilary Hunt’s commitment to education is rooted in lived experience. As a foster parent, DHS adoptive parent, and special needs parent, she has navigated complex systems on behalf of children who needed an advocate — and that perspective shapes everything she does.
Hilary’s background in nonprofit leadership means she brings hands-on experience leading mission-driven work and building programs that serve real community needs. She is passionate about experiential learning, human-centered design, and creating educational environments where every student can thrive.
Hilary is deeply invested in student success in Stillwater and proud to help build a school as vibrant as this community.
Interested in joining our team?
This Isn't the Teaching Job You've Had Before.
ONE Academy is a blended PK–8 charter school opening in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2028 and we're looking for educators who are ready to do school outside the box.
In-person. Virtual. Outdoors. Community-connected. Student-centered in ways that go beyond a mission statement.
We're not hiring yet, but we're building our list of educators who want in early.
Interested? Sign up to be kept in the loop.
