Meet Our Team

Allison Posey, Director of Learning & Brain Programs

Allison is an international leader of Universal Design for Learning and approaches it through the lens of learning in the brain. She works to build connections between neuroscience research and educational practices.

She holds a degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an avid hiker, swimmer, and loves being a mom.

Listen to a podcast interview with Allison.

Email Allison

  • Allison is:

    • Author of two books: Engage the Brain and Unlearning.

    • Senior Instructional Designer with Learning Solutions, leads learning and brain programs, and works with Soefia education on an AI collaboration tool.

    • Worked at CAST for 14 years as a Senior Content Editor and Producer and Director of Professional Learning.

    • Taught science in high school and community colleges. She still teaches at Lasell University.

    • Earned a Global Inclusion Award from the International Forum of Inclusive Practitioners (IFIP) in Paris.

    • UDL and MTSS California State Conference, 2025.

    • UDL in International Contexts. Ireland, 2024.

    • American Educational Research Association (AERA). Philadelphia, PA, Denver, CO, 2024-2025. 

    • Learning and the Brain. Conference. Boston, MA, 2019-2024.

    • National Alliance for Partners of Equity. Washington, D.C. 2019.

    • SXSWEDU. Austin, TX, 2019.

    • Harvard Graduate School of Education. Cambridge, MA, 2017-2025.

    • ASCD. Nashville, TN, 2018.

    • International Conference on Inclusion, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017.

    • Active Learning Symposium. Rutgers University, NJ. 2025.

    • Schools of the Future. Oahau, HI, 2023.

    • Digital Equity Summit, Seattle, WA, 2023-2024.

    • New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO), Portland, OR, 2020.

    • Coalition on Adult Basic Education, Washington, DC, 2018.

    • Statewide Inclusion Conference, Dover, DE 2018.

    • UDL-MTSS Conference. Fresno, CA, 2016.

    • Reaching High Expectations State Conference, Madison, WI, 2016. 

    • Center for Exceptional Children Conference, Science Literacy, Indianapolis, IN, 2016.

    • Florida Regional Leaders Conference, Cocoa, FL, 2016.

    • Department of Education Academy: MA Tiered System of Support, Framingham, MA, 2015- 2016

Liz Byron Loya, Program Lead

Liz strives to be a compassionate and culturally responsive educator. She is a dynamic presenter, author, and the K1-8th Grade Visual Art, Special Education, and ESL Teacher at a Boston Public School.

She has six professional teaching licenses and education degrees from Boston College, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Lesley University. She is a mom of two and spends her free time rock climbing with her husband, running, reading, or creating art. 

Listen to a podcast of Liz explaining how she applies UDL to her instruction. Email Liz

Ari Fleisher, Program Lead

Ari is a seasoned facilitator, instructional designer, and program leader with a background in Out-of-School Time, Social and Emotional Learning, and Universal Design for Learning—OST, SEL, and UDL. Yes, it's a lot of acronyms, but it all boils down to designing more inclusive, effective education systems and experiences for everyone, everywhere.

Ari earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. from Brandeis University. She’s a mom navigating the joyful chaos (and germs) of raising two young learners, and firmly believes sticky notes can fix just about anything.

Connect with Ari on LinkedIn

Email Ari

    • 10 years on the Professional Learning team at CAST, facilitating workshops, institutes, and long-term partnerships leveraging UDL. She has also taught graduate-level courses on inclusive design at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Lasell University.

    • Partnerships with schools, districts, and nonprofits on strategic implementation, sustainable systems design, and capacity-building for equity-centered change.

    • Facilitation style is humanizing, organized, and practical—grounded in deep listening, purposeful planning, and a commitment to making learning accessible for everyone.

Susan Shapiro, Program Lead

Susan brings decades of experience offering consultation and professional development to both pre-service and in-service educators about inclusive, accessible learning design and nationally recognized expertise with Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Susan believes that the truest measure of UDL implementation is the absence of blame for non-learning; when UDL is the lens, people begin to recognize barriers to learning as characteristics of designs, not characteristics of people. Participants in her workshops describe Susan as organized, constructivist, kind and funny. 

    • For the past seven years, she worked as a Senior Professional Learning Specialist at CAST teaching UDL to educators worldwide.

    • Full-time education department faculty member at Plymouth State University for twelve years.

    • Technical assistance provider to public schools on the education of students with complex support needs for the University of Vermont's Center for Disability, Community and Inclusion / UCED and UNH's Institute on Disability / UCED where she worked as a Research Associate for many years.

    • Affiliate faculty member in the Education Department at UNH-Durham and has taught graduate courses at several universities.

School district collaboration includes the following U.S. states:

  • Wyoming

  • Massachusetts

  • New Hampshire

  • North Carolina

  • Florida

  • Texas

  • New Jersey

  • Indiana

  • Kansas

  • Washington

  • California

  • Nevada

  • Wisconsin