Executive Director of the CEC

Ricky Fountain is a lifelong educator, who has served underrepresented communities and students for the duration of his career. Ricky’s educational journey as a professional began in Detroit, Michigan, as a kindergarten teacher on the westside of the city. Ricky transitioned from teaching students directly to leading schools and districts. He has served in these roles in traditional public schools as well as charter school districts: School Principal, Chief Academic Officer, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent. Ricky has served as a Lecturer at the University of Michigan since 2004. His commitment to educating students, leading adults, and dismantling oppressive systems has led him to researching the topic of Structural Racism in Medicine and its impact on the Detroit community specifically and underrepresented communities at large. He has provided academic content and outreach for medical leaders and professionals within the Detroit community. Ricky is now a part of the CEC team, focusing on ensuring GOAL Line is serving families and children at its capacity!

Director of GOAL Line

A native of Detroit, Michigan, and his roots from Ghana, West Africa, Ronald Newton is committed to serving communities similar to the ones in which he was raised. After attending Oakland University and graduating in 2000, he began his professional career as a 3rd grade teacher on the west side of Detroit. He then pursued his master’s at the American Intercontinental University in Education Leadership, and worked as an assistant principal for the YMCA Service Learning Academy. He later moved to Flint in 2005, where he became a Principal of a charter school and later transferred back to Detroit in 2010. Ronald Newton worked on numerous improvement projects, revising the means of providing student remediation for struggling students, implementing data-driven instructional strategies, and coaching first year teachers to sustained growth in the classroom. Soon after Mr. Newton became a Principal, he became known as the “turnaround principal”, wanting to help the schools that were struggling academically and socially. He truly believes that all students can learn, you just have to find what they are interested in and build relationships. Now, he has joined the GOAL Line team and is ready to continue to service the community!

Program Associate

Prior to her role with GOAL Line, Talisa McKissic was in post-secondary education for 11 years in the proprietary education sector. Specializing in forecasting and student retention, she held managerial roles in the Admissions, Career Services and Operations departments, and was a certified auditor for a national accrediting body of career schools. Talisa has long been passionate about after school activities and has volunteered her time to help schools without dance, art, and theater programs.  Ms. McKissic is thrilled for the opportunity to blend both backgrounds with her position at GOAL Line!

Behavior Specialist

A Native Detroiter who came up in the Detroit public school system, Steven has spent the last 13 years as a Behavior Specialist / Dean of Students for several different schools. He is a husband of 26 years and father of 3 daughters and 1 son. He is also a grandfather of 3 gorgeous little girls. The tagline he has taught every child he has worked with is “do your best and nothing less” and that is what he endeavors to do on a daily basis. Doing his best for his family, doing his best for the community and, now, doing his best for GOAL Line Detroit. We count ourselves privileged to have him on our team!

Behavior Specialist

Kiarra Ambrose is a native Detroiter and a self-proclaimed Educational Alchemist whose mission is to use holistic practices to create safe and brave spaces in education systems for people to heal, explore, learn, and evolve into their most authentic selves. Over the last five years of her personal and professional life, she’s been exploring and learning how to implement holistic practices and transform learning into a more authentic and holistic experience. During this journey, she’s read and applied work from Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Prentis Hemphill, adrienne maree brown, Zaretta Hammond, Dr. Muhammad Khalifa, People in Education (PIE) and various others who have done extensive research on the connection between intentional movement, how the brain processes information, and cultural responsiveness. Along the way she’s not only learned, but internalized practices such as centering, grounding, intentional breathing, and intentional movement to help her remain present and process what is happening in the space. These practices have been so foundational in her growth that she modified them to fit an educational setting and frequently used them as coaching tools with the high school math teachers and students she supported. As she enters the next phase of her journey, she is ready to build on that foundation by enhancing and expanding the skills she’s learned and applying them in areas such as building sustainable youth programming. She is honored to join the GOAL Line team as a collective, giving more space for creativity and innovation, two characteristics that are essential for an organization to thrive and be sustainable!