Our Team
Officers
Lawrence Morehouse, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Dr. Lawrence Morehouse is President & CEO of the Florida Education Fund (FEF) and Affiliate Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Florida (USF). Previously, he was tenured Associate Professor, Director of the Political Science Program, Acting Chair of the Department of Government and International Affairs, and Director of the Pre-Law Program at USF. Dr. Morehouse has a wealth of experience, which includes 36 years of teaching in higher education, developing educational policy, publishing, conference presentations, speaking engagements, and numerous TV and radio appearances.
Because of his outstanding academic performance, Dr. Morehouse received many fellowships, scholarships and other awards. He received a Cornell University Fellowship and is a two-time recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award at USF. In recognition of his prowess as a researcher and writer, Dr. Morehouse received the Earnhart Research Grant, The PEW Foundation Commission Scholar and Research Grant, and the Stanford University Scholar’s Award. He has published several book chapters and refereed journal articles and is the Editor-in-Chief of the FEF Journal of Interdisciplinary Research.
During Dr. Morehouse’s tenure as President & CEO, FEF's McKnight Doctoral Fellowship program has doubled the number of fellowships offered annually and expanded its support system to include publication of the FEF Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, online graduate writing workshops, professional editorial services, a Midyear Research and Writing Conference, and a Summer Research and Writing Institute for advanced graduate students and junior faculty. FEF also has raised over $76 million for its pre-college and doctoral programs while also growing its endowment, and Dr. Morehouse has been the Principle or Co-Principle Investigator on FEF grants from the College Board, Fifth Third Bank Foundation, Bank of America Foundation, Regions Bank, Helios Foundation, Duckwall Foundation, Hillsborough County School District, Tampa Housing Authority, National Science Foundation, the Florida Department of Education, and the NSF INCLUDES ALLIANCE Consortium.
Dr. Morehouse has been in the forefront of educational reform, having served on the One Florida Accountability Commission, the Florida Board of Education Accountability Commission, the Governor’s Access and Diversity Commission, the Florida Jury Innovations Committee, and boards of The Education Channel, Tampa Bay United Way, the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, and the Museum of Science and Industry. He is a current member of the Florida Memorial University Board of Trustees and past member of the College Board Southern Regional Council and the Florida Department of Education Student Growth Implementation Committee.
Dr. Morehouse earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern University and his master's and Ph.D. from Cornell University.
Lyra Logan, Esq.
Executive Vice President & General Counsel
In addition to handling FEF’s in-house legal matters, Executive Vice President & General Counsel Lyra Logan has responsibility for varied aspects of FEF’s operations. She directs and raises funding to support the organization’s pre-college programs, which include Centers of Excellence located in ten communities around the State, the Florida National Achievers Society, an annual statewide Pre-College Summit for students and parents, yearly state academic scholarship competitions, and after school and summer academic enrichment camps. Logan developed, designs curricula for, and trains instructors to teach an expanding category of those camps known as FEF CodeMasters, where underserved youth year-round learn computer programming within the contexts of game design, mobile app development, robotics, drone programming, and web development and also prepare to earn tech industry certifications. In December 2020, she secured a sizable, multi-year grant to expand this work to provide training in digital and tech skills to underemployed young adults in Florida’s underserved communities.
Logan also serves as managing editor of FEF publications, writes for the semi-annual FEF Focus, and, as FEF’s web applications developer, develops and maintains the organization's web-based application and data collection, management and processing systems. She also maintains FEF’s online learning management system (LMS) for pre-college and doctoral program course delivery, designed and implemented a statewide live-online tutoring program for school-age youth through the LMS, and has managed and supported FEF’s live-online graduate writing workshops delivered via the LMS since 2010.
Prior to taking on the above-mentioned roles, Logan ran FEF's Miami office, from which she developed, directed and successfully advocated for legislative appropriations to fund FEF's $54 million law school scholarship program (MPLE). The program helped 502 scholars earn J.D.'s and gain Florida Bar admission, while recruiting and preparing 305 college students to attend law school and receive MPLE awards.
Logan earned her bachelor’s degree from Fisk University and juris doctorate from Harvard; holds graduate certificates in Instructional Technology: Web Design, in Education Technology: Online Teaching and Learning, and in Educational Mobile Computing (MIT App Inventor); and is an industry-certified Perl, Python, JavaScript and Database Design Specialist. She has presented at national and international conferences and published articles on copyright, supplemental educational services, online learning, and MIT App Inventor, and recently authored the book Learn to Program with App Inventor, a computer programming text published by No Starch Press and distributed by Penguin Random House.
Logan has served as an appointee to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, Florida Small & Minority Business Advisory Council, and several municipal boards. She also has volunteered as a member of the board of directors of multiple leadership, community-based, cultural arts, and charter school non-profits. In 2018, Logan was selected to receive a Tampa Bay Business Journal BusinessWoman of the Year Award.
Staff
Ms. Monica MontesProject Manager and Graphic Designer
Ms. Monica Montes is Project Manager and Graphic Designer at FEF, where she supports the retention and graduation of McKnight Doctoral Fellows at nine participating Florida universities. Ms. Montes assists with managing the MDF budget and coordinates the MDF application and selection processes, the Mid-Year Research and Writing Conference, New Fellows’ Orientation, and the Annual Fellows Meeting. She also collects data on the MDF Program and reports findings to the FEF President and Board of Directors. Additionally, Ms. Montes manages production of and designs all of the organization’s publications, including the FEF Annual Report, conference program books, brochures, flyers, social media posts, and the semi-annual FEF Focus newsletter. She is proficient in the use of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, Microsoft FrontPage, Dreamweaver, CSS and HTML, among others. Ms. Montes earned her associate degree in commercial arts from Florida Metropolitan University and bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Full Sail University.
Ms. Phyllis Reddick
Executive Assistant/Communication Specialist
Ms. Phyllis Reddick is Executive Assistant and Communication Specialist at FEF. In addition to assisting Dr. Morehouse administratively, she manages the McKnight Junior Faculty Development Fellowship application and selection processes, the editing component of the McKnight writing assistance program, the McKnight Fellows’ evaluation process, and the MDF deferment program. Ms. Reddick also assists with developing FEF’s professional development workshops and recruiting speakers for MDF conferences, and she coordinates meetings of the FEF Board and its committees. Her communication responsibilities include writing and editing articles for the FEF Focus and other FEF publications such as the FEF Annual Report and conference programs. Reddick earned her bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Howard University.
Ms. Katelyn Sengsoulya
Office Manager/Accounting Assistant
Ms. Katelyn Sengsoulya manages the day-to-day operation of the FEF offices, which includes purchasing and distributing resources and providing IT support services for the MDF program. She also coordinates the MDF application and selection processes and FEF’s annual fund campaign, provides administrative support for the MDF Program and FEF offices, and has worked with the organization since 2005. As Accounting Assistant, Ms. Sengsoulya helps manage FEF’s financial operations. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in information technology and finance from the University of South Florida.