About Us

Challenger Family Members · Board of Directors · Challenger Staff

Through careful staff restructuring and the strengthening of efforts in such areas as new technologies, new partnerships, and new product development as well as in marketing, sales, and fundraising, we have made great strides in reversing the organization's earlier financial trends. We are working in solid ways toward a bright, dynamic, and innovative future as we enter our third decade of inspiring, exploring, and teaching.

The coming months will see other changes aimed at an important refocusing of Challenger Center headquarters back to its original and true mission-a powerful educational organization tasked with delivering quality products and services to tens of thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of children annually through, and in close cooperation with, its network of over fifty Challenger Learning Centers across the United States, Canada, and England.

Staff Listing

Regional – East Coast

Martin Schwartz, Eastern Regional Director

Regional – West Coast

Pam Peterson, Western Regional Director and Network Liaison

Kansas City

Cheri Winkler, Learning Center Support Manager
Bill Seilnacht, Manager Customer Technical Support
Jason Ketter, Tech Support Specialist
Rosanne Alvarez, Administrative Assistant

Alexandria, VA

Rita Karl, Director of Educational Program
Donald Coates, Director of Development
Bette Denniston, Accounting Manager
Patrick McQuillan, Education Manager
Muhamed Shazlee, Technology & Operations Manager
Carlos Nunez, Director Challenger Center of Greater Washington
Kattie Kettles, Flight Director
Colleen Jay, Flight Director
Shannon Rush, Development & Communications Associate
Teblez Kelati, Accounting Specialist
Genet Haile, Accounting Specialist
Rebecca Pinkerton, MS Astronomy

For contact information, please visit Contact Us page.