Meet Your Advocates

Certified Levy Educational Advocates ready to help you and your family navigate the educational system.

Christine Levy, E.Md.

Founder, Senior Advocate

Christine is an esteemed expert in the field of Educational Advocacy, renowned for her unwavering dedication to empowering parents and their children to achieve their full educational potential, both academically and emotionally.

Christine relieves the stress the complicated process of navigating the Special Education process may cause by advocating on behalf of families for the support, services and placement crucial to child’s success.

Your LEA Advocates

Wendy Harsfield

Advocate & Expert Educational Observer
Orton-Gillingham Certified

With over 20 years of experience working in the special education field, Wendy is now a trained and certified Levy Education Advocacy team member. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University, a Master’s degree in Art History and Museum Studies from Boston University, and an M.S.Ed. in Moderate Special Needs from Simmons University.

Expertise in Dyslexia, ADHD, Anxiety, and Mental Health.

Throughout her career, Wendy has worked in several Massachusetts school districts as a 1:1 instructional assistant and an inclusion teacher. She has extensive experience working with students on the autism spectrum and students with dyslexia and ADHD. For the last five years, she has evaluated hundreds of students as a senior member of the Early Reading Screening team at the Hamilton Institute at the Wheeler School in Providence. Wendy is skilled at identifying evidence-based strategies that support dyslexia, ADHD, and other related disorders.
Wendy also works as an Orton Gillingham tutor. She has helped countless students “crack the code” of language so they can learn to be proficient readers. She holds a professional teaching license in Massachusetts and an associate-level certification from the Orton Gillingham Academy. She is the host of Talking Dyslexia, a podcast focused on bringing critical information to families and teachers of students with dyslexia and other related disorders.
Wendy is also the mother of 3 teenagers, the oldest of whom suffers from anxiety and the youngest of whom has dyslexia and suffered a stroke in utero. As she has advocated for her children, she has also spent countless hours counseling other families who are navigating the special education system. Wendy has extensive experience working with both public and private schools. She has a deep understanding of how to effectively advocate as both a teacher and a mother.
Connecticut, Lincoln, and the surrounding areas of Sharon, Massachusetts.

Marci Hannon

Advocate
Orton-Gillingham Certified

Marci is a dedicated expert in neurodiverse and complex learners, with a strong focus on dyslexia and the Science of Reading. She is a passionate educator with experience teaching various subjects and guiding children of all ages and with various abilities.

Expertise in Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, and Dyslexia.

Marci has extensive experience working as a classroom leader and interventionist in small, special education schools that provide a unique educational environment for children with multiple learning differences. She works closely with speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists and teaching assistants to integrate therapeutic support within the academic curriculum.
In 2004, Marci embarked on her mission to make a positive impact in the lives of individuals with disabilities. She earned her dual Bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education from Syracuse University. With over 12 years of experience as a special education teacher at the Wolf School in East Providence, Reading and Language specialist at the Hillel School in North Miami Beach, and Orton Gillingham reading interventionist, Marci’s investment in student’s learning has been consistent for some time.
Marci is now a trained and certified Levy Educational Advocacy Advocate. She is a member of the Orton Gillingham Academy and the International Dyslexia Association.She has attended training in Literacy for All, Reading with TLC, Lively Letters, Lindamood Bell, Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking, Zones of regulation, BrainGym, and Conscious Discipline. She has been awarded two teacher’s excellence awards by the Wolf School and the Knight’s Children’s Center. Marci continues her mission to provide successful and individualized learning environments for diverse learners, create comprehensive plans that cater to the unique needs of each student, and ensure that all aspects of a student's education are taken into consideration.
Rhode Island: Cumberland, North Kingstown, Narragansett. Chariho, East Greenwich, and West Warwick.
Massachusetts: Needham and Norwell

Ben Lupatkin J.D. B.C.A.S.E.

Advocate

Ben has spent almost 10 years working as a public defender for the Massachusetts Public Defender’s Office. After Ben’s career in law, he spent 3 years teaching at a vocational high school, teaching Criminal Justice with a focus on advocating for underrepresented individuals.

Expertise in Mental Health and Policy.

While working as a teacher, Ben reviewed numerous Individual Educational Plans and was a team member in many IEP meetings. Ben also learned how to teach students with various learning differences and the importance of the word “individual” when it comes to IEPs. During this time Ben’s son started to fall behind in reading and had him evaluated for learning disabilities when he was in first grade. This led to countless meetings, phone calls, and emails to discuss services. Although the school offered relatively robust services, progress was slow.
Watching this process play out in slow motion and feeling as if not enough was being done, Ben realized what a disadvantage parents are at. The acronyms, the technical talk, and the testing results all come across as a different language that needs decoding just to be able to participate in the process. This led Ben to see why so many people feel helpless when it comes to making sure that their individual child’s needs are met in an educational setting.
Seeing firsthand how difficult it is to navigate the special education system alone inspired Ben to become a board-certificated advocate and embark on difficult concepts in a way individuals without technical expertise can understand and work as a team to realize shared goals. It is Ben’s unwavering devotion to advocating for those in need and a deep understanding of how to calmly strategically, and collaboratively navigate what can feel like an adversarial process that sets Ben apart.

Ben holds a Board Certification of Advocacy in Special Education (BCASE). Although Ben is a member of the Massachusetts Bar, he works solely as an educational advocate for Levy Educational Advocacy. Ben can explain law and procedure and skillfully use his expertise in advocacy to your advantage but he does not give legal advice or representation in his role with LEA.
Rhode Island: Barrington and Warwick

Stacey Souza

Advocate & Educational Development Liaison

With 20 years of diverse education experience, Stacey Souza proudly serves as a trained and certified advocate at Levy Educational Advocacy. She is also a Professor at Providence College in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. She holds a dual Bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education from Providence College, a graduate certification in Literacy from Providence College, and is a National Board-certified educator.

Expertise in Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, Dyslexia, and Down Syndrome.

Stacey has taught students ranging from grades 2 through 8 with a diverse array of educational and emotional needs. Her experience within the elementary and middle school settings, as both a special and regular educator, has deepened her overall understanding of how to best meet individual student needs. Her ability to establish and maintain a positive rapport with families is a testament to her commitment to embracing the whole student. Stacey is currently a Professor at Providence College teaching Methods in Literacy to undergraduate students.
Stacey discovered her passion for advocacy while advocating for the needs of her youngest son. As a mom of two teenage boys, she has been through the educational system as both a parent and an educator. She is dedicated to advocating for and empowering students and families to ensure they reach their full potential and become successful, lifelong learners.Item description
Rhode Island: South Kingstown, East Greenwich, East Providence, Exeter, and Cranston;
Massachusetts: Medfield, Albion, and Redding.

Kristen DeAlmo

Advocate and Home School Liaison

With 17 years of invaluable experience in education, Kristen DeAlmo proudly serves as a trained and certified advocate at LEA. She holds a dual Bachelor's degree in both Elementary and Special Education from Rhode Island College (RIC) and a graduate certification in English Language Learning from RIC, she is deeply committed to meeting the diverse needs of the students she teaches.

Expertise in Home School Liason and Mental Health.

Equipped with a Wilson Level One certification and Science of Reading training, she is adept at supporting children with reading disabilities, including dyslexia. Furthermore, her training in Project Read, Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Project, Lively Letters, and Math Advantage further enriched her instructional approach.
Throughout her career in education, she has engaged in curriculum development and collaborative educational planning. Kristen has actively contributed to writing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support ( MTSS) plans and building individualized educational plans that cater to the needs of diverse learners.
Kristen has also served as a leading member of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports committee. She has been trained in Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking methods and the Zones of Regulation to support students’ social-emotional development. She was awarded the Horace Mann Crystal Apple award for teaching excellence in 2008 and was a South Kingstown School Department Key is Me, award recipient.
Kristen extends her passion for education by tutoring students in her community, leading summer camps, and coaching youth sports. Kristen is a mother of three girls and is a true educational advocate for her children’s education. With an unwavering dedication to teaching and a lifelong commitment to learning, Kristen strives to empower every student to reach their full potential and will work tirelessly to advocate for the needs of students.
Rhode Island: East Greenwich, Chariho, and Foster-Glocester.