Monmouth & Middlesex Counties Team

Cynthia began her career with Acelero Learning in 2013 as a Family Advocate before transitioning into Human Resources in 2015. She later served as a Senior HR Generalist with Shine Early Learning, supporting daily HR operations. Today, she serves as Director, People Strategic Partner, partnering with leadership to align people strategies with organizational goals and foster a positive workplace culture.

Cynthia is bilingual in English and Spanish and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Communications and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Rutgers University.

Margarita Arbelaez joined the team in October of 2020. She serves as the Director of Family Engagement and Health for the Monmouth/Middlesex County delegate. Margarita comes from Illinois and bring 14 years of experience working with Head Start/Early Head Start and state funded Grants in roles such Family Support Worker, Family Engagement and ERSEA Coordinator and ultimately as Family Engagement and ERSEA Manager. Margarita is Bilingual English/Spanish and she holds a Masters degree in Psychology and a second Masters degree in International Business Administration.

Joseph Golden serves as the Operations Director at Acelero Learning, where he oversees the physical infrastructure and safety protocols for the organization’s learning centers. Since joining Acelero in 2017, Joseph has played a pivotal role in the Operations Department, first as a Food Service Coordinator before elevating to his current leadership position in 2024.

With a portfolio that includes maintenance, capital improvements, and vendor management, Joseph ensures that every facility meets rigorous regulatory standards to provide high-quality environments for both children and staff. This expertise is backed by over 20 years of leadership in the hospitality industry, having previously served as a Sales Director and General Manager.

Deborah Josell joined the Acelero Learning team in February of 2011.  She is our Assistant Director of Education and Inclusion and is our Mental Health Specialist.  In this role she supports ELIS’, CDs and teachers in creating plans that support children’s learning and well-being in our schools.  In her role as Mental Health Specialist, Deborah serves as a vital consultant for our educators and is a dedicated advocate for our families.

Deborah received her Masters in Social work from Wurzweiler School of Social Work in 1999 and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Deborah has dedicated her career to working with Families and Children. Prior to working with Acelero Learning, Deborah worked and volunteered with several Domestic Violence agencies, worked as a Care Manager with Monmouth Cares, and provided in-home therapy to children ages 5-18 and their families.

Gilda M. Morales  is the Assistant Director of Family Services & Health at Acelero Learning, serving Monmouth and Middlesex counties. She is a dedicated leader committed to providing high-quality health and social services to children and families, with a strong focus on community empowerment. Born in Ecuador, Mrs. Morales immigrated to New York at the age of three. Her parents’ journey instilled in her a deep appreciation for service and advocacy, shaping her lifelong commitment to supporting underserved communities.

Mrs. Morales brings over 23 years of experience in education and social services. She began her career with the New York City Department of Education as a bilingual 4th grade teacher, where she developed a strong foundation in culturally responsive education. She later transitioned into family services, working as a Family Services Coordinator with the Columbia University Early Head Start Program under the School of Public Health. Her professional experience also includes serving as a junior consultant for the Qualitas of Life Foundation, where she facilitated financial education programs for low-income families. She went on to serve as the Director of ERSEA, Family Services & Data at Cardinal McCloskey Community Services, supporting at-risk children and families in the South Bronx.

Throughout her career, Mrs. Morales has worked across Head Start programs in the Bronx, Harlem, and Washington Heights, as well as within the Department of Education in New York. Her work reflects a deep commitment to strengthening families through comprehensive services and data-informed practices. Mrs. Morales is also a proud mother of two, Natalia and Victor Manuelle, and currently resides in New Jersey. Her passion for community service continues to guide her leadership and impact in the field of Head Start.

Kim Muñoz, former Senior Director at Shine Early Learning, has over a decade of experience enhancing over 40 Head Start programs through data-driven quality improvement, strategic planning, and compliance monitoring. Now with Acelero Learning Monmouth & Middlesex Counties, she equips stakeholders with dynamic tools to foster a data-informed learning culture and drive measurable impact. An expert in streamlining processes and designing dashboards, Kim helps programs analyze outcomes and tell a compelling story of change. She holds a B.S. in Human Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and is based in Texas.

Meghan Navarro joined us in February of 2011 as a Center Director at our Carteret center.  In March of 2012, Meghan accepted a Center Director transfer to our Asbury Park site which increased the scope/number of classrooms that she managed and coached.  This also gave her the opportunity to successfully collaborate with the Asbury Park School District.  From there, Meghan continued to grow within the organization and was named the Early Learning Specialist before obtaining her current position as Early Learning and Disabilities Specialist-directing overseeing 3 Center Directors.  This position combines two of Meghan’s professional passions, Early Childhood Education and Special Education.  As an Early Learning and Disability Specialist, Meghan coaches Center Directors and supports them in their success as educational leaders.  She also works with the teachers to ensure a high quality and emotionally supportive environment is provided to all program children.  Prior to joining ALMMC, Meghan worked as a Behavioral Therapist for children with autism, as Preschool Teacher and as a Curriculum Director for a childcare center.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Rowan University with a specialization in Special Education and Writing Arts.

Adalgisa Plasencia joined Acelero Learning in July 2017. As the Director of Finance she manages the overall Finances of Acelero Learning Monmouth/Middlesex Delegate. Prior to coming on board Adalgisa was the Controller for the Raritan Bay Area YMCA in Perth Amboy, NJ. She holds a Bachelors in Accounting and has over 8 years of non-profit accounting experience.

Ricardo Kairios is a faculty member in the Department of Family and Community Health Sciences within Rutgers Cooperative Extension. His work focuses on community food systems, with an emphasis on food security and health equity. Ricardo earned his Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Sciences from Montclair State University and a Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from Rutgers University. Prior to joining FCHS, Ricardo previously worked as a supervisor for the New Jersey Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Essex, Passaic, and Hudson Counties, and as a Food Service Coordinator for the Head Start and Early Head Start Programs of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. He brings a wealth of experience in nutrition education, working with diverse audiences across the lifespan to promote health and well-being and sustainable consumer practices through accessible, culturally responsive programming.

Harriet Worobey was an instructor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Director of the Nutritional Sciences Preschool at Rutgers University for 28 years.  Her specialty in the field of Early Childhood Education is child nutrition, with strong interests in literacy and science education.  Since her retirement in 2015, Ms. Worobey has been the president of Meals on Wheels in Greater New Brunswick, Chair of the Child Care Consortium of New Brunswick Tomorrow, and Vice President for Professional Development for NJAEYC.  She was recently appointed to the Anshe Emeth Community Development Corporation.  Ms. Worobey has had a long term interest in Head Start, since being a student volunteer in the first summer of its existence.  She and her husband, Dr. John Worobey, have done nutrition research at 576 Livingston Avenue for many years, with presentations of that research at the Head Start Research Conferences.  She has been an Acelero board member since September 2011 and serves as our Early Childhood Educator representative.

Kerry Carley-Rizzuto is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Dr. Carley-Rizzuto teaches the full complement of early childhood courses at the undergraduate level as well as courses in the graduate endorsement program. She holds degrees in early childhood education, master’s degrees in both reading and educational administration, as well as a post-graduate degree in special education as a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant. Dr. Carley-Rizzuto completed her doctoral studies at Rowan University, where the focus of her dissertation was on pupils who are early childhood English Language Learners and their literacy achievement. Prior to joining Monmouth University, Dr. Carley-Rizzuto worked in public schools in New York City and New Jersey as a school administrator, early literacy specialist, and teacher of early childhood classes.
Early Childhood Education Expert

Laverne Finley is a longstanding Board member affiliated with one of Acelero’s community partners and is also a proud former parent of a child in the Acelero Learning Monmouth/Middlesex program. Finley serves as our Head Start parent representative.

Jarteau Israel is a graduate of Montclair State University and received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science, with an emphasis on International Relations. He is a fully Accredited Representative of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Jarteau frequently holds outreach sessions throughout New Jersey that focuses on immigrant rights, human trafficking, and victims of domestic violence. He is fluent in Haitian- Creole, French and functional in Spanish. He is an accredited Board of Education and Planning Board member for the city of Orange. He is also currently serving on the board of Acelero Learning with the goal of lending his expertise to grow and expand their footprint.

Thomas Z Lukoma is a User Experience Designer at JP Morgan Chase.  He has worked professionally in the field of Technology Business Analysis for over 15 years.  He is an experienced visual and verbal communicator, with an eye for integrating across disparate parts.  He has an ease with framing analysis into logical pieces and following through to get the best answer possible with available information.  He has strong experience managing projects through the software development life cycle in the financial services industry.

He has held prior roles at Deutsche Bank and started his career as a Management Consultant with The Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte) before transitioning to technology.

He holds a Bachelor Degree in Film Animation from Harvard University.

Susan Golbeck, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus in Educational Psychology at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, New Brunswick. She received her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University where she worked as a Head Teacher in the Laboratory Preschool. At Rutgers, her research has focused on children’s cognitive development especially in mathematics and spatial thinking. Her research was supported with grants from the Spencer Foundation as well as the National Science Foundation. She taught students in early childhood teacher preparation programs as well as graduate students in the EdM, EdD and the PhD programs in educational psychology at Rutgers.Over the years she worked on a variety of community projects in New Brunswick with the Infant Child Task Force of New Brunswick Tomorrow. She has also worked at the local and state level on topics related to early childhood teacher certification. Currently, she is particularly interested in the use of online instruction for early childhood educators.