AURORA, Ill., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Menta Education Group (“Menta”), a nationally respected leader in special education serving more than 40 schools across Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, and Texas, announces the appointments of Allison M. Porterfield-Woods as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Mathew T. Varghese as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Both are newly created, inaugural executive roles established to support Menta’s next phase of growth. The search was conducted in partnership with Stanton Chase, a global executive search and leadership advisory firm.
Both leaders will report directly to Menta CEO Rory Conran and join the organization’s executive team at its headquarters in Aurora, Illinois.
“My colleague Charles Nailen and I felt privileged to partner with Menta’s leadership team on two searches that will shape the organization for years to come,” said Meredith Harper Bonham, PhD, Managing Director at Stanton Chase. “These leaders arrive at a pivotal time for the organization, and bring deep functional expertise with a genuine commitment to Menta’s mission. Allison and Mat each possess exactly the blend of scale-building experience and values-driven leadership Menta was seeking. We’re confident they will help Menta serve even more students and families in the years ahead.”
About the Appointments
As Menta enters an expansion period, the organization created these two executive positions to build a scalable operating infrastructure needed to support its rapidly growing, multi-state footprint.
Allison M. Porterfield-Woods, Chief Information Officer
Porterfield-Woods brings more than 25 years of information technology leadership experience, including over a decade in higher education. She joins Menta from the College of Lake County, where she served as Chief Information Officer since 2023, leading a comprehensive technology strategy and overseeing enterprise system transformation, cybersecurity, and IT operations across the institution. Prior to that, she spent more than a decade at Northwestern University in progressively senior IT leadership roles, including Director of Enterprise Systems for Human Resources and Student Systems, where she led major enterprise transformation initiatives and built high-performing, business-aligned technology teams.
At Menta, Porterfield-Woods will lead the organization’s enterprise-wide technology modernization, including a full assessment of the Menta Student Information System, infrastructure and cybersecurity strategy, and the build-out of a scalable IT operating model to support the organization’s continued growth.
Mathew T. Varghese, Chief Human Resources Officer
A seasoned people leader and platform builder, Varghese most recently served as Chief People Officer at agilon health Inc. In that role he led agilon’s global HR function supporting a rapidly scaling healthcare services organization across 14 states, helping the organization grow from $1.7 billion to $6 billion in revenue in approximately four years while meaningfully improving employee engagement and reducing turnover. Earlier in his career, Varghese held senior HR leadership roles at R1RCM, Gallagher Bassett Services, General Electric/Wells Fargo, and General Mills, where he built expertise across workforce strategy, M&A integration, organizational design, and talent infrastructure.
Varghese will lead Menta’s design and build-out of a unified HR infrastructure, with early priorities including a comprehensive organizational assessment, a strategic HR roadmap, and the standardization of employee relations, talent acquisition, and compensation practices to support Menta’s mission-driven workforce.
A Pivotal Moment for Menta
“These appointments mark an exciting new chapter for Menta,” said Dr. Rory Conran, Menta’s CEO. “As we continue to grow, having the right people strategy and technology infrastructure in place is essential to our ability to serve students and families with excellence. We’re thrilled to welcome Allison and Mat to our executive team.”
About The Menta Education Group
Founded in 1973 by Bob Neubeck and Karen Evans, The Menta Education Group was created to support children who struggled in traditional classroom settings. Over the past five decades, Menta has grown into a nationally respected leader in special education, known for its work with students whose disabilities have impeded their academic and behavioral development. Today, Menta operates more than 40 schools across Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, and Texas and employs over 1,600 staff.
About Stanton Chase
Stanton Chase is a leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm, partnering with organizations to identify transformational leaders across industries.
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SOURCE Stanton Chase