President: Tameka Mays
A paraprofessional in the Colonial School District for more than 20 years, Tameka Mays is the first Education Support Professional to be elected president of the Delaware State Education Association.
A graduate of Newark High School, Tameka has become one of Delaware’s leading advocates for students experiencing trauma and public educators fighting for better working conditions.
Her exceptional dedication and commitment to her students earned her DSEA’s 2017 Educational Support Professional of the Year Award.
A decade after first joining her local union, Tameka was elected president of the Colonial Paraprofessional Association in 2016 before winning statewide elections to become DSEA’s Vice President in 2023 and the union’s newest President in 2026.
Tameka has also completed the National Education Association’s Leaders for Tomorrow program and NEA’s National Organizing Fellowship. She is a member of the DSEA Year-Round Organizing Team and the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee.
Beyond her professional commitments, Tameka and her sister are also the co-founders of Twins Community Distribution, a nonprofit that helps provide food, clothing and household items to underserved Delawareans, particularly families impacted by the opioid crisis
Tameka and her husband Warren, an assistant principal in the Brandywine School District, live in New Castle with their three school-age daughters.
Vice President: Steven Fackenthall
A dedicated music teacher in the Red Clay School District for nearly two decades, Steve Fackenthall became the newest member of DSEA’s leadership team when he was elected vice president in early 2026.
Steve is one of our union’s biggest champions of member advocacy and collective action. He currently leads one of DSEA’s largest locals as president of the Red Clay Education Association, where he has successfully increased both membership and participation in the northern New Castle County union.
As DSEA vice president, he is leading our union’s work to deliver the tools and resources union educators need to advocate for themselves and their students.
A Pennsylvania native who earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from West Chester University, Steve began his career in Delaware public education at Richardson Park Elementary in 2008 before transferring in 2017 to Donald J. Richey Elementary, where he continues to teach general music today.
An active union member throughout his career, Steve served as an association representative and chaired his local union’s Community Finance Review and Political Action committees, before his colleagues elected him as RCEA’s vice president in 2020 and president in 2022. He also represented RCEA on the DSEA Executive Board from 2021 to 2023.
Steve lives in the Claymont area with his cats Pepper and Potts. In his downtime, he enjoys keeping up with politics and outdoor activities, including ultimate Frisbee, golf, volleyball, and walking through Bellevue State Park.
Treasurer: Mary Pieri
A public school educator in the Christina School District for 19 years, Mary Pieri has proudly served as Treasurer of the Delaware State Education Association since 2023.
In that position, Mary works to ensure our union remains financially strong, protected and prepared to meet the future needs of our members while honoring the rich, century-long history of DSEA.
A graduate of Glasgow High School, Mary earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in elementary education from Wilmington University.
Mary began her career in Delaware public education in 2008 as a kindergarten teacher, first with the half-day kindergarten program at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, followed by a 3-year stint at the Bancroft School (now Maurice Pritchett Sr. Academy) and 6 years at Robert S. Gallaher Elementary School, where she was selected as her building’s Teacher of the Year in 2019.
Since 2023, Mary has worked as a Birth-To-Three Transition Special Education Coordinator at the Christina Early Education Center, where she partners with families, state agencies, and school personnel to help some of the district’s youngest learners navigate the jump from early childhood intervention programs into preschool.
Throughout her career, Mary has been a dedicated advocate for labor rights, public education, developmental appropriateness, and civil rights.
As a union member, she served as an association representative and an area director for Christina elementary schools before serving five years as the Secretary and five years as the Treasurer for the Christina Education Association – the single largest local union in the DSEA family – where she also spent a year on the CEA Executive Board.
In 2023, Mary was appointed to complete an 18-month term as the DSEA Treasurer before winning a full, 3-year term of her own in 2024. She also previously served on the DSEA Kindergarten Task Force, chaired the DSEA Resolutions Committee, co-chaired the NEA Lifelong Learners Subcommittee, and served on the Delaware Department of Education’s Every Student Succeeds Act Advisory Committee.
As the mother of three past and present public school students, Mary is deeply committed to the promise of public education and strives every day to be a good ancestor – showing her children that she worked to leave the world better than she found it.
NEA Director: Gloria Ho
A school social worker for 28 years, Gloria Ho was reelected in 2026 to a second, 3-year term as Delaware’s National Education Association Director.
In that position, she advocates for DSEA’s legislative priorities with members of the U.S. Congress. She also holds Delaware’s sole seat on the NEA Board of Directors, where she carries the priorities of Delaware educators into national union’s decision-making, as well as seats on the NEA Legislative Committee and the Executive Officer Compensation Committee.
A licensed clinical social worker at Milton Elementary in the Cape Henlopen School District, Gloria is a nationally recognized advocate for students, educators, and public education. She was named the National School Social Worker of the Year in 2024 and one of The News Journal/DelawareOnline’s Most Influential and Inspiring Delawareans in Education in 2026.
Gloria currently serves as a state specialist induction coordinator with the Delaware Department of Education’s Comprehensive Induction Program for new school workers.
She previously co-founded and served as co-president of the School Social Workers Association of Delaware, a nonprofit, professional organization dedicated to supporting Delaware's school social workers.
She also previously represented Sussex County on the DSEA Executive Board, chaired DSEA’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, co-founded the Delaware Coalition of Labor Union Women, and served as an association representative for the Cape Henlopen Education Association.
Beyond her public school and union work, Gloria serves on the editorial board and writes for Black Voices, a publication of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice. In 2026, she was appointed to the Delaware Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage and Culture.
The daughter of immigrants who believed deeply in the power of education, Gloria is a Dover High School graduate and a lifelong Delawarean. She and her husband have two daughters, both graduates of Caesar Rodney High School. Noelle graduated with her master’s from the University of Hong Kong, and Ava is currently attending the University of Chicago.
