Elliott Asp is a senior partner with Colorado Education Initiative, where he helps lead the delivery of relevant, strategic programming to educators and system leaders in Colorado. His expertise in instruction and assessment helps increase the organization’s impact in accelerating improvement and innovation in Colorado’s schools and districts. Most recently, Asp served as senior fellow,…

Avis Glaze is one of Canada’s outstanding educators and a recognized international leader in education. From classroom teacher to Superintendent of Schools and Director of Education, this award-winning educator has experience at all levels of the school system. She was one of five Commissioners on Ontario’s Royal Commission on Learning. As Ontario’s first Chief Student…

Anthony (“Tony”) Mackay is CEO, Centre for Strategic Education (CSE) Melbourne, Inaugural Chair, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), and Deputy Chair, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). An Honorary Fellow in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, Mackay is Deputy Chair of the Australian Council for Educational…

Mike Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, one of the country’s most influential education policy think tanks. He is also a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, executive editor of Education Next, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Education Commission of the States. An award-winning writer, he is the author of…

Dick Riley served as co-chair of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future for 10 years and shepherded NCTAF’s merger with Learning Forward.  A former U. S. Secretary of Education (1993-2001), he helped launch initiatives to raise academic standards; improve instruction for the poor and disadvantaged; increase family and business involvement in education; promote…

Ted Sanders, retired President of the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based policy-research organization, has dedicated more than 45 years to education policy and leadership. He has held high-level posts in state and federal government, as well as other public, not-for-profit, and private entities. Sanders served as NCTAF Co-Chair, where he was a dedicated…

As President and CEO of the NEA Foundation, Harriet Sanford has led the work of the Foundation since 2005. The NEA Foundation’s mission is to advance student achievement by investing in public education. During her 13-year tenure at the NEA Foundation, Sanford has transformed the depth and breadth of its programs by investing in educators…

Robert B. Schwartz is Professor Emeritus of Practice in Educational Policy and Administration at Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He held a wide variety of leadership positions in education and government before joining the HGSE faculty in 1996. From 1997 to 2002, Schwartz also served as president of Achieve, Inc., an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit…

Milton Chen is Senior Fellow of The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF), a nonprofit operating foundation founded by the filmmaker in 1991. GLEF utilizes media, especially its multimedia website (www.edutopia.org), a magazine, Edutopia: The New World of Learning, and documentary films, to tell inspiring stories of how interactive technologies are transforming America’s schools.

Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she has launched the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute and the School Redesign Network. Her research, teaching, and policy work focus on issues of teaching quality, school reform, and educational equity. Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation’s ten most influential people…

Mark A. Elgart currently serves as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer for Advance Education. Under his leadership, AdvancED is recognized as a leader on issues of educational quality. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the Knowledge Alliance, and on the Advisory…

Kati Haycock is one of the nation’s leading child advocates in the field of education. She currently serves as director of the Education Trust. Established in 1992, the Trust does what no other Washington-based education organization seeks to do—speaks up for what’s right for young people, especially those who are poor or members of minority…

C. Kent McGuire is president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation where his focus is on fairness and excellence by expanding the benefits of education to all people. From 2003-2010, he served as dean of the College of Education and professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University. Previously,…

Ellen Moir is the founder and CEO of the New Teacher Center, (NTC), a national organization dedicated to improving student learning by accelerating the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders. Ellen is widely recognized for her work in beginning teacher development and school reform. She has extensive experience in public education, having previously served as…