Board Election 2023
Learning Forward Board of Trustee Candidates
The Learning Forward Board of Trustees is pleased to present to its voting membership, three highly qualified candidates to fill Position 1 on the board. We ask you to please read each bio below and then make your selection at the link provided. This election will be open for voting beginning Tuesday, October 24 at 4:00 p.m. ET and will close on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Carmen S. Concepción, Ed.D. NCBT
Dean, School of Education
Padrón Campus
Miami Dade College
Miami, FL
Dr. Concepción's educational journey began with an Associate of Arts in Education from Miami Dade College in 1991. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Education from Florida International University, a Master of Science in TESOL from Nova Southeastern University, and a Specialist in Reading Education from the University of Miami. Her dedication to excellence in teaching and learning was recognized when she achieved National Board Certification as a teacher of English as a New Language in 2013. She later earned a Doctor of Education in K12 Administration from the College of William and Mary in 2020.
Throughout her career, Carmen has been a passionate advocate for literacy and educational excellence. She has served as a classroom teacher, a literacy coach, a curriculum support specialist, and a district administrator in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Carmen's leadership and expertise have been instrumental in the development and implementation of a range of literacy initiatives and programs.
In addition to her work in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system, Dr. Concepción has also held several other important roles in the field of education. She served as the FLARE (Florida Reading Enhancement and Achievement) Coordinator at the University of Central Florida, where she provided professional development and support to K-12 teachers across the state of Florida. She also served as the Director of Professional Learning at Florida Virtual School, where she oversaw the development and delivery of online professional development courses for teachers across the state. She currently serves as the Dean of the School of Education at Miami Dade College, where she provides leadership and support to faculty, staff and students.
Carmen has been a member of Learning Forward since 2006 and a member of Learning Forward Florida since 2013 where she has served her affiliate as a director at large, exhibitor committee chair, nominations committee member, social committee member, and conference presenter. She served as a selected reviewer of the recent Revised Standards for Professional Learning. She has been a presenter at Learning Forward Annual Conferences in 2021, 2019, and 2017.
Concepción has made other contributions to the field of professional learning with publications for ASCD Special Report (2020) entitled Educational Leadership: A New Reality Getting Remote Learning Right as well as her doctoral dissertation for The College of William and Mary entitled Teacher Leadership: A District’s Human Capital Investment Approach for Elevating Professional Learning. She has also been a presenter at various conferences beyond Learning Forward for the 62nd Council of Great City Schools Annual Fall Conference in 2018 and at the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) 80th Annual Conference (2018).
Concepción has been an active participant in Learning Forward events. She has attended every annual conference from December 2016 through December 2022, is a graduate of the Learning Forward Academy Class of 2017, and participated in Learning Forward’s Professional Learning in a Virtual World Network (DPLV).
Concepción tells the board that, if elected, she will continue to advocate for equity and excellence in teaching and learning both at the local and the state level. She assures the voting membership she will, through her leadership and service, continue to promote high-quality, equitable professional learning for all educators.
Dr. Stephanie Espinosa
Executive Director for Teaching and Learning
Northwest Independent School District
Justin, Texas
Espinosa always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She feels blessed to get to do that every day in her current role as Executive Director for Teaching and Learning in Northwest Independent School District outside of Fort Worth, Texas, the fastest growing district in North Texas with over 31,000 students. In her current role, she oversees the K-12 curriculum for all content areas as well as professional learning for teachers, administrators, and other staff.
Espinosa received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University. She earned her Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University in Educational Leadership. She began her journey teaching in Fort Worth, Texas. Her dissertation focused on early literacy and the summer learning loss, and she has used that learning as a foundation for addressing professional learning needs in an intentional manner. She was a classroom teacher, instructional specialist, assistant principal, and principal before her current position. Her commitment to her own professional learning as well as others’ has been the driving force behind her professional path.
In addition to her work in NISD, she constantly seeks ways to improve herself and others. She became a certified facilitator of the National Institute for School Leaders (NISL) and lead several cohorts of school leaders through the 18-month program. She has also developed a principal leadership program for Texas ASCD that focuses on the principals as instructional leaders. In her current role, Espinosa created a curriculum management plan that embedded professional learning to support teachers through planning, design, and execution of the curriculum. This work was noticed by Larry Ainsworth, and he reached out to tell her he appreciated the comprehensive approach.
Espinosa has been an active member of Learning Forward since 2016 and has regularly attended the Learning Forward Annual Conference. She presented at the 2018, 2019 and 2020 conferences where each of the sessions focused on empowering leaders through a collaborative process where the focus was on curriculum design, classroom observations, and embedded professional learning. At the national level, she advocates for the continuation of professional learning funding such as Title II to ensure districts can provide ongoing learning opportunities for teachers.
Espinosa believes that professional learning is the heart of student achievement and motivates and builds self-efficacy. She embeds professional learning days into the NISD calendar so educators are afforded time to build their expertise. She ensures that professional learning opportunities are embedded with coaches and teachers with micro-labs, learning walks, and PLCs. She feels that these opportunities highlight the importance of creating a Culture of Collaborative Inquiry as she seeks to help fellow educators improve their own practice and build capacity in one another. As a proud graduate of the Learning Forward Academy Class of 2019, Espinosa facilitates the development of on campus Problems of Practice and action plans to address campus needs.
Stephanie believes that learning with experts and peers was crucial to her professional development and accordingly promotes the Academy to other district leaders. Through the state affiliate, she brought in Tips and Tools for Professional Learning to support understanding of teaching adult learners. She states that Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning are a staple in the development of her district’s practices. Her district hosts an annual professional learning conference for over 3000 educators and their teaching and learning department has used the Standards to design and implement high-quality professional learning for all educators.
She tells the board that to advance the vision and mission of Learning Forward, she feels it is important for her to stay engaged in research and best practices and to promote these practices in her daily work. She believes it is important to advocate for effective professional learning programs, engage with other organizations, and ongoing discussions about the importance of continuous adult learning.
Dr. Dilhani Uswatte
National Distinguished Principal
National Milken Award Educator
Alabama Education Leader of the Year 2019
National Assessment Governing Board
Rocky Ridge Elementary
Hoover, AL
Born in Germany to parents of Sri Lankan descent, Dr. Dilhani Uswatte grew up in Canada and moved to the US in 2002 to start her married life with Dr. Gitendra Uswatte.
With 28 years of teaching experience in Canada and the US, across elementary, middle and high school levels, Dil has taught math and science courses and been an administrator. For the past 10 years, she has been the principal of Rocky Ridge Elementary in Hoover, AL.
Her passion for education has led to several recognitions including winning the Milken Educator Award, National Distinguished Principal Award, Alabama Educational Leader of the Year Award, and Alabama Teacher Hall of Fame Award. From presenting at state and national conferences to being appointed by Secretary Cardona to serve on the National Assessment Governing Board, Dil truly enjoys working and dreaming with others to build a better future for our children.
In Sanskrit, Dilhani means “winner of hearts.” Her goal in life is to live up to this name and share her personal motto, “Take the time to inspire and be inspired,” in order to improve education and the well-being of all.
As a board director, Uswatte has been associated with Learning Forward through the Council of Leaders for Alabama Schools and the Alabama Associations of Elementary Schools where Learning Forward was a conference partner. As a Milken Award Educator, a National Distinguished Principal, and a board member on the National Assessment Governing Board, Uswatte has presented at multiple state and national conferences including the Milken Forum, NIET, Engage Carolinas, and Alabama Principals Conference. She was a podcast guest speaker at Forbes.com and wrote several articles contributing to the field of education. She has initiated both state and national educator mentoring programs through the Milken Foundation. Her most recent presentation at the Engage Carolinas Conference was THE POWER of WE: Building Teacher AND Student Collective Efficacy. Her most recent article focused on solving our math crisis
(https://www.the74million.org/contributor/705269).
Uswatte attributes Learning Forward with invaluable personal learning through its online Advocacy pages and online articles from The Learning Professional. She tells the board that a colleague of hers challenged her to stop using the word “Feedback” and replace it with “Feedforward” with the premise of helping other to reflect about today in order to help with our tomorrow. She hopes that being a member of the board will enable her to help even more people to “Feedforward” by “LEARNINGForward.” She believes that high quality professional learning is critical for ALL educators including school leaders, teachers, and support staff. She hopes her connection to so many state and national organizations will allow her to make even stronger connections between the need for professional learning to truly impact educator effectiveness and student growth. She state that “the first lifelong learners MUST be US!”
If you are registered as a voting member, you will receive an email on Tuesday, October 24 asking you to vote.
If you do not receive the Election Notice, currently you are not registered as a voting member. If you wish to become a voting member, you may complete a registration form and send it to Board Administrator Joel Reynolds at joel.reynolds@learningforward.org. Once registered, she will email you the election ballot. Only one vote per voting member. Every voting member must be a member in good standing.
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Need help?
Joel Reynolds
Board Administrator
800 E. Campbell Rd.
Suite 224
Richardson, TX 75081
joel.reynolds@learningforward.org
972-421-0901