This is a past event. Registration is closed. View other American Association for Employment in Education events.
Peggy Brookins, NBCT
President and CEO of National Board for Professional Teaching StandardsFormer NBPTS Board member Peggy Brookins, NBCT, joined the National Board as Executive Vice President in December 2014 and was named President & CEO in November 2015. Her long career as an educator includes many national leadership positions and accolades. In July 2014, President Barack Obama named Brookins as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. She came to the National Board from the Engineering and Manufacturing Institute of Technology at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, which she co-founded in 1994 and where she served as director and as a mathematics instructor.
She served on the NBPTS Board from 2007 to 2011. In addition, she has served on the board of, The Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences Ad Hoc Committee on Teachers as Professionals, the Content Technical Working Group for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a commissioner on the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), P21 Executive Board, and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Teacher Prep Commission. She has been a national trainer for AFT (Thinking Mathematics K-2, 3-6, 6-8 Common Core, collaborator and national trainer for Thinking Mathematics 6-8). She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Digital Promise, National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) Executive Board, Fund for Teachers Executive Board, Out Teach Executive Board, Bowie State University and the STAR Program Advisory Board, National Geographic Education Audit Advisory Board, Eddie and Jules Trump Foundation of Israel Advisory Board, the Class Strategic Advisory Board, the Learning Variability Project Advisory Board, Global Teacher Leadership Advisory Board, and Teach Plus.
Brookins achieved her certification in Adult and Young Adolescent Mathematics in 2003 and renewed in 2013. She was inducted into the University of Florida Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009, Received the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “Woodie Flowers” Award in 2016, is a Florida Education Association “Everyday Hero,” and received the association’s Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2013, Brookins was named an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar.
Dr. Richard Warren Jr.
2019 Maryland State Teacher of the Year and Hazel Professor of Education at University of Maryland Eastern ShoreDr. Richard Warren Jr, is the 2019 Maryland State Teacher of the Year and a nationally awarded S.T.E.M innovator. In fact, Samsung named him “one of the leading 'Solve for Tomorrow' teachers in the United States.”
He has nearly a decade of teaching experience and holds a Bachelors in Science, Masters in Teaching, and Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In February 2019, Richard was inducted into the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hall of Excellence, the highest honor of achievement offered by his University.
As the eighth grade science teacher at Crisfield High School and Academy, Dr. Warren led the school’s first-ever S.T.E.M program. An award-winning program he designed to meet the challenges of the global society through innovation, collaboration, and creative problem solving. His students were selected as state finalist out of 3,000 applicants in the national Samsung S.T.E.M competition.
Richard has been recognized statewide as a top educator by the Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland General Assembly with honors in both the House of Delegates and State Senate.
He is an expert in teacher retention where he has compiled, written, and published over 150 pages of literature and recommendations to school districts that are implementing mentoring programs for beginning teachers. Since 2015, he has worked closely with district teacher mentoring programs, helping beginning teachers find success and gratification in the classroom.
Richard frequently travels around the world as a featured and keynote speaker. He has delivered multiple keynotes, one of note being at the 2018 Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) Convention reaching over 14,000 video views. On April 6th, 2019 he delivered his first TEDx Talk, Breakthrough Teaching: Reimaging Teachable Moments.
Dr. Warren currently serves as the Hazel Professor of Education at the University of Maryland preparing future teachers to take on the next generation of students, with a special emphasis on educating male students of color to become K-12 teachers. Dr. Warren’s work with students, teachers, and state departments has become well known in the educational world and beyond.
Constance Lindsay, Ph.D.
Co-Author of Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom and Assistant Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLindsay earned a doctorate in human development and social policy from Northwestern University, where she was an Institute of Education Sciences’ predoctoral fellow. Since leaving Northwestern, Lindsay has worked in education policy in various contexts, applying her research training in traditional studies and in creating and evaluating new systems and policies regarding teachers. Lindsay’s areas of expertise include teacher quality and diversity, analyzing and closing racial achievement gaps, and adolescent development. Her work has been published in such journals as Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and Social Science Research. Lindsay received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University and master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Before doctoral study at Northwestern, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the US Department of Education.
Constance Lindsay’s research focuses on policies and practices to close racial achievement gaps in education. Currently, her main focus is on teacher diversity and how to obtain a high quality, diverse educator workforce.
Wendy Adams
Director, Teach@Mines of Colorado School of MinesAdams is the Director of Teach@Mines at the Colorado School of Mines, an APS Fellow, and co-recipient of the 2018 American Physical Society Excellence in Physics Education Award. A Physics Education Researcher by training, she earned her PhD. from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007 under the guidance of Dr. Carl Wieman. Adams’ research focuses on formative assessment, curriculum design, and perceptions of the teaching profession. She is the author of the CLASS, which measures students’ perceptions of physics and how to learn physics; has done extensive work on problem solving evaluation; developed the interface design guidelines for the PhET Interactive Simulations; designed and developed several curricula including the Explore Sound project - K-14 materials for acoustics; and has recently developed the PTaP and PTaP.HE instruments (Perceptions of Teaching as a Profession) for students and for faculty in Higher Education, respectively. Currently Adams is the Principal Investigator on a 5-year NSF funded project, Get the Facts Out: Changing the conversation around STEM teacher recruitment.
Jennifer Alexander
Director of Talent Development at Colonial School DistrictJennifer D. Alexander Ed.D is the Director of Talent Development for Colonial School District. Jennifer graduated from West Chester University with a degree in Elementary Education. She obtained her master's degree from Cheyney University and Doctorate in Education with a District Leadership concentration from Wilmington University. After teaching for the School District of Philadelphia for seven years, Jennifer joined the Colonial School District as a 6th grade teacher. Within two years, she was promoted to assistant principal and then moved on to become the principal of Colwyck Elementary School. After four years, she was moved to Pleasantville Elementary where she served as the building principal for nine years. During her time as an administrator at Pleasantville, Jennifer spent countless hours coaching teachers through the observation and feedback model and improving school climate through the use of Responsive Classroom practices. As the Director of Talent Development, Jennifer is a member of the District Leadership Council and focuses on the active recruitment and retention of educators. Outside of Colonial, Jennifer serves as an adjunct instructor at Wilmington University in the Doctoral Program. She tweets @JennAlexPLV.
William Anders
University Director of NYC Men Teach at City University of New YorkWilliam Anders is a Trenton, NJ native and proud alum of Clark Atlanta University. As the University Director of NYC Men Teach at the City University of New York, William leads CUNY’s efforts on teacher diversity across 15 CUNY campuses and is a strategic partner alongside the New York City Mayor’s Office and New York City Department of Education. In his spare time, William enjoys being involved in his community as a member of 100 Black Men of New York and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. His Twitter handle is: @MR_ANDERS101.
Jana Anderson
Recruitment and Retention Coach at MSD Decatur Township- Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color: The Challenge, Hard Work, and Path Forward
- Bridging Recruiting and Retention: How Onboarding Teams Bring a Sense of Belonging to New Hires
- Creating a Successful Teacher Recruitment Campaign
Jana is an E3+ Recruitment and Retention Project Coach for MSD of Decatur Township. Through the E3+ grant, she is providing support to 8 districts and 7 states around the country working with Human Resource Directors and Project Coaches. Prior to Jana’s current role, she was the principal for 10 years at the Gold Academy in MSD of Decatur Township in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In her 30 plus years in education, she has served as a sixth grade teacher and an instructional coach. Jana focuses on building relationships with students, staff, and families which creates a community-based approach to education.
Sabrina Baptiste
Program Operations Director of InnovateEDUSabrina Baptiste is a graduate of St. John’s University, where she received her Master’s in Public Health with a minor in Psychology. Sabrina leads InnovateEDU's LAB Corps Fellowship program, which provides training and professional development to novice educators providing small group instruction and mentorship to middle school students. Sabrina also co-leads the Pathways Alliance initiative focused on improving educator preparation programs nationwide. Before working for InnovateEDU, she was a Program Director in youth development programs that enrich young people with the tools to grow into capable and confident adults. She has a passion for supporting underserving youth and communities through a holistic and collaborative approach. Sabrina believes in providing students, educators, and families with a solid foundation in issues impacting education and population health that encourages and empowers them to make healthy choices throughout their lifetime.
Brooke Barrett
Founding Partner and President at BenchK12, Inc.Brooke (she/her) started her career as a long-term substitute teacher while her district had a hiring freeze and couldn’t contract her into her assignment as a high school English Teacher. Nearly 20 years and two-ish advanced degrees later, she has served as a trusted advisor and implementation partner to numerous K12 state DOEs, districts, charters, ed orgs, & EdTech companies on a variety of strategic management challenges through her consulting practice at Edutelligentsia.
She has become an expert on the challenges that her K12 education partners and sector face with a growing proliferation of applications, siloed data, and legacy systems and vendors who exploit and monopolize the K12 market. Despite the growth of education standards and adoption by many vendors, human capital/talent enterprise systems that serve the complexities of K12 employment-- with significant credentialing and identity verification–and help them maximize the one resource they spend the majority of their budget on, don’t exist.
While supporting the implementation of an ambitious Digital District plan for students & families as the interim Deputy Chief Technology Officer for a large west coast district, one issue she frequently heard about --and from countless other K12 local education agency peers and partners--was that the tech for teachers and recruiting and placing substitute teachers wasn’t as robust as they would like it to be. Fast forward to today, BenchK12 is the response to those challenges so that we can actually, finally, solve something in public education with great partners like AAEE and its members.
Jack Birmingham
E3+ Recruitment/Retention Coach at MSD Decatur Township- Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color: The Challenge, Hard Work, and Path Forward
- Bridging Recruiting and Retention: How Onboarding Teams Bring a Sense of Belonging to New Hires
- Creating a Successful Teacher Recruitment Campaign
Jack Birmingham has been a teacher and administrator for over 35 years. Since 2001, Jack’s administrative path included assistant principal, athletic director, principal and assistant superintendent. Currently, he serves as MSD Decatur Township and E3+ Recruitment/Retention coach. Jack continues to serve the leaders of Indiana, mentoring building leaders through the Indiana Association of School Principals and is the author of the school leadership book, Carnivals 2 Theme Parks, published in 2019.
Dustin Criswell
Principal, Decatur Middle School at MSD of Decatur TownshipDustin Criswell currently serves as principal at Decatur Middle school, located in Indianapolis, IN. In this role, he works closely with the Insight Education Group crafting and implementing an annual instructional vision for his building that is rooted in data. To execute this vision, Mr. Criswell facilitates weekly Instructional Leadership Team meetings that consist of four assistant principals, two lead teachers, and two collaborative teachers. He works tirelessly to create a culture of continuous improvement and a students first mentality. In addition, he prides himself in creating an environment where students and staff feel as though they are part of something special. Prior to becoming a principal, he was a dean, assistant principal, an instructional leader, a social studies teacher, middle school basketball coach, and a varsity football coach. He received his B.A. from Franklin College and his M.A. from Indiana State University. He is married to Kristina Criswell (15 years) and has three children: Isaac (7), Madeline (7), and Noah (4). He resides in Indianapolis, IN.
Dana Davisson
Program Director of Relay Graduate School of EducationDana Rae Davisson is the Program Director of Relay Graduate School of Education, Delaware campus. Her specific focus is managing partnerships, executing the residency program, and advising Delaware graduate students.
She was born in Somers Point, NJ, and moved to Delaware in 1998 to attend high school. She attended the George Washington University for undergraduate studies and received her Master’s of Education from Chestnut Hill College. In 2006, Dana became a first grade classroom teacher as a TFA Corps Member in the Greater Philadelphia region. Following her TFA commitment, Dana transitioned to middle school teaching and school leadership in Wilmington, DE. Dana was school-based for ten years before transitioning to higher education as Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of Residency for Relay Graduate School of Education’s Delaware Campus.
David Donaldson
Managing Partner at National Center for Grow Your Own- Pre-Conference Session: National Working Group on Teacher Retention
- How to Launch a Registered Apprenticeship in Teaching
David was the Chief of Human Capital at the Tennessee Department of Education. In that role, he launched several statewide programs including: Grow Your Own, Aspiring Assistant Principal Network and Diverse Leaders Network. He created a free additional endorsements program in SPED and ESL for over 5,000 educators.
During his tenure, Tennessee ranked #1 for prioritizing educator diversity and equity by The Education Trust. He was the lead author on the approved application by the U.S. Department of Labor to federally recognize the “K-12 teacher” occupation as eligible for apprenticeship.
David has been a teacher in Baltimore, principal in Detroit and administrator in New York City.
Dana Dudenhoeffer
Vice-Principal at Gainesville ISDDana Dudenhoeffer is a district administrator in the Gainesville Independent School District (TX).
Prior to this role, Dana served as project coach partnering with the participating Empowering Educators to Excel (E3) school districts to provide targeted support for educator effectiveness, leadership initiatives, and instructional practice. In this capacity, she supported district-wide recruitment and retention efforts.
She also served as a district coordinator in GISD and was responsible for the refinement and implementation of the school district’s instructional program. She provided systemic support to campus leaders regarding instructional best practices to improve student outcomes. In addition, she assisted in implementing curriculum training for instructional coaches and teachers. Dana began her career as a fourth grade teacher. She additionally taught third grade and spent four years as an instructional coach.
She believes when educators work collaboratively they can overcome obstacles and ultimately change the life of a child. She is committed to providing support as they continue to challenge themselves and to grow as educators.
Dana received her bachelor of science degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas Woman’s University.
Christine Eisenhauer
National Executive Director, Partnerships of Relay Graduate School of EducationAs National Executive Director of Partnerships, Christine Eisenhauer leads Relay’s teacher partnership and strategy team to support PK-12 school partners through robust programmatic offerings. Prior to this, Eisenhauer was the Dean of Relay’s Delaware and DC campuses and managed campus deans across Relay.
Prior to Relay, Eisenhauer was the Managing Director of Academics at KIPP Philadelphia Schools, worked with schools in Wilmington, Delaware, and on staff with Teach For America. Eisenhauer’s first love is math, and she began her teaching career as an 8th grade math and science teacher with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. She earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from the Relay Graduate School of Education, and her B.A. from Furman University in Greenville, SC.
Sandra Frederick
Director of Education Career Services at Grove City College Department of EducationSandra earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and masters in Reading from Slippery Rock University. She spent over 10 years in the classroom teaching at various levels. She has been a member of the Education Department at Grove City College since 2005, serving fifteen years as Director of the Hamilton Curriculum Library and teaching Adolescent Literature. In 2020, she shifted her passion for helping students into a new focus area by accepting the Director of Education Career Services position. Eager to assist students well in reaching their educational and professional goals, Sandy was quick to become an active member of AAEE. She serves as a representative and has been involved in various committees, lending a hand with the job search handbook, scholarship awards and conference planning.
Sandy was also actively involved in the education honorary, Kappa Delta Pi, serving as the Grove City College chapter advisor for 12 years. The Tau Alpha Chapter was nationally recognized for making an impact on the community in 2011 and earned the ACE Award - Achieving Chapter Excellence - biannually since 2003! An honor held by only two other chapters. As advisor, Sandy supervised student activities in service projects, professional development, and leadership roles as well as attending, presenting, and volunteering at KDP conferences.
Sandy is the proud mom of three adult children and two grandchildren. She enjoys family time, reading, kayaking, exploring new areas and meeting new people.
Jorge Fuller
HR Recruiter at Kansas City Public SchoolsJorge Fuller is a civically engaged educator that provides young people with the opportunity to express their voice and get engaged. He is the Owner of Fuller For The People LLC & Recruiter for Kansas City Public Schools. He successfully empowers young people to take charge, build diplomacy, and lead with genuine relationships. He serves on Several Boards of Directors and volunteers his time to the community in various efforts. Thus providing mentorship, empowerment, and exemplar for youth in the Kansas City Area.
Chris Gearlds
E3+ Project Director of MSD Decatur Township- Developing an ‘Everyone is a Recruiter/Always Recruiting’ Mindset: Building School Leader Capacity for Recruitment and Retention
- Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color: The Challenge, Hard Work, and Path Forward
- Bridging Recruiting and Retention: How Onboarding Teams Bring a Sense of Belonging to New Hires
- Creating a Successful Teacher Recruitment Campaign
Chris Gearlds is the E3+ Project Director for MSD of Decatur Township that oversees the implementation of the Teacher School Leader Grant from the US Department of Education. The grant supports teachers and students across 8 districts and 7 states around the country. Prior to his current role, he was the Director of Human Resources for MSD of Decatur Township in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In his 19 plus years in education, Mr. Gearlds served as a middle school teacher, an assistant principal, and a principal for three schools. He is an outside-the-box leader that encourages staff members to bring their energy daily as they make a positive impact on the leaders of tomorrow.
Mr. Gearlds holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, a master’s degree in education administration from Butler University, and an Education Specialist degree from Indiana State University.
He is married to his beautiful wife, Wendy and has two children, Oliver (17) and Estelle (14). He resides in Fountaintown, Indiana.
Maureen Gerrity
Special Education LRE Specialist/RTC Manager at Anne Arundel County Public SchoolsMaureen Gerrity has been in Special Education for 34 years. She began her career as a Teacher for the Deaf, and has worked as a Special Education teacher and a Department Chairperson. Maureen has held various positions at Central Office including Special Education Resource Teacher and Extended School Year (ESY) Specialist. She is currently the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Specialist and Resident Teacher Certificate (RTC) Program Manager in Special Education for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The RTC program provides an approved pathway to teacher certification for career changers with a Bachelor’s Degree in partnership with Notre Dame of Maryland University. Maureen also works part-time as a sign language interpreter at a psychiatric hospital and teaches at Anne Arundel Community College.
Wally Janneh
Outreach and Engagement Coordinator at PDK/Educators RisingWally Janneh is the Outreach and Engagement Coordinator at PDK. He began his career with the United Nations Development Programme. His work was primarily focused in The Gambia, to help the country develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He has since worked in Early Childhood education in Washington DC as well as an ESL teacher abroad in South Korea. Wally attended the University of Hartford, where he played soccer and graduated with a Business Management degree. Wally lives in Virginia, and in his free time enjoys traveling, learning about different cultures, and playing various sports.
Joan Johnson
Virginia Department of Education
Nikki Jones
HR Partner for North Region Elementary and Secondary Schools at School District of Palm Beach CountyNikki Jones believes in supporting others to become the best version of themselves. Continuing a family tradition, she started her career as an elementary school teacher. After earning a master’s degree in Reading and Language Arts, she became a Reading Coach, Reading First Regional Coordinator, Adjunct Professor, and Literacy Program Planner.
In 2016, Nikki Jones joined the SDPBC Department of Recruitment and Retention. Nikki managed the Substitute Office, worked with a team to develop the innovative Online New Employee Orientation, and managed the Teacher-of-the-Year and School Related-Employee-of-the-Year programs. Shortly after, she began supporting schools with recruiting, hiring, retaining, and managing their human capital needs.
Nikki is the District Coordinator for Florida Future Educators of America (FFEA) and Teachers of Tomorrow (ToT), two recruiting programs that nurture the interest of teaching as a career in elementary, middle, and high school students. She manages the awarding and disbursement of the FFEA Scholarship for high school students and non-instructional employees desiring to become a teacher in the District. Nikki also supports University Partnerships and is the contact for other “Grow Our Own" initiatives focused on developing, recruiting, and retaining a diverse group of qualified employees for the District.
Katie Kremer
Lead Teacher – Recruiting and Mentoring at Colonial School DistrictKatie Kremer is the Lead Teacher for Recruitment and Mentoring in the Colonial School District. Katie graduated from the University of Delaware in 2011 and immediately started teaching as a Spanish teacher at William Penn High School in the Colonial School District. During her time as a teacher, Katie served on a number of committees and in different roles such as Student Council advisor and a leader on the Delaware Council of World Language Educators. Katie later obtained her Master’s in Teacher Leadership from University of Delaware.
After 7 years in the classroom, Katie transitioned to her current role. She works closely with candidates, building and district leaders and IHEs to build and sustain a year long recruitment system. Katie leads the school level Onboarding Teams, serves as mentoring site coordinator and is a co-chair on the district equity committee as well as many other roles. Katie loves the partnerships Colonial has formed with local IHEs to solve the teacher shortage in innovative and collaborative ways.
Pete Leida
Partnership Manager at Insight Education GroupPete Leida is a Partnership Manager with Insight Education Group where he works with districts across the country to solve some of their biggest challenges in the area of Recruitment and Retention. He graduated from the University of Delaware and immediately launched into his elementary and special education teaching career in Colonial. He later earned his Master’s in Educational Leadership from Wilmington University and began his administrative career working as an elementary assistant and principal in 3 different schools over 11 years. Dr. Leida began in the role of Director of Elementary Schools in Summer 2012, where he focused on leadership development, support, and evaluation of school leaders. He held a variety of responsibilities and chaired or co-chaired several district committees and workgroups. He was responsible for the successful implementation of the Empowering Educators to Excel (E3) grant and the various projects associated with the grant. Dr. Leida was promoted to Deputy Superintendent, while still coordinating the E3 grant, he was also responsible for supporting the work of the Curriculum and Instruction and Schools Divisions. Additionally, he facilitated the development of the Colonial Strategic Plan and the district equity team. Outside of Colonial, Dr. Leida serves as an adjunct instructor at Wilmington University in the Master’s and Doctoral Programs.
Marvin Lopez
Executive Director for the California Center on Teaching Careers of Tulare County Office of EducationMarvin Lopez, MBA/MSM, is the executive director for the California Center on Teaching Careers (The Center), housed within the Tulare County Office of Education. Before ascending to the leadership role, Mr. Lopez had previously served as the assistant executive director of the Center since its inception. During his two decades of experience in education, Marvin has served in numerous roles supporting teacher recruitment and retention, developing grow your own teacher pathways, and acting as an educational liaison at a national level through state and federal projects, Mr. Lopez has a unique, invaluable perspective on what makes teaching enticing, lucrative and fulfilling.
A natural leader and collaborator, Mr. Lopez excels at bringing stakeholders, elected officials, both state and federal departments of education, teacher candidates and institutions of higher learning together to foster innovative, long-lasting, impactful changes on how teachers are trained, recruited and retained. Experienced in effective grant-writing, Lopez’s forward-thinking approach has helped to secure $59.4 million in federal and state grants over the last 20 years. The Center’s work is truly moving the needle as it has connected over 30,000 teacher candidates with 575 school districts and universities across California. Always focused on students and teacher candidates’ needs, Mr. Lopez has worked to centralize recruitment efforts across the state to ensure the process is efficient, results-driven, and always inclusive and equity-focused to diversify and strengthen the teacher candidate pool.
Mr. Lopez received his Master of Science in Business Administration and Master of Science in Management from the University of Maryland and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drew University. He lives in Visalia, California with his wife and son and enjoys running, hiking, cycling, outdoor adventures, and traveling with family.
Feel free to reach out to Marvin at: marvinl@tcoe.org.
Brent W. Maddin, Ed.D.
Executive Director of the Next Education Workforce Initiative at Arizona State UniversityAs Executive Director of the Next Education Workforce, Brent collaborates with colleagues across ASU, P12 educators, and the community to redesign models of schooling based on teams of educators with distributed expertise who are better able to deliver on the promise of deeper and personalized learning for ALL students. Additionally, these team-based models help address many of the reasons educators leave the profession by creating more equitable and sustainable ways to enter and advance in the profession. Prior to coming to ASU, Brent was a co-founder and Provost at the Relay Graduate School of Education where he set the curricular vision for the institution and managed teams focused on curriculum design, institutional research, and programmatic innovation. While at Relay, Brent also founded TeacherSquared--a national center dedicated to increasing collaboration among teacher preparation institutions. Prior to helping launch TeacherSquared and Relay, Brent earned a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, served as a founding staff member at IDEA College Prep, and was a National Board Certified Teacher in secondary science.
Dr. Susan Malone
NBC Support Teacher Specialist at Anne Arundel County Public SchoolsSusan R.E. Malone holds a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Instruction from Gwynedd Mercy University where she focused on higher education instruction, cooperative learning, and improving connectedness through online learning. Dr. Malone has been an adjunct faculty member at several institutions for over 20 years. She is currently a dissertation committee chair for students at Gwynedd Mercy University and a dissertation methodologist at Neuman University, as well as an adjunct faculty member at Gwynedd Mercy University. Her current research concerns National Board Certification teacher support programs and achievement rate and research on student success with an NBC teacher in the classroom. Dr. Malone has spent over 20 years working in online course development and instructional technology for Anne Arundel Community College and DeSales University. She is currently the NBC Support Teacher Specialist at Anne Arundel County Public Schools, and is a recruiter for the areas of English, Social Studies, and Music at Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
Dr. Wendy Martin-Johnson
Supervisor of Staffing & Recruitment for Special Education at Prince William County Public SchoolsDr. Wendy Martin-Johnson holds a Bachelor's in Elementary Education, a Master's in Special Education, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. She has completed thirty years in K-12 public education and 2 years as an adjunct professor. The last three years of her career have been in the 2nd largest school district in Virginia creating pipelines to grow and recruit special education teachers, a challenging, yet rewarding position.
Dr. Martin-Johnson is also an adjunct professor at a small university in rural VA, teaching online courses to future special education teachers.
Gilda Martinez-Alba
Assistant Dean, College of Education at Towson UniversityGilda Martínez-Alba, Ed.D. is the Assistant Dean in the College of Education at Towson University (TU), where she has worked for the past 15 years. Her research revolves around asset-based literacy instruction for English learners integrating technology and social-emotional learning, and English language teacher wellness. It is reflected in her books, for example, English U.S.A. Every Day, which has sold over 6,000 copies around the world, Wordless Books: So Much to Say! with Judith Cruzado-Guerrero (a best seller), and most recently Social-Emotional Learning in the English Language Classroom, with Luis Javier Pentón Herrera, which was just published through TESOL Press. Prior to working at TU, she worked as a Reading Specialist for 5 years in Maryland at the Center for Reading Excellence (a partnership between the Johns Hopkins University, Maryland State Department of Education, and Kennedy Krieger Institute), and as an elementary classroom teacher for 4 years in Howard County.
Dr. Arlene McDermott
HR Partner for Central Region Elementary Schools at Palm Beach County SchoolsDr. Arlene McDermott is a Human Resources Partner with the SDPBC. She has over 22 years of experience in education as a former teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and college adjunct instructor.
Since joining the SDPBC in 2018, she has worked in the Department of Professional Growth on several principal pipeline initiatives including the Aspiring Assistant Principal program, the Florida Atlantic University Leadership for Excellence and Equity Masters Degree (ExEq) program, and the creation of a comprehensive leadership tracking system for identifying developing school leaders.
In 2021, Arlene joined the Department of Recruitment and Retention as an HR partner where she works to recruit and retain quality educators for the school district. She is a key point of contact for principals and their human capital needs and is also currently the SDPBC HR liaison overseeing the NYU Steinhardt Teacher Residency Program.
Debbie Montgomery
HR Recruiter at Anne Arundel County Public SchoolsDeborah Montgomery has worked in a variety of positions over fifty years in public school education. She currently is the program manager for one of Anne Arundel County Public School District’s alternative certification programs which provides an approved pathway to teacher certification for career changers with a Bachelor’s Degree. Her background includes middle school language arts teaching, work as a middle school reading specialist and resource teacher, three years as a coach in the Instructional Leadership Project and twenty-six years of middle school administration with twenty years as a middle school principal in three different middle schools. Before moving to her current position she also worked in the Human Resources Department as a substitute and teacher recruiter and in the Professional Growth and Development Department providing training for aspiring school leaders.
Julie Paskiet
Assistant Director of Peer Coordination and Program Management for Career Exploration and Development at Kent State UniversityJulie Paskiet is the Assistant Director of Peer Coordination and Program Management for Career Exploration and Development at Kent State University. In addition to overseeing the department events and career fairs and advising the education students, her favorite role is supervising 18 career peer student leaders. Julie has also served as the secretary of AAEE since 2020, and the secretary of PERC since 2019. Julie is a member of the NOTED job fair board and the AAEE Conference Committee.
Maryse Pierre Glaze, Ed.S.
HR Partner for Glades Regional Superintendent, North Regional Superintendent, and Student Services at School District of Palm Beach CountyMaryse Glaze is a Human Resources Partner with the SDPBC. She began her career in education as a Guidance Counselor and then moved on to be a district administrator in the Department for State and Federal Programs and Division of Human Resources. Throughout her years in HR, she has been the Manager for Non-Instructional Staffing, a member of the district negotiation team, the SDPBC HR liaison for the NYU Teacher Residency Program, UAT process lead, and Summer School HR representative in addition to many other roles. As HR Partner, she supports school principals in recruiting, retaining , and managing their human capital.
Hannah Putman
Managing Director of Research at National Council on Teacher QualityHannah currently serves as the National Council on Teacher Quality’s Managing Director of Research. Her work includes analyzing data from teacher licensure tests, the teacher pipeline, evaluating state policies on topics such as teacher preparation, highlighting district policies on topics such as teacher evaluation, and evaluating teacher preparation programs in areas such as classroom management and preschool teacher preparation. Hannah comes to NCTQ after conducting education research with Westat, a social science research company. Her projects included work on informal science education and teacher incentive programs. Previously, Hannah taught seventh and ninth grade English for three years in the Bronx, New York, as a Teach For America corps member. Hannah holds BA's in English and Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, an MS in Teaching from Pace University, and an MPP from the George Washington University with a focus on education policy and evaluation.
TeRay Ross
Principal at Colonial School DistrictTeRay Ross is currently the Principal at New Castle Elementary School where she has been serving a community of more than 400 students and their families for the past 4 years. Prior to bringing her talents to NCE, she served as an Assistant Principal, the District Accountability and Assessment Coordinator, a Data Coach for the State of Delaware, and a middle school special education teacher.
While originally from Baltimore, MD, TeRay has lived and worked in North Carolina and Kansas before moving to Delaware in 2008. She earned her B.S. in Special Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and her M.S. in School Leadership from Wilmington University.
TeRay has worked closely with RELAY and is excited about the growth she sees in teachers who come through our Residency Program.
Erin Ruegg
Education Program Manager at Substantial ClassroomsErin Ruegg leads SubSchool for Substantial Classrooms, which partners with districts to provide ongoing PD for substitute teachers that targets the competencies and strategies outlined above. As a leader in school and curriculum development for over 20 years, Erin works to build the instructional capacity of educators to improve the learning experiences of all students in diverse ethnic, social, and economic settings across the United States and Latin America.
Ryan Saunders
Senior Policy Advisor at Learning Policy InstituteRyan Saunders is member of LPI's Policy team and co-leads the Educator Quality team. He is a co-author of Taking the Long View: State Efforts to Solve Teacher Shortages by Strengthening the Profession. Before joining LPI, he worked at the Council of Chief State School Officers, supporting educator preparation reform at the state level through the Network for Transforming Educator Preparation. His work included a focus on teacher preparation data systems, preparation program approval, clinical partnerships, and teacher recruitment and retention across 15 states. Earlier in his career, Saunders taught high school social studies and literature in Turkey, the Dominican Republic, and Denver, CO. In Denver, he served as a Teacher Leader for the Literacy Design Collaborative in the public school system.
Saunders holds an M.A. in Teaching from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and a B.A. in English from the University of Georgia.
Fatima Sherif
NYC Men Teach Program Director of Lehman CollegeFatima Sherif is the NYC Men Teach Program Director at Lehman College. NYC Men Teach is an Office of the Mayor initiative that focuses on increasing the number of male educators of color in New York City public schools. In this capacity, Fatima has developed and implemented strategies and programs that are now being replicated across all 15 CUNY-NYC Men Teach programs. In addition to being a public servant, Fatima is a Doctoral Student in the Urban Education- Policy and Leadership track at the CUNY Graduate Center. Prior to attending the Graduate Center Fatima received her Master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her professional experiences working with preschools and higher education institutions have reinforced the notion of an opportunity gap which has contributed to her sense of urgency to be a catalyst of change. More specifically, she is interested in educational inequities, accountability standards, and how economic decisions impact outcome.
Nathaniel Smith
Director of NYC Men Teach at City University of New York (CUNY) at Queens CollegeNathaniel Smith is recognized as a leader and visionary for his commitment and contributions to the development and advancement of youth and young adults in urban education. Nathaniel serves as Director of NYC Men Teach of the City University of New York (CUNY) at Queens College, and is a trained and certified Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Facilitator/Coach. For his service, Nathaniel has received numerous certificates, awards and praise from both the City and State of New York, CUNY, the NYC Department of Education, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other educational entities.
Denise Sowell
Director of Human Resources at Fairfield County School DistrictDenise Sowell has worked as the Human Resource Director at Fairfield County School District in Winnsboro since 2013. Before her role in Fairfield, she worked at the Chesterfield County School District as the Human Resource Director, District Testing Coordinator, High School Assistant Principal and as a Business Education Teacher. She served in the South Carolina Army National Guard as a Personnel Specialist from 2003-2006 and as an adjunct faculty member at Midland’s Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina. Denise has her Masters of Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina and her Bachelor of Science in Distributive Education from Winthrop College. She has been a board member of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators since 2021 and was the Personnel Affiliate President from 2020 to 2021. She has also been on the The South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) Executive Board since 2017 and the Columbia College APEC Advisory Board since 2018.
LaCreasha Stille
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction at Gainesville ISDLaCreasha Stille is the assistant superintendent of curriculum for Gainesville ISD. Mrs. Stille is a distinguished educator with over twenty-four years of experience in education. Her dedication to student achievement has been a lifelong commitment. She started her educational career as a paraprofessional, and spent ten years teaching students at the elementary, middle, and high school level. She has taught special education, English as a Second Language, ESOL, Eng I, and was an assistant volleyball and softball coach. Mrs. Stille also has experience teaching higher education with the University of Phoenix. For the last 13 years, she has been supporting students, families, and educational professionals as the Assistant Principal and Principal in Crowley ISD, Andrews ISD, and most recently Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD. Mrs. Stille has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from East Texas State University, a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Texas Christian University. She is also a proud GHS Alumni. Her educational background and personal experiences have helped shape her philosophy of education. Mrs. Stille believes all students are capable of learning at the highest level possible and our educational system will provide our children with the skills needed to be successful in our global economy.
Yanique Taylor
Director, Engagement of BenchK12, Inc.A career project manager and youth advocate, Yanique dedicated over 15 years to working in non-profit education management. She has worked across grassroots, community-based organizations such as the Abbott Leadership Institute (ALI) and Communities In Schools (CIS), both based in Newark, New Jersey. Yanique also worked with Junior Achievement Jamaica (JAJ) and the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), serving as an integral relationship builder and strategist on nation-building projects.
At JAJ, she served as the project leader in facilitating the development and implementation of a core entrepreneurship education program across high schools on the island, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information (MOEYI). With the GOJ, she worked to oversee project operations at key partner sites for the successful installation of a national identification system in Jamaica. As Director, Engagement, for BenchK12, Yanique is thrilled to bring her deep experience across these varied roles previously to help build the future of work for K12 educators with a variety of partners, like AAEE and its membership.
Andrea Thomas-Reynolds
Senior Vice President at Insight Education Group- Developing an ‘Everyone is a Recruiter/Always Recruiting’ Mindset: Building School Leader Capacity for Recruitment and Retention
- Alternative Certification to Address Teacher Recruitment
Andrea Thomas-Reynolds is senior vice president for Insight Education Group, a diverse team of experienced practitioners who have served at all levels as state, district, school and classroom leaders. With over 250,000 educators impacted, Insight Education Group brings large-scale change by reflecting and applying lessons learned alongside our partners to shape educational systems that are truly equitable for all learners.
Andrea serves as the project director of two Teacher School Leader grants awarded from the United States Department of Education (USDOE) Educator Effectiveness Division. She is also a certified executive coach who specializes in support to district school leaders and executives of non-profit and start-up organizations.
As a former chief executive officer of two charter management organizations and leader of several non-profit and national educational organizations, Andrea developed a consultative approach to working with school leaders and staff that contributed to growth in student achievement and staff effectiveness. Today, several of these staff members are now in various leadership roles as principals, district leaders, charter school executives, and superintendents.
Andrea earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Louisiana State University, a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University of New Orleans, and a master’s degree in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University. She earned her Ed.D. in the Mid-Career Doctorate Program at the University of Pennsylvania in educational leadership and organizational management.
Ty Valentine
Executive Director of Human Resources at St. Vrain Valley SchoolsTy Valentine, Executive Director of Human Resources at St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado.
Ty is in his 28th year in education and 15th year in Human Resources. He started his education career in the southeastern rural plains of Colorado teaching K-12 Music and high school math in Eads, CO, then became a principal in Rocky Ford, CO before moving to Canon City, CO as an elementary and K-8 principal. Mr. Valentine has since served the following rural, suburban and urban Colorado districts in Human Resources: Canon City, Fountain-Fort Carson, Cherry Creek and now St. Vrain Valley. Additionally, he was elected President of the Colorado Association of School Personnel Administrators (CASPA) in 2013-2014 and President of the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) in 2019-2020.
Ty is also an avid Colorado sports fan! Go Avs!!! :-)
Theresa West
Leadership Coach at Upbeat- Pre-Conference Session: National Working Group on Teacher Retention
- Incorporating Teacher Voice to Improve Teacher Retention
Theresa brings extensive leadership experience, a unique sense of fun, and track record of turning around public schools to her coaching, consulting and professional development. Applying the wisdom gained from experience she inspires educators to reach new leadership heights and positively impact student achievement. She has spent over 800 hours coaching new and experienced principals and school leadership teams.
.
She is the co-author of Creating a Culture for Learning, a text that school districts are using to build productive learning communities where all the adults are committed to the success of both students and colleagues.
Theresa presented a keynote address at the AFT Professional Development Conference entitled “An Active Learning Approach to Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners.” She presented “Difficult Conversations” at the VAESP Conference. She co-lead the session “Leading the Learning in Turnaround Schools” at the Learning Forward Conference. She was a featured speaker at the Las Cruces Creating a Culture for Learning® Summit. She led a Mentoring in the 21st Century® Institute for the Diocese of Arlington Catholic Schools, Virginia. She has worked extensively with Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), Virginia, Avondale Elementary School District, Arizona, and Memphis City Schools, Tennessee. Other work includes schools in Delaware, New York City, Georgia, Florida, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.
Theresa retired from FCPS in 2011 as principal of McNair Elementary School. Prior to that, she was the Director of Cluster III, and principal of Glen Forest Elementary School. Under her leadership one school became fully accredited and the other moved out of sanctions.
Theresa earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy; her dissertation is titled: "The Role of Mentors in the Development of School Principals." She holds National Principal's Mentor Certification through NAESP.
Amanda von Moos
Co-Founder of Substantial ClassroomsAmanda is the co-founder of Substantial Classrooms, a national nonprofit on a mission to unlock the potential of substitute teaching, and co-author of the book Substantial Classrooms: Redesigning the Substitute Teaching Experience. A social entrepreneur obsessed with making central office systems work better for schools, Amanda has worked in and with school districts for almost two decades.