Voices for Excellence

Ash Kaluarachchi is the CEO of StartEd and a producer at EdTech Week. Ash advises and connects organizations solving problems in education. His EdTech programs have accelerated multiple global unicorns, including at Techstars. To date, Ash's EdTech programs have enabled 2,000+ companies around the globe in partnership with organizations such as Google, Kaplan, Intel, University of Pennsylvania, Un...

Welcome to another enriching episode of the Voices For Excellence podcast, hosted by Dr. Michael Connor, CEO and founder of the Agile Evolutionary Group. In this inspiring episode, we are honored to have Dr. Kimberly Harrington Marcus, a trailblazing leader in education with over 30 years of experience. About the Episode In this engaging conversation, Dr. Harrington Marcus shares her journey from...

Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. specializes in antiracism in education, educational leadership, strategic planning, strategic thinking, professional learning, school board and superintendent relations, and executive coaching. Dr. Hutchings’ research focuses on the African American superintendent and their challenges faced by advocating for antiracism in school systems across America.

Jed Stefanowicz leads strategic transformation of teaching and learning through the use of digital tools and innovative practices. As Director of Digital Learning and Innovation for the Nashoba Regional School District in Massachusetts, Jed aims to engage and build staff/student digital learning capacity, keeping the focus on practice over product. Jed shares his passion for effective tech integra...

Amy Dujon is the Vice President of Education at ETC Media and Events. Amy's leadership focus is helping schools and districts throughout the United States to implement research-based systems to foster school improvement and increase student achievement. She speaks nationally on the topics of leading instructional transformation, standards based planning and pedagogy, feedback to change practice, a...

Eric Sheninger is the founder and CEO of Aspire Change EDU, a collaborative consultancy designed to provide personalized support to all educational systems. His work focuses on innovative and practical ways educators can transform teaching, learning, and leadership. Through his work with thousands of schools, Eric has emerged as an innovative leader, best-selling author, and sought-after speaker....

Lori Gonzalez is the Superintendent of Lamont Elementary School District. Lori's leadership style prioritizes breaking barriers, valuing diversity, addressing inequities, fostering collaboration, and creating an inclusive educational environment. She is committed to ensuring all learners have access to a diverse range of educational opportunities and experiences, with a focus on equity, student ac...

Raymond J. McNulty is the President of the Successful Practices Network (SPN). Ray is a presenter at the state, national, and international levels on the need for school systems to accept the challenges that lie ahead. He is committed to raising performance standards for teachers and students and building solid connections between schools and their communities. Ray believes strongly that education...

Lj Henderson is the owner and founder of the Little STEM Academy. She is an education professional with over 25 years of experience in the ESL, early childhood education and speech therapy. She is an advocate for STEM education and the great benefits it has in forming the future leaders of the world through critical thinking, innovation and problem-solving. Lj is a firm believer that it is importa...

Terrence Davis is the Superintendent of Banning Unified School District. Terrence defines the core of his work as creating exceptional educational opportunities for students to be successful in the global workforce as well as cultivating an environment to support administrators, teachers, and support staff. He is known as a leader who strives to build relationships through the lens of equity and c...

Venola Mason is the CEO and Founder of AchieveIt Educational Services and is an Associate Partner and Author at International Center for Leadership in Education. In her role as an ICLE associate partner, Venola works with education leaders across the country supporting them with making transformational change in their school districts by developing and implementing policies and practices that incr...

Nicholas Cassius Clay is the founder of Being One World LLC, a mindfulness company Nicholas started in October 2020 so that he could offer mindfulness teaching and coaching to those looking for a holistic path to clarity, inner peace, and increased business performance, among many other benefits. The mission of Being One World is to empower and support people to be their most powerful expression o...

Dr. Kristy Somerville-Midgette is the Division Superintendent for Brunswick County Public Schools. In her tenure as Division Superintendent, she has increased student engagement across the curriculum, provided access and opportunities for all and built capacity for long-term sustainability and success.

Dr. Anthony Lewis began his career as a Special Education Teacher in Montgomery, Alabama. After which, he was appointed to Assistant Principal then became an awarding winning Principal of E. D. Nixon Elementary School. While at E. D. Nixon, the school became a two-time Alabama Torchbearer School during the 2007-2008 school year - one of only nine in the state and again during the 2010- 2011 school...

Launching her career as a substitute teacher in New York City’s Department of Education, Dr. Chase has 30 years of experience as an educator. Dr. Chase is widely known as a fierce advocate for all children. She believes every child deserves a world class education and their social/emotional needs addressed, regardless of his or her family’s economic tier, zip code, ethnicity or immigration status.

Dr. Pedro A. Noguera is the Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and Faculty Director for the Center for the Transformation of Schools at UCLA. He is a sociologist whose scholarship and research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and glo...

Frank Polen is beginning his ninth year as the Assistant Superintendent, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Adult Education Director at Buckeye Career Center in New Philadelphia, Ohio. Mr. Polen is committed to schools, community development, and leadership initiatives. He has helped students of all ages Discover Their Passion and Prepare for Their Future through career and technical educatio...

Dr. Sabba Quidwai gives you the skills and strategies to build your human advantage and be irreplaceable in a world with AI. For the past decade she's been doing this with schools and businesses using a method called design thinking. By marrying design thinking with futures thinking, she helps organizations create a culture of innovation that's not only responsive but also preparatory. While we ca...

David is the Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Assembly. He started with the UA in 2014 as the Director of Social-Emotional Learning, where he created the Resilient Scholars Program (RSP), a unique approach to integrating SEL into curriculum and classroom practices across the UA network. As the Senior Director of Strategy, David led the expansion of the organization into a model provider of sch...

Dr. Donna Vallese's entire career has been dedicated to improving outcomes for students by supporting educators in implementing game-changing and innovative practices. I have had the opportunity to work at all levels of education (state, university, district, school, and classroom) and those settings have been in urban, charter, sub-urban, and rural schools.

In honor of one year of Voices For Excellence, we are rejoined by our first guests, Dr. Alex Marrero and Zandra Jo Galvan. What steps have been made, not made, or achieved in the past year with regards to education? Listen in and find out!

Anthony Kim began his career in education by helping higher education institutions with technology projects and data. He is the Founder and CLO of Education Elements. He believes that learning environments and school designs need to be open and flexible so that teachers, the true designers of learning, can successfully create the best possible learning conditions for students.

Jessica is an accomplished public education and civic sector trailblazer with nearly two decades of diversified experience with a commitment to leadership and service, where she has led public education initiatives with the California Department of Education. As a leader in Education, Jessica understands the importance of access and has an unwavering commitment to social justice.

Marlon Styles is a recognized inspirational speaker and educational leader. He testified before the United States Congress in 2020 to advocate for access and opportunity for all students. Styles’ mission is to inspire educators to see themselves as empowered Unifiers capable of creating the types of learning experiences today’s modern learners need to thrive.

Ms. Lynette White’s career in education spans 14 years and 3 school districts. She was recently appointed as the District & Community Relations Coordinator for Banning USD. Ms. White is an Edu-influencer who has presented statewide on the importance of telling your story and maximizing your efforts on social media to brand yourself as leader and brand your organization as well as the importanc...