Leading on the First Line of Defense: Early Childhood Education Panel
This panel will consider the prospects and challenges of advancing high quality pre-K education at increasing rates. By bringing together diverse voices from the classroom, school, and policy and advocacy spheres, the session will highlight the dynamic interplay between policy and practice, and design and implementation, critical to achieving strong results.

Claire Cohen (South Louisiana ’00)
School Leader, Family Charter School (Head Start – Kindergarten)

Clare Sanford (Houston ’01)
Director on the Healthy Child Development Team, United Way Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Stephanie Washam (Greater Philadelphia-Camden ’06)
ECE Teacher and Learning Team Leader for 2007 GPC Corps Members

Harriet Dichter
Deputy Secretary, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Education

Moderator:
Sophia Pappas (Newark ’03)
Director of Growth and Development, Teach For America Early Childhood Education Initiative

Operation Public Education: A Reform Model of Accountability and Investment
Interested in learning more about a public school system designed to attract and retain high quality teachers? This workshop will introduce you to Operation Public Education, a comprehensive school reform model created at Penn and being promoted nationally by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This innovative approach provides new ways to evaluate, compensate, remediate, and professionally develop teachers so that students are prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Theodore Hershberg
Professor, Public Policy and History; Director, Center for Greater Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania

Claire Robertson-Kraft (Houston '04)
Associate Director, Center for Greater Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania

Ready to Become a Principal? School Leadership Readiness and Assessment
This skill-building workshop will provide participants with a framework for assessing individual readiness for positions of leadership in schools. Participants should be prepared to engage in mock interview scenarios for charter and district school positions. The session will be highly interactive, so come ready to engage.

Heather Anichini (Chicago ’02)
Managing Director, School Leadership Initiative, Teach For America

Using Politics Policy and Advocacy to Close the Gap
Working in policy, advocacy, and politics give alumni powerful positions from which to affect policies at the classroom, district, city, and state level. This panel will discuss the numerous ways citizens can engage in politics and how we can use politics as an influential lever in closing the achievement gap.

Naomi Wyatt (Mississippi Delta ‘95)
Secretary of Administration, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Omari Todd (Baltimore '00)
Executive Director, Teach For America Baltimore; former IAF organizerTitle,

Drew Eliott Smith (Bay Area '99)
School Board Member, North Plainfield

Moderator:
Jen Bluestein
Vice President, Political Leadership Initiative, Teach For America

Where Business and Idealism Meet: How Companies Are Affecting Social Change
Over the past several years, we have seen business increasingly assume more responsibility for addressing social issues. This panel will discuss the motivations behind this trend and provide examples companies seeking to affect social change through philanthropic and community involvement efforts. Additionally, panelists will share best practices on how alumni can influence social impact initiatives within their own companies.

Scot Fishman (Metro D.C. '97)
Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Dewey & LeBoeuf

Shane Harris
Prudential Foundation, Education Director

Susan Segal
Program Officer, Lincoln Financial Foundation

Moderator:
Kim Shin
Director, Private Careers, Teach For America

A Greater New Orleans: An Update on the City’s Revitalization Efforts
This presentation and discussion will provide on-the-ground accounts from many at the forefront of efforts to rebuild New Orleans’ education system. Learn more about what is being done and how you can get involved.

Mary Garton (Greater New Orleans '91)
Director of Alumni Affairs, Greater New Orleans, Teach For America

Changing School Systems through Alternative Models
As the number and type of organizations operating schools increase significantly, the complex effects of these models on our existing systems are only beginning to be felt. This panel, with leading voices in the field, will explore what needs to happen – from both outside and inside the district – to ensure that these models truly work to strengthen our school districts and close the achievement for all students.

Scott Gordon
CEO, Mastery Charter

Greg Shannon
Superintendent, Educational Management Organization Region, School District of Philadelphia

Evan Rudall
Chief Operating Officer, Uncommon Schools Inc.

Moderator:
Ingrid Boucher (South Louisiana ’96)
Director, Strategic Planning, KIPP Philadelphia

Finding the Right Non-Profit Career for You
Are you considering a career in the nonprofit sector? New opportunities and exciting roles become available every day in this fast-growing and quickly changing sector. In this workshop, you will learn how to identify the nonprofit organizations and positions that best match your passions and talents and how to obtain those jobs. You’ll have a chance to consider what longer-term career paths could look like, to meet and talk with like-minded alumni, and to learn from each other.

Cassie Scarano
Co-Founder and Vice President of Commongood Careers

Organizing for Change
This workshop, led by an organizer from the Industrial Areas Foundation, will explain and demonstrate successful strategies for effective organizing, and provide opportunities to discuss similarities and differences across community, political, and education organizing.

Toward a Profession of Classroom Excellence: Supporting and Developing Teachers
This panel will explore questions about how to better develop teaching as a profession that drives towards high student achievement, supports continuous improvement in practice, and allows for increased professional growth, advancement and leadership from within the classroom.

John King
Managing Director of the Excellence and Preparatory Networks, Uncommon Schools

Aaron Bass (Atlanta ’01)
Dean, Upper School, KIPP Philadelphia

Nichelle Bowes (Newark ’95)
Teacher, Newark Public Schools

Fiona Lin
Training and Certification, The New Teacher Project

Moderator:
Molly Eigen (Rio Grande Valley ’99)
Senior Managing Director of Program, Teach For America Greater Philadelphia-Camden

Effecting Change Through Media: Two Million Minutes
After watching a screening from the new documentary Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination, engage with Director Chad Heeter (Georgia ’94) and Producer Adam Raney (New York City ’96), on the film’s provocative exploration of international education disparities and their strategies to use the film to influence broader conversations. To read more and view a film trailer, visit www.2mminutes.com.

Chad Heeter (Georgia ’94)
Director

Adam Raney (New York City ’96)
Producer

Leading Schools that Close the Achievement Gap
Strong leadership at all levels is essential to operating schools that serve all children well. This panel will consider successful school leadership across varied contexts, exploring both shared elements and differing approaches.

Peter Turnamian (Phoenix '94)
School Director, Greater Newark Charter School

Sharif El-Mekki
School Leader, Shaw Middle School, School District of Philadelphia

Julie Jackson (Newark ’93)
Principal, North Star’s Elementary School

Tia Morris
High School Placement, TEAM, founding teacher

Moderator:
Dr. Torch Lytle
University of Pennsylvania

Pathways to Policy Leadership
Join this discussion and networking opportunity that will seek to clarify many of the concrete skills, experiences, and training necessary to enter the policy field and advance toward positions of leadership. Participants will receive tools for reflection and career planning, as well as a directory of resources.

Elizabeth King (Philadelphia ’03)
Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Chaka Fattah

Leigh Botwinik (Metro D.C. ’00)
Director of Full-Time Students, Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania

Claire Robertson-Kraft (Houston ’04)
Associate Director, Operation Public Education, University of Pennsylvania

Moderator:

Sanjiv Rao (Bay Area '94)

Director, Policy and Advocacy Leadership Initiative, Teach For America

The Well-being of Our Children: Addressing the Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline
The cradle-to-prison pipeline is an urgent national crisis at the intersection of poverty and race that puts African-American boys at a one-in-three lifetime risk of going to jail, and Latino boys at a one-in-six lifetime risk of the same fate. This panel will examine how we can take a more comprehensive approach to the conditions of poverty that affect children’s overall and academic well-being and proactively address the cradle-to-prison pipeline and other effects of poverty and disadvantage.

Nicholas Torres (New York City ’93)
President, Congreso de Latinos Unidos

Joan Singleton
Vice President for Workforce and Organizational Effectiveness, Milton Hershey School

Jacob Brogan (Greater New Orleans ’01)
School Counselor, Frederick Douglass Elementary School, School District of Philadelphia

Moderator:
Taj Brown
Sr. Manager, Leadership Development & Capacity, Freedom School, Children’s Defense Fund