Lessons in Leadership from Today's Changemakers
The Lead Now Speaker Series is a series of national, online conversations with leaders who are fundamentally expanding American opportunity through education. Speakers represent the many sectors essential to tackling most any social issue—entrepreneurship, education, technology, and business. Discover the leadership qualities they’ve developed to create change on a national scale—qualities that you can apply to leadership challenges in any context.
Lead Now events are free, online, and open to the public.
Attend one. Attend all five—you choose.
Register for the Lead Now Speaker Series
Registration is now open for the 2013 Lead Now Speaker Series. To attend one or more events, register below. You will need to register for each speaker separately. Once you submit your registration, you will receive an email with the information to attend the event. If you have any problems with registration or questions about the Lead Now events, please email Erin Waltz at LeadNow@teachforamerica.org.
Wednesday, January 30, 8pm ET
Jose Ferreira, Founder and CEO, Knewton
Sector: Technology
Jose Ferreira is the founder and CEO of Knewton, the world's leading adaptive learning company. Knewton combines big data with psychometrics to continuously and progressively personalize any publisher or school’s online learning courses. In October 2011, Knewton announced a partnership with Pearson to power their complete line of MyLab and Mastering products, currently used by nearly 10 million students. The company was named a 2011 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum at Davos and Jose was elected to the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Education in 2012.
Jose earned his MBA from Harvard and was formerly an executive at Kaplan, where he led a company-wide re-engineering effort to redesign the company’s courses. Most recently, he was a Partner at New Atlantic Ventures (formerly Draper Atlantic), investing in new media and SaaS companies.
Twitter: @Knewton_Jose
Thursday, February 21, 8 pm ET
Tony Hsieh, Author of “Delivering Happiness” and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.
Sector: Business
In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an adviser and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making Fortune magazine's annual "Best Companies to Work For" list. Zappos was acquired by Amazon in November 2009 in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing.
Tony's first book, "Delivering Happiness", debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. The book discusses the different ingredients used by Zappos.com to build a long-lasting enduring brand, including the importance of customer service and company culture.
Twitter: @zappos
Tuesday, March 26, 8 pm ET
Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green
Sector: Social Entrepreneurship
Cheryl Dorsey is President of Echoing Green, a pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement. This global social venture fund has awarded over $30 million in start-up capital to more than 500 next generation social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987. Dorsey received an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1992 to help launch The Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit in Boston.
Dorsey has served in two presidential administrations as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Labor (1997-98); Special Assistant to the Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department (1998-99); Transition Team Member of the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group (2008-09); and Vice Chair for the President's Commission on White House Fellowships (2009-present).
Dorsey serves on several boards including the Harvard Board of Overseers, the SEED Foundation, and Northeast Bank. In 2009, Dorsey was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by US News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School. For 2010 and 2011, she was named as one of The Nonprofit Times' "Power and Influence Top 50."
Dorsey received her Bachelor's degree in History and Science magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges, her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and her Master's in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Twitter: @echoinggreen
Wednesday, April 24, 8pm ET
Earl Phalen, CEO, Reach Out and Read
Sector: Social Entrepreneurship
Earl Martin Phalen is CEO of Reach Out and Read, an early literacy program that serves nearly 4 million children nationwide. Mr. Phalen is also the Founder of Summer Advantage USA, a summer learning program that sees children gain over two months in academic growth during the 5 week program, and the George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academies, a new network of schools in Indiana that will serve nearly 10,000 children. Mr. Phalen is deeply committed to the education of children and is a proven leader with a track record of success. He grew his former organization, BELL, from a community service project educating 20 children to a national non-profit educating 15,000 scholars annually, from an annual budget of $12k to $27.5M. President Obama modeled federal legislation after his summer learning program. Mr. Phalen's leadership has earned recognition from numerous national media outlets, including the cover story of TIME Magazine; feature interview on MSNBC's Education Nation; coverage in Parent Magazine's feature on summer learning slide; highlight of our work using innovative technology in Education Week; and Black Entertainment Television's Shine a Light/Local Hero award for his exceptional contributions to the education of our children, and more. Mr. Phalen is a Mind Trust Fellow and Ashoka Fellow, and holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Mr. Phalen is considered one of the nation’s top education leaders in the country. His leadership will ensure the success of each Academy and the scholars we serve.
Twitter: @SummerAdvantage or @reachoutandread
Tuesday, May 21, 8pm ET
Wendy Kopp, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Teach For America
Sector: Education
Wendy Kopp is the chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America. She proposed the creation of Teach For America in her undergraduate senior thesis at Princeton in 1989 and has spent more than 20 years working to grow the organization’s impact. Under her leadership, Teach For America’s nearly 38,000 participants have reached more than 3 million children nationwide during their two-year teaching commitments. They have sustained their commitment as alumni, working inside and outside the field of education to ensure educational excellence and equity for all children.
Kopp is also chief executive officer and co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent social enterprises working to expand educational opportunity by recruiting and developing their nations’ most promising future leaders to commit to teach for two years in high-need areas and become lifelong leaders for educational excellence and equity. Teach For All seeks to accelerate and increase the impact of network organizations, including Teach For America, by deepening commitment to the unifying model around the world, collaborating to develop and adapt best practices, fostering global networks of staff members, participants, and alumni, and generating access to additional resources internationally.
Kopp is the author of the Washington Post bestseller A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way. She is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards for public service. She resides in New York City with her husband Richard Barth and their four children.
Twitter: @wendykopp
