Our Board of Directors
Alfred Mays, Chair
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Tom Williams, Immediate Past Chair
Strategic Educational Alliances, Inc.
Doug Sprecher, Secretary/Treasurer
First Citizens Bank
Mary Ann Wolf, President & Executive Director
Public School Forum of North Carolina
Margaret Arbuckle
Guilford Education Alliance (Retired)
Keisha Bentley-Edwards
Duke University School of Medicine, Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity
William Buster
Dogwood Health Trust
Shirley Carraway
Retired Educator
Van Dempsey
UNC Wilmington, Watson College of Education
Miles Devaney
Biogen
Dudley Flood
Consultant
John Healy
Kelly Education
Melody Riley Johnson
Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices
Pat Martinez
Leadership in the Clouds
Tammorah Mathis
Orange County Schools
Cyndi Soter O’Neil
ChildTrust Foundation-Investors Management Corporation
LaTanya Pattillo
NWEA
Tiece Ruffin
University of North Carolina Asheville
Richard Schwartz
Schwartz & Shaw PLLC
Steve Stephenson
Ward and Smith, P.A.
Richard Urquhart
Investors Management Corporation
Tony Watlington
Rowan-Salisbury Schools
Willis “Bill” Whichard
Tillman, Whichard, & Cagle, PLLC
Mekeisha Williams
Duke University and Health System
Saundra Wall Williams
Vision Building Institute for Women
David Young
Participate Learning
Emeritus Members
Gene Arnold
Former NC House Legislator
Tom Bradshaw
Tom Bradshaw & Associates
Gerry Hancock
Everett, Gaskins, Hancock, LLP
Sam Houston
NC Science, Mathematics, & Technology Education Center
Tom Lambeth
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
Michael Priddy
21st Century Leadership, LLC
Our Advisory Board
Elena Ashburn, NC Principal of the Year, 2021
Bruce Beasley, The Beasley Group
Amanda Bell, Rockingham County Board of Education
Laura Bilbro-Berry, UNC General Administration
Evelyn Bulluck, NCSBA, Nash/Rocky Mount Public Schools
Sue Burgess, Retired Superintendent, Dare County Schools
J.B. Buxton, Durham Technical Community College
Dennis Carroll, Emeritus Provost (Retired)
Gina Chung, Empowered Parents in Community (Board)
Kisha Clemons, NC Principal of the Year, 2020
Sandra Wilcox Conway, Conway and Associates
Jeni Corn, NC Department of Public Instruction
Nicole Cush, Asheville City Schools SILSA (School of Inquiry and Life Sciences)
Eric Davis, State Board of Education, Chair
John Denning, New Educational Ventures, LLC
Debra Derr, NC Chamber of Commerce
Catherine Edmonds, Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools System
Lou Fabrizio, Fabrizio Education Consulting
Cristal Figueroa, Access Family Services
Jayne Fleener, College of Education, NC State University
Eugenia Floyd, NC Teacher of the Year, 2021
Patti Gillenwater, Elinvar
Barbara Goodmon, 2019 Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award Recipient
Jim Goodmon, 2019 Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award Recipient
Ann Goodnight, SAS
Jessica Holmes, Wake County Board of Commissioners (Former)
Sen. Rick Horner, Former NC Senate Legislator
Anthony Jackson, NC Superintendent of the Year, 2020
Katherine Joyce, NC Association of School Administrators
Graham Lewis, Schneider Electric
Shanta Lightfoot, Wake County Public School System
Matt Liles, NC Department of Justice
Bill Medlin, Professional Educators of NC
Rep. Graig Meyer, NC House
Mark Otter, Participate, Inc
Catherine Otto, SAS
Tom Oxholm, Wake Stone Corporation
Scott Penland, Clay County Schools (Retired)
Justin Perry, Perry Counseling Healing and Recovery
Jim Phillips, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard
Eddie Price, NC Principals Fellows Program
Philip Price, NC Department of Public Instruction (Retired)
Adam Pridemore, NC Association of County Commissioners (NCACC)
Shirley Prince, NC Principals & Assistant Principals’ Association
Karl Rectanus, LearnPlatform
Marion Robinson, State Employees Credit Union
Katie Rosanbalm, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
Art Rouse, East Carolina University, College of Education
Bryan Setser, Setser Group
Peggy Smith, Campbell University
Julie Spencer, NC Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Maureen Stover, NC Teacher of the Year, 2020
Caroline Sullivan, NC Business Committee for Education
Erin Swanson, Edgecombe County Public Schools
Catherine Truitt, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Bettina Umstead, Chair, Durham Public Schools
Tamika Walker Kelly, NC Association of Educators
Hope Williams, NC Independent Colleges & Universities
Brent Williams, NC Superintendent of the Year, 2021
Leanne Winner, NC School Boards Association
Marco Zarate, NC Society of Hispanic Professionals