Our Board of Directors
Tom Williams, Chairman
Strategic Educational Alliances, Inc.
Alfred Mays, Chair Elect
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Doug Sprecher, Secretary/Treasurer
First Citizens Bank
Michael Priddy, Immediate Past Chairman
21st Century Leadership, LLC
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
Shirley Carraway
Retired Educator
Van Dempsey
UNC Wilmington Watson College of Education
Miles Devaney
Biogen
Dudley Flood
Consultant
John Healy
Kelly Education
Melody Johnson
Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices
Tammorah Mathis
NC Department of Public Instruction
Costa Panagos
IQVIA
Yesenia L. Polanco-Galdamez
Polanco Law, P.C.
Richard Schwartz
Schwartz & Shaw PLLC
Cyndi Soter O’Neil
ChildTrust Foundation-Investors Management Corporation
Steve Stephenson
Ward and Smith, P.A.
Richard Urquhart
Investors Management Corporation
Tony Watlington
Guilford County 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
Barbara Allen
Consultant
Lynda Anderson
Retired Education Policy Advisor
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
Our Advisory Board
Marina Aleman, Que Pasa Media Network
Bruce Beasley, The Beasley Group
Amanda Bell, Rockingham County Board of Education
Chris Bell, SunTrust Bank
Rep. Hugh Blackwell, NC General Assembly
Matthew Bristow-Smith, NC Principal of the Year
Evelyn Bulluck, NCSBA, Nash/Rocky Mount Public Schools
Sue Burgess, Retired Superintendent, Dare County Schools
J.B. Buxton, Durham Technical Community College
Dennis Carroll, High Point University
Alisa Chapman, Education Policy Consultant
Gina Chung, Empowered Parents in Community (Board)
Sandra Wilcox Conway, Conway and Associates
Jeni Corn, myFutureNC
Courtney Crowder, Crowder Consulting
Dick Daugherty, IBM (Retired)
Eric Davis, State Board of Education, Chair
John Denning, New Educational Ventures, LLC
Ed Dunlap, NC School Boards Association
Bob Eaves, Business Owner, Investor
Catherine Edmonds, Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools System
Lou Fabrizio, Fabrizio Education Consulting
Cristal Figueroa, Access Family Services
Jayne Fleener, College of Education at NC State
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
Sen. Rick Horner, NC Senate
Anthony Jackson, NC Superintendent of the Year
Mark Johnson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Katherine Joyce, NC Association of School Administrators
Graham Lewis, Schneider Electric
Shanta Lightfoot, Wake County Public School System
Matt Liles, NC Department of Justice
Kaye Bernard McGarry, Educational Consultant, Community Leader
Bill McNeal , Wake County Public School System (Retired)
Bill Medlin, Professional Educators of NC
Rep. Graig Meyer, NC House
Mariah Morris, NC Teacher of the Year
Catherine Otto, SAS
Tom Oxholm, Wake Stone Corporation
LaTanya Pattillo, Teacher Advisor to Governor Roy Cooper
Scott Penland, Clay County Schools (Retired)
Justin Perry, Perry Counseling Healing and Recovery
Jim Phillips, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard
Mari Pokornowski, NC PTA
Philip Price, NC Department of Public Instruction (Retired)
Shirley Prince, NC Principals & Assistant Principals’ Association
Karl Rectanus, LearnPlatform
Sen. Gladys Robinson, NC Senate
Marion Robinson, State Employees Credit Union
Katie Rosanbalm, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
Art Rouse, East Carolina University College of Education
Peggy Smith, Campbell University
Mark Sorrells, Fayettville Technical Community College
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
Sen. Jerry Tillman, NC Senate
Tamika Walker Kelly, NC Association of Educators
Hope Williams NC Independent Colleges & Universities
Blount Williams, Alfred Williams & Company
Marco Zarate, NC Society of Hispanic Professionals