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Mary Ann Wolf, Ph.D. has served as President and Executive Director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina since June 2020, bringing with her more than 20 years of educational policy and leadership working on federal, state, and local policy and directly with schools and districts to improve equity and build capacity for innovation. At the Forum, she connects policymakers and practitioners with a deep focus on ensuring that every child in NC has access to a high quality and equitable education.

Prior to her role at the Forum, Mary Ann was the Senior Director of the Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative (PLLC) at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University. She and her team lead ongoing, job-embedded professional learning to guide superintendents, district teams, principals, coaches, and teachers in North Carolina and across the country. Mary Ann and her team also led the development of the Learning Differences and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) online courses and micro-credentials, with over 20,000 participants across the world.

Mary Ann co-wrote Leading Personalized and Digital Learning: A Framework for Implementing School Change through Harvard Education Press (2017), as well as many other publications on personalized learning, culture, leadership, and learning analytics. She previously served as the Executive Director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) in Washington, D.C., where she led a national and nonpartisan nonprofit focused on innovation with members from all fifty state departments of education. This work included a focus on topics such as equitable access to broadband internet, professional learning and assessment; as well as providing input to legislation and policies. Mary Ann testified before Congress on personalized and digital learning, provided significant input on the 2009 ARRA/Stimulus Educational Technology federal legislation, and has worked extensively with members of Congress, the Bush and Obama administrations, state leaders in NC and all fifty states, and other policy organizations.

Mary Ann served as the chair and vice chair of the non-partisan, elected Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board during her tenure from 2017 through 2021. After teaching fifth grade in Henrico County, Virginia, she received her Ph.D. in Education, Administration and Supervision from The Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. She received a Master’s of Education from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting and marketing from Georgetown University. Mary Ann lives in Chapel Hill with her husband, Brian; and she has three children who attend or attended (prior to graduation) our public schools in NC.

Lauren has more than fifteen years of education research and policy experience at the local, state, and national levels. Her work at the Forum involves guiding the organization’s research, policy analysis, engagement, and advocacy efforts in order to support a strong and equitable system of public education in North Carolina. Lauren also serves on the Guiding Committee for the Color of Education and is a founding board member of the Education Justice Alliance.

Prior to joining the Forum, Lauren lived for ten years in New York City, where she worked as a researcher and consultant for a number of organizations including The Public Good, the Center for Understand Race and Education, the Ford Foundation, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Lauren earned her Ph.D. in Sociology and Education with a concentration in Education Policy from Columbia University’s Teachers College and her undergraduate degree from UNC Asheville. She grew up in Charlotte, NC and is a proud graduate of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System.

Ashley is the Associate Director for the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity at the Public School Forum of North Carolina. In this position, Ashley guides policy and research priorities related to racial equity, manages the Flood Center Fellowship program, and oversees the programmatic efforts of the Flood Center. Her current research has centered around strengthening the teacher pipeline, focusing on understanding the barriers within licensure policies and requirements that prevent candidates, especially those from diverse backgrounds, from entering the teaching workforce within North Carolina. Ashley is also a member of the Governor’s DRIVE Task Force, charged with creating a plan of action to increase racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity within North Carolina’s educator workforce.

Before moving to the Triangle, Ashley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University. After college, she gained a passion for education and racial equity through influential experiences such as facilitating social justice workshops for students as an Americorps member in Memphis, TN, and collaborating with community members to promote the academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral well-being of students as a Program Coordinator at Big Brothers Big Sisters.
To continue making strides in social justice, Ashley completed a dual Masters’ degree in Social Work and Public Administration at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Her focus on understanding and addressing systemic issues surrounding race, organizational culture, and practices has been a consistent motivator and has validated the work she does at the Public School Forum of North Carolina. Ashley recognizes the disparities and inequities within education and nonprofit leadership and as a native of High Point, NC, she has a strong passion for advocating for all people throughout the state.