Teacher-Powered Ambassadors are educators passionate about sharing power between educators, students, families, and communities—and eager to help others reimagine teaching and leading.

These accomplished educators work with Teacher-Powered Schools to:

  • Change the narrative around teaching. They share why they love teaching at a school where they deeply collaborate with colleagues, make decisions impacting student success, and innovate with learning models.
  • Highlight practices and structures that empower all educators at a time when morale is low and few educators recommend the profession.
  • Support educators to drive change in communities and give rise to democratic decision-making and student-centered learning environments.
  • Identify, develop, and share tools and strategies educators can use to influence the policy conditions needed for teacher-powered teams to thrive.

Meet the 2025-2026 Ambassadors

Jennifer Goen

Jennifer Goen is a high school English teacher and Instructional Lead Teacher at the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, a democratic public school in Arlington, Virginia. She is deeply committed to student-centered learning and works to uphold the school’s pillars of self-governance, self-directed learning, caring community, and equity. In her leadership role, she mentors new teachers, designs professional learning experiences, and supports both staff and students in bringing the school’s values to life. At the district level, Jennifer facilitates a K–12 support cohort for National Board Certified Teachers and leads professional learning on topics including educational technology, media literacy, equity, and student-centered pedagogy. She is currently a doctoral student at Marymount University, where her research focuses on how AI is shaping teacher identity and classroom practice. She also serves on the PTA at her youngest daughter’s elementary school.

Will Gowen

Will Gowen is a social studies educator, former school leader, and organizational consultant with over a decade of experience in educational organizations, currently serving as Expansion Grant Project Manager and Educator at Next Charter School in Derry, NH. Throughout his career, he has worked across public, private and charter schools, job-training programs, and farm-to-school initiatives, including director roles at LEAF Charter School (NH) and School Around Us (ME). An emerging focus on distributed power and democracy within schools led him to coordinate what began as a student agency initiative at Morey Flextech High School (MI) that grew into whole-school sociocracy implementation, a collaborative governance method that distributes decision-making power among all stakeholders (leadership, staff, students, etc.). Now a certified sociocracy facilitator focused on varying approaches to distributed leadership, Will is passionate about helping educational communities navigate collaborative governance and create more equitable educational environments. He’s currently conducting a listening project on democratic decision-making in schools with educators and school leaders worldwide to understand implementation successes, challenges and lessons learned. When not at school, you can find him hiking, cooking, watching basketball, or playing D&D, and he’s always up for a good high five!

Renee Kory

Renee Kory is in her tenth year as Principal of Kyrene Aprende Middle School, a diverse suburban middle school outside of Phoenix, AZ. After teaching, Renee worked as a Curriculum Specialist, New Teacher Mentor, and Assistant Principal for eight years in inner city Phoenix before accepting a principalship in the Kyrene School District. During her tenure at Aprende Middle School, her site has been designated an AVID National Demonstration school, an Arizona Schools to Watch, and an A+ School of Excellence by the Arizona Education Foundation. Renee has served as Kyrene’s Lead Middle School Principal for the last 7 years, mentors aspiring principals, and serves as the middle school principal representative on the district Strategic Planning Team and Meet and Confer. In 2021, she received the Exemplary Principal Award from the Maricopa County Superintendent’s Office.

Michelle Lo

Michelle Lo (she/her) is an Asian American educator and learner. She teaches high school mathematics in California and is interested in leveraging education as a space for learning and liberation alongside teachers, families, and students from diverse backgrounds. She is Knowles Teaching Senior Fellow and a proud graduate of the Stanford Teacher Education Program.

Ruth Olmeda

Ruth Olmeda, teaches ESOL and Spanish at Duggan Academy. She has been teaching for 9.5 years, and truly loves what she does because she believes education is one of the most powerful ways to create change. Ruth shares, “I feel like I’m contributing to something meaningful by helping shape future generations. I’m passionate about creating a classroom where students feel seen, supported, and inspired to grow.” Outside of school, Ruth loves cooking and traveling, especially when she gets to explore new cultures and cuisines.

Kaitlin Smith

Kaitlin Smith is a 12th grade English teacher specializing in AP Literature and Expository Reading and Writing, and also teaches a Film and Psychology elective for all grades. With 11 years of experience, she is passionate about teacher-led, student-centered curriculum and believes in advancing social justice through rigorous, college-preparatory instruction for underserved communities. Kaitlin holds a BA in English and a Master’s in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction. She has served as a department lead, grade level lead, advisory lead, and member of her school’s instructional leadership team. As a Teacher-Powered Schools ambassador, she’s excited to collaborate with and learn from fellow educators committed to transformational school design.