Nicholas Donohue

As President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Nicholas Donohue is leading efforts to reshape New England’s public education systems to be more equitable and more effective, supporting strong futures for our region’s communities.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Donohue served as the New Hampshire State Commissioner of Education where he shepherded in systemic reform efforts to innovate teaching and learning. He also served as Special Master at Hope High School in Providence, where he oversaw implementation of the Rhode Island Commissioner of Education’s Order to reconstitute the school.

He currently serves in a number of leadership roles, including Chair of the Board of Directors for the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), and participates as a regular member of the Partnership for the Future of Learning and Boston Opportunity Agenda.

Donohue holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). In 2016, Donohue was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Jill Harrison Berg

Jill Harrison Berg, Ed.D is a leadership coach, school improvement consultant, and researcher committed to maximizing the leadership potential of teachers. Dr. Berg is the author of Leading in Sync: Teacher Leaders and Principals Working Together for Student Learning (ASCD, 2018). Her monthly column, “Leading Together,” in ASCD’s Educational Leadership, aims to heighten leaders’ attention to the complementary roles that teacher leaders and administrators can play as they co-perform leadership to improve their schools.

Dr. Berg will be speaking about “Unleashing the Power of Teachers.”

Ayla Gavins

At 18, Ayla Gavins left the small town life of a Pennsylvania suburb and moved to Boston to attend Boston University’s School of Education. Upon graduation, she began six years of teaching in two affluent suburbs of Boston. Her teaching career continued in Boston Public Schools where she taught ages 7-14 for six years at Mission Hill School.

Under the guidance of Deborah Meier, Gavins received her school administrative license from the Principal Residency Network. She became principal of Mission Hill—a progressive, inclusive and democratic school—in 2006. She has connected with a global audience of educators through presentations, school visitations, conference participation, online presence and writing.

Ruth Whalen Crockett

Ruth Whalen Crockett is the Director of the New Teachers Collaborative, a teacher-residency program hosted at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts. She holds a B.A. in Spanish from Beloit College and a M.Ed in Teacher Leadership from the Harvard University School of Education. She possesses significant classroom experience, having taught all levels of Spanish at the Parker Charter Essential School since 1998.

She has led many workshops and professional development experiences for the Sizer Teachers Center and Center of Secondary School Redesign on student-centered learning, proficiency-based language instruction and assessment, and the Senior project. She also serves as a National Facilitator for the School Reform Initiative.

She believes school improvement starts when adults reflect deeply on their experiences as learners and envision schools as dynamic sites for equitable collaboration, problem solving and self-reflection. This requires us to “unschool” ourselves so that together we can create a new educational narrative for children and adults in schools. She collaborates closely with children and adults to imagine and author equitable and inviting learning experiences for children, their families and teachers.