Sameer has been a leader in college access and success for over a decade. Most recently, Sameer was a Senior Program Officer at the Joyce Foundation, where he led the philanthropy’s efforts on higher education. His portfolio focused on addressing racial and economic disparities in college access, including improving the longstanding racial disparities in access … Continue reading Sameer Gadkaree

Sarita E. Brown is Co-founder & President of Excelencia in Education, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating Latino success in higher education by linking research, policy, and practice to serve Latino students. A recognized leader and advocate for equity in higher education, she began her career at the University of Texas at Austin, where … Continue reading Sarita Brown

Shareea is the director of the Texas College Access Network (TxCAN). TxCAN convenes Local College Access Networks to facilitate the rapid adoption of promising practices. It also serves as a data hub for college access programs by providing interactive FAFSA dashboards and other benchmarking tools. Prior to joining the Educate Texas team in 2018, Shareea … Continue reading Shareea Woods

Dr. Stephanie McGencey is a staunch advocate for children, youth, families, and communities. She is the Executive Director of the American Youth Policy Forum, a national, nonprofit organization that works to educate, engage, and inform policymakers and practitioners about education, youth, and workforce policies to improve the lives and outcomes of traditionally underserved youth. She … Continue reading Stephanie McGencey

Steve guides the overall direction and strategic priorities of the organization, with the goal of educational equity for all students and opening doors for the many whose potential and drive exceed their opportunity. Before joining Bottom Line, Steve was the Senior Vice President of Organization-Wide Learning and Strategy for Teach For America (TFA). His work … Continue reading Steven Colón

As Executive Director, Su Jin leads California Competes’s work to develop nonpartisan and financially pragmatic recommendations for improved higher education and workforce policies and practices across California. Prior to joining California Competes, she served as a professor of public policy and administration at California State University, Sacramento. She also served as the Director of the … Continue reading Su Jin Jez

As uAspire’s chief executive officer, Jaclyn’s core responsibilities are strategic leadership and governance, organizational and people management, external relations, and fundraising. Jaclyn has been a key member of uAspire’s executive leadership team since 2017. Previously, as chief regional officer, Jaclyn strengthened uAspire’s influence and coordinated our impact in Massachusetts, New York City, and the San … Continue reading Jaclyn Piñero

Former Virginia Secretary of Education Dr. Javaid Siddiqi is the President and CEO of The Hunt Institute. During his tenure The Institute has more than tripled its staff and has expanded its scope of work beyond K-12 to include the entire education continuum from early childhood to postsecondary and the workforce. Javaid works with the … Continue reading Javaid Siddiqi

In fall 2020, Rev. John C. Jones was named HOPE Toledo president by the HOPE Toledo board, which is chaired by Wendi Huntley, Esq. As a Toledo native, Jones knows first-hand the impact quality education can make on an individual, a family and the broader community. Prior to taking the position with HOPE Toledo, Jones … Continue reading John C. Jones

John works with the entire MDC team to set strategy, shape our portfolio of work, and engage with partners and the public around the urgent challenge of eliminating disparities to build a South where all people can thrive. Before coming to MDC in 2020, John held various leadership roles in efforts to promote equity, access, … Continue reading John Simpkins