Luncheon General Session March 19 (12 – 1:30 pm) Marriott Ballroom Speaker Bios Jonathan Capehart Opinion Writer, The Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart has been a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post since 2007. He is also an MSNBC Contributor ("Way Too Early," “Morning Joe,” "The Dylan Ratigan Show" and a daily presence on MSNBC dayside) and has been a member of the Reporters Roundtable on ABC News's “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” and substitute host on “The Brian Lehrer Show” and “The Leonard Lopate Show” on WNYC. Capehart was deputy editorial page editor of the New York Daily News from 2002 to 2004, and served on that paper's editorial board from 1993 to 2000. In 1999, his 16-month editorial campaign to save the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem earned him and the board the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Capehart left the Daily News in July 2000 to become the national affairs columnist at Bloomberg News, and took a leave from this position in February 2001 to serve as a policy adviser to Michael Bloomberg in his first successful campaign for New York City mayor. Marilyn Cisneros Simon Scholar Marilyn Cisneros is a hardworking and dedicated student, earning excellent grades at Albuquerque High School. Her AP World History teacher states that Cisneros is one of her top students. Although English is her second language, she has earned A's in honors English. During her sophomore year, Cisneros participated in a health careers class to explore her interests in the medical field. She also works part time and volunteers in the records office at the Albuquerque Police Department. Her biggest dream is to be successful in the medical field and be a good role model to her brother and sister. She hopes to help motivate others to follow her steps of success. Mark Edwards Executive Director, Opportunity Nation Mark Edwards is the executive director of Opportunity Nation, the next campaign of Be the Change, Inc. Opportunity Nation is seeking to build a national coalition of anti-poverty nonprofit groups, business leaders, thought leaders, and grassroots organizations in an effort to build support for a nonpartisan agenda to expand opportunity across America. Prior to joining Be the Change, Edwards was the managing partner of Edwards & Company, Inc., a marketing and communications company focused on elevating educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations. He has also served on several nonprofit boards, including the board of Horizons for Homeless Children for the last 18 years (as board chair for five years), where he played a critical leadership role in growing that organization into the country’s largest nonprofit focused on the needs of homeless children. Edwards is a graduate of Harvard College and lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three daughters. Mayor Bill Foster St. Petersburg, FL Bill Foster became the Mayor of St. Petersburg, FL, on January 2, 2010. A fourth-generation St. Petersburg citizen, he was a graduate of Northeast High School’s Class of 1981. Prior to becoming mayor, he represented the residents of St. Petersburg’s District 3 as a city council member from 1998 to 2007, and served as chair of St. Petersburg City Council in 2004 and 2006. An attorney by profession, Foster specialized in probate, estates and trusts, real estate, Luncheon General Session March 19 (12 – 1:30 pm) Marriott Ballroom Speaker Bios commercial law, real estate and commercial litigation and corporations with Foster and Foster since 1988. During his previous political career with the city, he represented St. Petersburg on the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council, the Pinellas Planning Council and the Pinellas County Annexation Task Force, and served on dozens of city committees ranging from the Art Advisory Commission, Public Art Commission and the International Relations Commission to the Nuisance Abatement Board and Sunken Gardens Task Force. He has been on the boards of the Florida International Museum, Brookwood Florida, St. Petersburg Museum of History, Shore Acres Civic Association and more. He and his wife Wendy are the proud parents of two teenage children, and are members of the Starkey Road Baptist Church. Cynthia Paris-Jeffries Principal, Blackstone Elementary School, Boston Cynthia Paris-Jeffries began her urban teaching career in 1996. As an educator in the Boston Public Schools, she serves as the principal of the Blackstone Elementary where she leads bold efforts to transform the schools chronically under-performing status. Prior to that, Paris-Jeffries served as the principal of the Curtis Guild Elementary where she successfully led improvement efforts that increased student achievement. Paris-Jeffries earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Disorders from Worcester State College and a Master’s of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from MGH Institute of Health Professions. Michelle Rhee Founder & CEO, StudentsFirst Michelle Rhee is CEO and founder of StudentsFirst. Rhee began her career as a Teach for America corps member in Baltimore. Through her own trial and error in the classroom, she gained a tremendous respect for the hard work that teachers do every day. In 1997, Rhee founded and led The New Teacher Project, which recruits and trains teachers to work in urban schools. More recently, from 2007 to 2010, she served as chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools. Under her stewardship, D.C. schools experienced increases in student achievement, a rise in graduation rates and an upswing — for the first time in decades — in enrollment. Jon Schnur Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, America Achieves Jon Schnur is executive chairman and co-founder of America Achieves. Schnur is also the co-founder and former CEO of New Leaders and serves on its Board of Directors. He recently served as senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, co-chairman of the Obama for America Education Policy Committee, and as a member of the Obama Presidential Transition Team. Previously, Schnur served as President Clinton's White House Associate Director for Educational Policy, Senior Policy Advisor on Education to Vice President Gore and special assistant to U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley. He and his wife Elisa have three young children. Lucy Tucker Kids Rethink New Orleans Lucy Tucker works with a nonprofit called Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, a network of young people dedicated to reshaping public education in post-Katrina New Orleans. The Rethinkers have worked successfully to design eco- friendly green bathrooms and cafeterias, to improve school food, and to incorporate restorative justice techniques Luncheon General Session March 19 (12 – 1:30 pm) Marriott Ballroom Speaker Bios as an alternative to suspension in some New Orleans schools. Paul G. Vallas Superintendent, Bridgeport Public Schools Paul G. Vallas is known for his leadership and expertise in reforming and rebuilding school districts in the wake of natural and man-made disasters. He recently completed his tenure as superintendent of the Recovery School District of Louisiana where his efforts helped reform public schools in post-Katrina New Orleans. He has raised student test scores for three years at a rate exceeding that of comparable test scores in the state. In 2010, Vallas was appointed as lead education consultant to the Government of Haiti in the wake of the earthquake to help them create a publicly subsidized school system. He was also invited by the Government of Chile to turn around and improve test scores in 1,100 of Chile’s lowest performing schools. Based on those invitations, he formed The Vallas Group, Inc. Prior to that, he was CEO of the Philadelphia and Chicago School Districts where he reversed school failures and raised test scores between 14 percent and 20 percent, the highest among the 50 largest school districts in the nation. Earlier, Vallas was the budget director for the City of Chicago, where he closed a $125 billion shortfall and increased city revenues. He also served on the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission and as principal advisor the Illinois State Senate Revenue, Elementary and Secondary Education and Appropriations Commissions. Chip Wheeler Vice President, ING Americas Chip Wheeler is vice president of the ING Foundation. The ING Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities where ING operates and its employees and customers live. Through charitable giving and employee volunteerism, the foundation focuses on sustainable programs in the areas of financial literacy, children's education and diversity. Prior to joining ING in January 2008, Wheeler was vice president of private sector initiatives at the America's Promise Alliance. Founded by General Colin Powell, the organization is the nation's largest alliance working to improve the lives of America's young people. Working with national corporations to fulfill the mission, Wheeler worked closely with many Fortune 500 companies to strengthen GLBT youth across America. Wheeler was born in St. Louis, MO and graduated from Texas Christian University. He and his partner of 16 years live in Washington, DC. .